14
ETA Annual Report
High Performance (Report)
Home Nations 2013 Champions
The 2013 Home Nations (HN) Championships were difficult to navigate as it fell within
the England Domestic Season, however, the preparation through the Nationals
Tournament, the NTS & CTS series’ and National Squad sessions, helped the England
Touch Association again gain supremacy against its rivals in securing the MO, M30,
SMX, W27, M35 and M40 divisions and were named overall 2013 HN Champions.
The Home Nations Touch Championships were
hosted in Dublin during June 2013. For England
Touch, 128 national representative players, across 8
divisions, crossed the sea to Ireland for the
tournament. The teams competed in anywhere from
4 to 6 games each during the two day tournament;
there was an exceptional level of sportsmanship
evident during the course of the event, as was there
an exceptional level of competitive Touch on display.
Nationals and Open Trials
The sun was shining, the Touch was flowing and we
hosted the biggest national Touch trial that the UK has
ever seen. The addition of an open trial was brand
new to the Nationals programme, this proved to be a
huge success. With numbers close to 200 participants,
the National selectors were hugely impressed with the
potential that graced the fields of Droitwich Rugby
Club from all over the country.
Results for England saw success in the Men's Open
competition, with both the Mixed Open and
Women's Open both coming second by narrow
margins. In the Senior and Masters divisions all
England sides experienced the jubilation in victory for
their respective division.
What an achievement
England Touch walked away (emphatically) with the
Open's, Senior's and Overall Championship titles. Not
to be outshone, the players were backed up with
superb performances by their respective coaching
and managerial teams as well as the always amazing
medical staff.
A huge thanks to all players and ETA staff involved!
This annual tournament worked two fold.
1. To increases player’s exposure across England to
coaching, improve coaches’ skills and lift the
standard of England Touch across the board.
2. To showcase the best players from each region and
used as a basis for selection for the national squads
open, senior and U18s sides.
“
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Ben Powell Quoted
England Touch Association