England Touch Association - Annual Report 2014 England Touch Association - Annual Report 2014 | Page 50

ETA Annual Report

DEVELOPMENT
England Touch have high aspirations for growing the sport of Touch in England. We aim to build participation at
the grass roots level, taking special care to tailor the products on offer to encourage girls and women, youth and
family consumers and other segments that can be excluded from many sports. Touch is a naturally inclusive,
social and enjoyable sport, with very few barriers to participation.
To meet these aspirations we believe we need three elements:
 High quality sport products, with high standards of delivery in accordance with FIT regulations
 The mechanisms to promote our products across different segments and enthuse consumers to try Touch
 The resources to deliver this aspiration across the country.
The development of touch in England over the last year has taken huge strides forward. The partnership with the
Rugby Football Union, as part of their O2 Touch initiative, has seen Touch built into the RFU's strategy for
growing participation in the run up to the Rugby World Cup 2015. This has resulted in more people engaged in
playing touch across the country. The reach of ETA regulated Touch in England continues to grow.
England Touch made the decision to explore opportunities for formally developing a touch programme for
schools. With the fielding of the first national youth team at the European Championships, we have already
created a demand and vehicle for high performance development of youth. The development of the schools
programme will help provide a supply of engaged and skilled youth players for future national stars.
As we grow the number of enthusiastic touch players across England, we know that one of the biggest things
they want is the opportunity to learn new skills and improve their performance on the field. For this we need to
build the number of active Touch coaches across England. We have already set up the safeguarding policies and
CRB checks for this venture.
Looking into the future, we need to continue the good work achieved over the last 12 months. Next year will be a
crucial year for the partnership with RFU. We will aim to start delivering a coherent programme across youth
sectors, including Universities. We will continue to upskill coaches and provide them with the right support. As
we learn from our experiences, and use the Touch World Cup as a means for marketing our sport, we have high
hopes for continuing to grow Touch in England.
We are constantly building our volunteer base, through growing the number of affiliated clubs, through our
partnership with the RFU and through developing and embedding the regional Touch franchises across England.
However, we can always benefit from more people volunteering to grow Touch. Whether you want to learn to
coach or referee, develop a Touch club associated with your rugby club, sports group, community group or
workplace, or work behind the scenes to support others, there are many ways to get involved.
Get in touch and be a part of growing Touch!
David Cope

Development Director

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England Touch Association