Rules and Regulations

The below are the key rules and regulations for the National Touch Series. CLICK HERE for the full list and an FAQ information sheet.

Registration

Express your club's interest in taking part in the 2021 National Touch Series by CLICKING HERE by Sunday, April 25th, 2021. This is indicative only, not a tournament booking, and bookings will open closer to the time
With the exception of the invitation only events, all tournaments, both mixed and single gender, are open for any England touch affiliated team to enter, and is on a first come, first served basis (including payment being received). Once the event reaches capacity a waiting list will be set up - teams can add themselves to the waiting list by emailing events.manager@englandtouch.org.uk.
The Elite Mixed will be invitation only, based on an EOI combined with rankings from previous years. If invited teams do not accept their place by the deadline, other teams may be asked if they want to participate.
Entry is not secured until payment has been received. Note that some tournaments may close earlier than stated if they reach capacity.
Register your team using the online registration form. Links to the player registration form will be sent out by email once the team has completed the online registration. As well as club requirements to affiliate to England Touch, ALL players must be individually registered. Details can be found by CLICKING HERE

General

Fixtures, results and tables will be displayed online. A live link to the schedule for each tournament will be sent to clubs in advance of each tournament. This will be updated with scores, knockout rounds and reffing slots throughout the tournament.
All clubs must have a zero balance owing to England Touch to be eligible to enter. All outstanding payment must be paid, in full, prior to the entry fee deadline of each event. A £50 late fee will be applied to payments made after the close of registration.
All players must have a zero balance owing to England Touch to be eligible to play. All outstanding payment must be paid, in full, prior to the entry fee deadline of each event.
Abuse of any kind, on or off the pitch, will not be tolerated. Any player/team found guilty of “abuse” may be banned from entering one or more competitions and/or teams may be deducted points. A full review / judiciary process will be followed in all instances.

Player Eligibility

All players must be 14 years old or older. Anyone below 14 years wishing to play must contact the ETA at the time of registration. Eligibility will be decided at England Touch’s discretion on a case by case basis. All players under 18 must have a safeguarding form filled out before they play.
All players must be registered England Touch members.
All players MUST be registered online via the team portal.
Development NTS and Emerging MWNTS tournaments will be subject to an Elite Player Cap (EPC). Teams can have up to 4 players who are classified as 'Elite' and these players must be declared via teamsheets. Teams who breach the EPC will be deducted 5 points per player per tournament over the EPC from their overall points for the season. Exemptions can be applied for in writing 7 days before the tournament, by emailing events.manager@englandtouch.org.uk. Decisions will be made on a case by case basis, taking into account the supporting statement the clubs have supplied and they may still involve a points deduction.
Elite players are classified as:
- If they have represented their country at a tournament in the most recent cycle in Opens and 18s (i.e. Open Grade at World Cup, European Championship, 18s Age Category at JTC 2019)
- If they are currently part of an Opens High Performance training squad.
- If they have played two or more Elite tournaments in the current cycle in the corresponding series (e.g. Elite MWNTS for Emerging MWNTS).

Squads and Teams

Clubs can register an unlimited number of players into their NTS squads. However, the maximum number of team players that can be selected to compete at any one tournament team is 16, with no more than 14 players making up a team per match.
Teams must be ‘selected’ and confirmed online prior to each event. The deadline for team selection is the 5 days prior to game day to allow full tournament documents and the website to be updated and distributed. After this deadline it is at the discretion of England Touch to allow a team to register players. A £50 administration fee will be incurred for all late registrations.
Minor amendments to the team list (such as shirt number changes) can be made during tournament registration prior to the first game. This does NOT include players being added to the team lists.
No team should have two players wearing the same playing number, including male/female players. Players will be asked to change playing tops to a unique number.
All teams should have matching kit styles/colours.
Failure to complete the online player registration or any errors/inaccurate information on the form could result in any series points gained being forfeited. This will be retrospectively administered if an error is found post event
If any team is found guilty of using more than 14 players in a match / 16 players in a squad, and/or an unregistered, or illegal player, they will forfeit all games up until the matter has been investigated and resolved. If the issue is highlighted post event, the maximum penalty will be the forfeiting of any Series points gained. There will be also be an administrative fine of no less than £50 for any infraction of player rules, transfers and loans to cover the administration of settling the matter charged to the club.

Player Transfer

Players registered to a club that has more than one Elite squad can move freely between Elite squads without any loan or transfer issue. However they must have played for the selected Finals squad in the previous rounds to be eligible.

Referee Nomination

Elite NTS and Elite MW NTS

Every team has to bring a full time referee who is at least level 1 qualified to Elite National Club events. This means April/May/early June should be used to book onto online referee courses, and contact the ETA refs address to get coaching support at your local and regional tournaments for badge upgrades. If we can't get a coach to the tournament your club has entered, we'll only require attendance on a course.
You have to specify the name of this referee when you sign up to the tournament. If they become unavailable, you'll be given 48 hours to name a replacement or your space will be offered to another club.If a replacement isn't available, or your referee withdraws immediately before a tournament, your team may have to provide someone to cover their slots. If referee allocations have already been done, they will not be redone to avoid fixture clashes (meaning one of your players may have to referee at the same time as you have a fixture).
Any surplus referee requirements (tournaments require approximately 1.5 times the amount of referees as clubs entering) will be randomly allocated between the teams, with any teams that have provided referees beyond their quota picked last. Player referee slots will be allocated for a whole team to cover a single game, in order to minimise disruption for the team during the competition.
If you have two referee withdrawals at seperate tournaments without nominating a replacement within 48 hours, your space in the competition will be permanently offered to any club on the waiting list

Development NTS and Emerging MW NTS

Clubs only entering a single team are still expected to provide a referee, but are not required to. Clubs entering multiple teams will have to provide a referee for each team they enter beyond their first.
Player referee allocations will be done for a whole team to cover a game.
If your club is short of candidates who have any refereeing qualifications, please get in touch as we should be able to arrange a course for you

General

All full-time referees are strongly encouraged to wear England Touch referee kit. This will be available online prior to the event.
Level 4 and 5 Referees should contact Refs@englandtouch.org.uk to be part of the referee team, but are unable to be listed as a club referee.

Photography and Filming

England Touch Association (ETA) reserves the right to use any photograph/video taken at any affiliated event, without the expressed written permission of those included within the photograph/video. The ETA may use the photograph/video in publications or other media material produced, used or contracted by the ETA including but not limited to: brochures, invitations, books, newspapers, magazines, television, websites, etc.

To ensure the privacy of individuals and children, images will not be identified using full names or personal identifying information without written approval from the photographed subject, parent or legal guardian

A person participating in an England Touch affiliated event who does not wish to have their image recorded for distribution should make their wishes known to the photographer, and/or the event organisers, and/or contact the ETA at 3 Maltby Court, Lees, OL45EB, in writing of his/her intentions and include a photograph. The ETA will use the photo for identification purposes and will hold it in confidence.

By participating in any ETA event or by failing to notify the ETA, in writing, your desire to not have your photograph used by the ETA, you are agreeing to release, defend, hold harmless and indemnify the ETA from any and all claims involving the use of your picture or likeness.

Any person or organisation not affiliated with the ETA may not use, copy, alter or modify ETA photographs, graphics, videography or other, similar reproductions or recordings without the advance written permission of an authorised designee from the ETA.

Lewd or inappropriate behaviour

Participants must not engage in any behaviour which the ETA considers lewd or inappropriate (which includes, but is not limited to, streaking, swearing, and fighting) during any event or tournament run by England Touch. Participants are reminded that events may be 'live streamed' and as such participants should conduct themselves in a manner which will not bring the game into disrepute.

All players and participants must have due regard to the ETA Participant Agreement and Code of Conduct and applicable tournament rules at all times.

Any participant found to be engaging in any lewd or inappropriate behaviour will be dealt with in accordance with the ETA Disciplinary Process and may be subject to sanctions, including, but not limited to: exclusion from future events and/or removal from representative squad/team.