Tim Osborne appointed new Men’s Open coach

England Touch has announced that the new coach of the Men’s Open team will be Tim Osborne.

Osborne has been handed the responsibility of leading one of the country’s flagship teams following Ben Smith’s unexpected recent departure back to his native Australia for family reasons.

Osborne is a familiar face within the England Touch High Performance Programme, having been High Performance Director for four years. He also assisted Smith in coaching the Men’s Open team at the recent 2017 New South Wales State Cup, and coached the Women’s Open team from 2012 to 2015.

He is proud to have been chosen by the England Touch management and had no hesitation in accepting the position.

“It is a privilege to represent England Touch at the international level,” he said. “To be appointed to coach the Men’s Open team through to the 2019 Touch World Cup in Malaysia is an absolute honour.

“I believe both the team and England Touch to be in a very strong position. I will do my utmost to build upon and improve this position and I look forward to the 16 months ahead.”

High Performance Director Anthony Atherton is confident that Osborne will be a success in the role.

“Tim knows as much about international Touch as anyone in England,” he said, “and he will utilise all this knowledge in taking our Men’s Open team to the next level. The quality of the group has gone from strength-to-strength in recent years and it says a lot about our ambitions for success that we are actively planning for it rather than hoping for it.

“The European Championships in July is a great chance for us to show how far we’ve come in in High Performance over the past couple of seasons and to lay down a marker for the 2019 Touch World Cup.”

Chief Operating Officer Gregg Cropper added: "Having worked with Tim for the last four years, I'm confident that his knowledge, enthusiasm, and attention to detail will build on the momentum that already underpins this squad.”

Every team now has the head coach confirmed for the 2018 European Championships and 2019 Touch World Cup. There are still opportunities to help England Touch achieve its on-field ambitions as either an assistant coach or team operations manager.

The full list of available slots and role descriptions can be found at www.englandtouch.org.uk/vacancies