Exciting things are happening in world of Touch
&
Sky Sports agrees
The beautiful game of touch recently featured in an article on Sky Sports written by Marc Bazeley. We are delighted to see the sport getting the coverage it deserves.
With the heading reading “Touch rugby aims to break down barriers with 2025 World Cup in England” (Bazeley, 2023), it is clear that the popularity of the sport is on the rise. The women’s six nations is on track to have sell-out crowds and the Women’s Rugby World Cup is due to take place in 2025 with much excitement building for that.
There is no better time than the present to get more women involved in sport. Particularly one like touch that encourages mixed participation all the way from grassroots to national level. Touch has seen a huge increase in participation in recent years and England Touch Association’s national development officer and international player, Sammie Philips, believes a sport like touch can help address “barriers that still exist for females wanting to play the sport” (Bazeley, 2023).
Touch rugby is not only increasing in popularity amongst women. Player numbers have seen a “double-digit increase” (Bazeley, 2023) across the board in recent years and this is expected to increase with the World Cup being hosted in Nottingham in 2024.
“Double-digit increase in touch participation in recent years!”
Due to the fact touch is a mixed sport, it is naturally positioned as a sport that promotes women’s participation. We, as the leading provider of touch leagues in the UK, have a large focus on this fact too! For example, our mixed leagues are played with a women’s bonus point system that encourages teams to play with a minimum of 3 women out of 6 players at all times. Additionally, In2Touch has a number of women only leagues that run throughout London that we are currently trying to get filled for the 2023 Spring and Summer seasons.
Current In2Touch Women’s leagues:
- Wandsworth Common : Wednesday Spring & Summer Leagues (beginner & intermediate)
- Regent’s Park : Monday Spring & Summer Leagues (beginner & intermediate)
- Putney/Wandsworth : Thursday Women’s Super League (advanced)
Overall – we feel that Touch is on a positive path to becoming one of the largest social sports played in the UK and we are looking forward to seeing what the future holds.
If you have any comments or feedback, we’d love to hear from you at london@in2touch.com.
*If you’re wanting to register for any of our upcoming leagues you can do so here.
– The In2Touch Team
