England Junior Training Squads announced for 2022/23 winter programme

Nearly 150 young Touch players will have the opportunity to impress the England coaches over the winter having been chosen in the 2022/23 Junior High Performance training squads.

The players have been grouped into Mixed 15, Boys 18 and Girls 18 squads, and will be training and competing for a spot in their respective England teams which will compete at the 2023 Afro-Eurasian Championships.

This new competition was announced by the Federation of International Touch in July as part of a new direction for youth international Touch, following the postponement of the scheduled Youth Touch World Cup.

The three squads were chosen after England Touch’s largest and most successful Junior Nationals, which in turn followed a return to European international competition in August in which England brought home three Gold medals and a Silver from Vichy in France.

The numbers and quality of players is testament to the focus on youth development which is happening across the country, and the work done by the National Youth Head Coaches with their squads over the past few years.

“We are very excited about the potential in the athletes selected,” says High Performance Director, Ben Powell. “The selection process has been the toughest it has ever been for our youth programme, and it will only get tougher as these talented athletes compete for places to earn that England jersey.”

In addition to the three squads named in this announcement there will be England 20s squads announced in early 2023.

CLICK HERE to see the full list of players, and congratulations to everyone who has been chosen!