News

England Touch Association (ETA) Chair Mark Croston has welcomed the new Sport England Strategy after it was launched earlier yesterday (Tuesday, January 26th). “Sport England’s vision to put sport and physical activity at the heart of every community over the next 10 years is something that we are also passionate about at England Touch,” he says. “With Touch Rugby needing nothi ...

England Touch Chief Executive Chris Simon has thanked a number of volunteers who have recently stepped down from the Association’s management group. Julia Kang (Disclosure and Barring Manager), Mark Aldous (Accounts Manager), Nick Dobbin (Lead Sports Scientist) and Jon McNaught (Company Secretary) have all given their time to England Touch, helping to make the Association the p ...

Following this evening's announcement by the Prime Minister, England Touch has issued the following advice to all clubs and individuals. As of this evening (Mon 04/01/21) all team-based Touch activity must now cease. This applies to clubs and groups of friends across England and includes group fitness sessions and ball skill work, as well as training and matches. Any fitness co ...

England Touch is positively looking ahead to a 2021 season, and we are looking to establish a consultation group with as broad a cross-section of clubs as possible. This is to try and facilitate a competition structure which meets the needs of clubs at all stages of their development, from those which are starting out all the way up to those which are well established on the do ...

As 2020 draws to a close, we caught up with Mark Croston (Chair), Chris Simon (Chief Executive), Ben Powell (High Performance Director) and Sammie Phillips (National Development Officer) to reflect on the last 12 months and to let us know what they expected and hoped for in 2021. CHRIS: I don’t think my first 12 months in the job could have presented much more of a challenge, b ...

At the start of the second lockdown in early November #TouchMyHeart was barely a glint in the eye. Four weeks later and hundreds of Touch players across the country had been active and honed their skills, with thousands of pounds being raised for the British Heart Foundation in the process. Twenty-seven Touch clubs formally joined the campaign as far afield as Canterbury, Newca ...

Over the last few days the England Touch Association received nominations from clubs across the country for the 2020 Volunteers of the Year. The nominations were very inspiring and it has been wonderful to see the dedication of volunteers and the impact they have across the Touch community. As this year is no ordinary year, we have decided to recognise all of our nominees. Each ...

Are you a teacher, or do you know any teachers who can help the England Touch Association achieve its ambition of making Touch Rugby a mass participation sport within schools? Then we want to hear from you! We are seeking the insight from teachers to help us gain a better understanding what is needed to not only grow the game in schools, but to help fill a gap in physical educa ...

Join us in saying thanks and appreciating our volunteers in Touch across the country. Who do you know who has done the tough yardage in volunteering for your Touch club in this unusual year? Our sport relies on these wonderful people. Would you like to say thank you for all the time and effort they have put in? This year, while most activity has paused, volunteering has soared. ...

England Touch is advising clubs and members that the Association is intending on moving from Stage 3: Play into Stage 4: Local as of January 1st, 2021, subject to no further changes to Government regulations regarding organised grassroots sport. Currently teams can train under full Touch rules and play in local leagues, and with Christmas just around the corner the England Touc ...