A SET OF SIX - VOLUME SIXTEEN
Touch Football Australia brings you this rapid fire "Set of Six" news 'plays' from around the Country.
TFA's National Media Coordinator Karley Banks and TFA's Media Intern Henry Holland bring you up to date every week with a selection of six 'plays' on the latest news, views, and events nationally.
Welcome to Touch Football Australia's a Set of Six - Volume Sixteen.
TASMANIA (TAS)
Play: # 1
Southern Touch Winter Grand Final Night
The Southern Touch winter season for 2007 will conclude this Friday August 24 2007 with a massive night of grand-final action.
The First Division Mixed grand final will commence at 6.10pm on Boags Field.
The Women’s First Division will follow at 7.00pm, and the Men’s First Division will cap off the evening with their match commencing at 7.50pm.
Meanwhile, 70 teams have competed in Hobart Touch’s winter season – the largest number of teams ever for the Hobart competition.
Other events:
Annual General Meeting of Southern Touch Association Incorporated:
WHERE: Wentworth Park Clubrooms
WHEN: Wednesday August 29, 2007
TIME: 6.15pm Start
WESTERN AUSTRALIA (WA)
Play: # 2
Level 1 Referee Course for Students
10 students and their teacher from Tranby College, Baldivis, have been awarded their Level 1 Referee badges following assessment at the annual Year 8/9 School Sport Touch tournament.
This assessment process marked the final stage of a four-week Level 1 Referee course delivered to the Year 10 students by TouchWest Game Development Officer Angela Doyle.
The school-based referee course is a first for Touch Football in Western Australia and has been prompted by the new focus and structure of the State Referee Panel.
“The growth of our junior referees is crucial to the ongoing development of our referee arm. We are looking to increase the number of junior referees in WA and strengthen our school & local association links through programs,” Angela Doyle said.
All participants donned ‘Green Shirts’ supplied by the Department of Sport & Recreation, as part of the Coloured Shirt Program (CSP).
The CSP aims to make new officials easily identifiable, reduce the pressure and abuse directed at new officials, and create a culture of support for them through the education of players, spectators, coaches, and the media.
“We’ve had a lot of success implementing the Coloured Shirt Program with a number of our affiliates and saw it as a great way to support our new junior referees as well,” Doyle said.
Participants were put through their paces by experienced referees and referee coaches including Brendon Hill, Patrick Elshaw, Maru Paul, and ‘the master’ Kevin Piper.
“This tournament is a great vehicle for coaching and assessing junior referees. It’s been a great day and an encouraging sign for the future of our junior referees,” Level 6 referee Brendon Hill said.
After eight games and assessments there were high-fives all around as Level 1 badges were announced.
The Level 1 accreditation badges will be presented at the upcoming Tranby College school assembly.
TouchWest looks forward to tracking the progress of these new referees as it prepares for the upcoming summer season.
Other events:
WA will be sending two teams and four referees to the 2007 National 18’s Championships in Coffs Harbour from 17-20 August 2007.
The 18 Years Girls and Boys Teams will be joined by Brendon Hill, Matt Magnusson, Justin Parsons and Kelly Eggers who will all be refereeing at the tournament and representing their state with pride. TouchWest would like to congratulate the four referees for nominating and wish them every success at the tournament.
The TouchWest web-site: www.touchwest.com.au
SOUTH AUSTRALIA (SA)
Play: # 3
High-Performance Coaching Forum
Last weekend Touch Football South Australia conducted a free High-Performance coaching forum.
National Women’s 20s Coach Dean Russell, Queensland State Coaching Management Team Member, Bernie Morrison, and TFA High Performance Coordinator Wayne Grant attended the forum to mentor 23 South Australian coaches of all levels and abilities.
A theory session was conducted on Saturday August 18, 2007.
Participants learnt about training to win and fitness for Touch.
Practical aspects took place on Sunday August 19 with the South Australian Men’s and Women’s Train-On Squads.
The guest coaches were asked to cover areas including drills and concepts for improving passing under pressure, hole hitting, and defence patterns.
TFSA will be looking to hold a series of local-level forums involving State Open coaches and Coopers State League Coaches in the future.
Other events:
The 2007 Australasian Masters Games will take place from 5 – 14 October 2007. Touch Football will be played from 11 – 14 October 2007.
Registration for the event has been extended indefinitely and there is currently no applicable late fee.
A South Australian team is looking for players to fill a 55+ men’s team. If interested, please contact Denis Wooldridge on 0411 040 585 or dkmh@adam.com.au
The Touch Footbal South Australia website: www.touchsa.com.au
VICTORIA (VIC)
Play: # 4
Game Development Officer visits Border Affiliates
Touch Football Victoria GDO Ali Tuai will be visiting border affiliates of Shepparton, Borderline, and Wangaratta from 20 – 24 August 2007.
Tuai will meet with key members of the Shepparton and Borderline affiliates to view and discuss the continuing development of Touch Football in Victoria’s regional areas.
Shepparton and Borderline have experienced positive growth over the past few years in the game and Ali’s visit is to reinforce the support from Touch Football Australia to regional areas.
Ali will also be visiting several schools, as well as look at the establishment of a potential new affiliate at Wangaratta.
More visits to the developing border region are being planned over the coming summer.
Other events:
Albert Park Touch winter competition semi-finals tap off this week. Good luck to all teams vying for a place in next week’s grand finals.
The Touch Football Victoria website: www.victouch.com.au
QUEENSLAND (QLD)
Play: # 5
Queensland Junior Regional Championships
The Inaugural Queensland Junior Regional Championships will take place in Rockhampton this weekend.
Boys 14s and 16s and Girls 14s and 16s will compete.
The tournament will be attended by five of the six Queensland Touch regions including Central Queensland, Sunshine Coast, South West Queensland, Brisbane City, and South Queensland.
The Tournament Director will be Mr Ron Etherden, Administrator of Rockhampton Touch. Mr Etherden has been a long-time supporter of Junior Touch in Queensland, and he will be assisted by Queensland Touch staff in running the new event.
Good luck to all involved!
Other events:
Preparations are underway for the South Queensland Sharks Secondary Schools Tournament on Monday August 27, 2007.
North Queensland will be conducting its All-schools Tournament in Townsville this Sunday 26 August.
Brisbane City will be conducting a Technical Weekend featuring a Level 1 Coaching course and a Level 1 and 2 Coaching course this weekend, 25 – 26 August 2007.
The Queensland Touch web-site: www.qldtouch.com.au
NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT)
Play: # 6
New Games Coordinator commences employment
The new Darwin Touch Competition Coordinator, Sandra Olsen, commenced work on Monday August 20, 2007.
Sandra started her position in a big week with the Darwin Touch Competition commencing on the same night.
The first night of competition was a bit chaotic due to two fields being out of action.
An irrigation pipe had been damaged along with electrical cables to the light towers in the middle of the main field.
Welcome Sandra!
Luckily, games were rescheduled to later time slots and the rest of the night went ahead smoothly.
Other events:
Game Development Officer Rebecca Houston has travelled to Groote Eylandt this week to introduce the sport of Touch to the Groote Eylandt school communities.
The Northern Territory website: www.touchnt.com.au
That’s it for this week’s edition of “A Set of Six”…
Be sure to check the State websites for all the latest news, views, and events in Touch Football from around the nation.
