England Touch Association - Annual Report 2014 England Touch Association - Annual Report 2014 | Page 6

ETA Annual Report

VICE PRESIDENT (Report)
Our great sport has continued
to grow through increased
participation and the
continued dedication and
contribution from outstanding
people
2014 was another big year for referee development
spearheaded by Shelley Grace. This year has seen the
greatest number of referee courses conducted and
badge upgrades. Our England refereeing team is now
one of the strongest within Europe. In the lead up to
the European Championships applications from
English referees exceeded the referee allocation set
by European Federation of Touch. As a result referees
now undergo a selection process to represent
England at international tournaments. It is also
pleasing to welcome our newest and youngest
referees, Jake Hill and Kathy Van de Rijt, both of
whom refereed at U18 European Championships.
Many thanks to Shelley and her team of helpers that
have helped drive this success.
With Tim Osborne as Head of Elite Coaching
supported by High Performance Team, the quality
and number of coaches is steadily growing each year.
At the recent European Championships all 9 England
squads had a Head Coach, Assistant Coach and
Manager ensuring that key personnel were in-place.
The Euro’s was a great success with all 9 teams
reaching the finals in their respective divisions. A
large part of this success was due to the dedication
and professionalism of our coaching, managerial and
medical staff. The High Performance objectives have
also started to come to fruition as reflected in the
speed and style of play by our national squads. Team
England’s momentum and focus now turns to 2015
Touch World Cup in Australia. Taking on the world’s
best teams is an exciting and challenging prospect
and we are sure our players and supporting personnel
will represent England with pride.

Establishing and communicating pathways is a key
component for the development of our sport. Being
a current England squad member, attending the
#TouchNationals tournament as a member of your
regional team or attending the Open trial are the
key selection pathways for national squads. National
Coaches select from these pools of players, for all
England squads. The 2015 Open trial this year was
held in Cambridge involving players with a spread of
experience and abilities aged from 16 to 56. With
warm weather, plenty of coaches, space and 70
enthusiastic players the setting was set for an
enjoyable day. We worked on drills to develop
fundamental skills and then moved on to attack
plays. After lunch we finished the day with a mini
round robin tournament to give players the
opportunity for some game time.
19 new players have been selected from the trial
and are now a part of England training squads for
2015 Touch World Cup. The day was a great success
and thank you to all the players who attended.
Special thanks to Lesley McCallion, Ian Moody, Jeff
Bimson, Brett Milligan, Dave Ratcliffe, Chris Garland,
Puila Tuiono and Crystal Ravenscroft for their time
and commitment.
An Open trial will be held annually, usually at the
same location and date as Nationals so look out for
this if you want to attend next year. All ages and
abilities are welcome.

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England Touch Association