University National Touch Series expanding in 2021/22

The University National Touch Series is returning this October with a change of format to give more teams from across the country the opportunity to compete in a tournament closer to them.

The Uni NTS has been one of England Touch’s flagship successes over the past five years, growing from a handful of teams to a truly nationwide competition with entrants coming from as far afield as Exeter, Cardiff, Norwich and Edinburgh.

University clubs have also expanded themselves, with Exeter University now being one of the largest Touch clubs in the northern hemisphere with more than 300 playing members, and Loughborough now a full part of the Loughborough Sport set-up, giving them similar status to the university’s rugby and netball teams.

Players who developed their skills at university are now also regularly being selected for England’s High Performance squads, and overseas students from countries such as Singapore are increasingly making their decision on where to study in the UK based on who has a well-developed Touch club.

In 2019/20 a record 27 teams took part, with even more registrations of interest received ahead of the cancelled 2020/21 academic year.

This is why the England Touch Universities team, led by Jack Harris, has expanded the Series, with northern and southern events in the Autumn Semester (up to 16 teams in each event) and then three national events in the Spring Semester (up to 32 teams at each event).

The seedings for the national events will be decided by finishing positions in the northern and southern events.

While the Uni NTS is for Mixed teams, the season will be kick-started with a Men’s and Women’s curtain raiser at Banbury on October 23rd, with the Mixed events beginning in November.

Entries are now being taken for both the northern and southern events as well as 2022’s national events. Log into your club’s GoMembership account at www.englandtouch.org.uk/membership, then click on ‘Events and Courses’, then ‘National Touch Series’, then ‘University’.

Autumn Semester
Social	Sa 23/10/21	Banbury RFC	Men’s and Women’s
R1 North	Sa 06/11/21	Sedgley Park RFC, Manchester	Mixed
R1 South	Sa 13/11/21	Oxford RFC	Mixed
R2 North	Sa 27/11/21	West Park Leeds RFC	Mixed
R2 South	Sa 04/12/21	Surrey Sports Park, Guildford	Mixed
Spring Semester
R3 National	Sa 12/02/22	Nottingham	Mixed
R4 National	Sa 05/03/22	Nottingham	Mixed
R5 National	Sa 26/03/22	Nottingham	Mixed

CLICK HERE to download the Uni NTS briefing pack, and if you are new to Touch then CLICK HERE to download our free club toolkit, which has all the information and advice you need about how to set up your club.

Any specific questions can be emailed to Jack Harris via university@englandtouch.org.uk