Nationals 2013 Venue Confirmed

England Touch will host its Touch Nationals 2013 tournament at:

- Bolton School, Chorley New Road, Bolton, BL1 4PA. See the Bolton School website for more information on the venue.

For a view of how the pitches will be set out in Bolton see this grounds-layout link. A detailed briefing note for The Nationals will be sent to regional team leads soon.

For those new to The Nationals this is a 2 day tournament where England Touch regional sides will compete for the national title. It forms the basis for player development and is a pathway leading to national squad selection. This year, for the first time, coinciding with The Nationals will be a Masters Division (over 35 male) competition with two teams; Northern Masters and Southern Masters.

Both The Nationals and Masters Division will show case the best players from each region and will be used as a basis for selection to the England Touch national sides for the Home Nations 2013 tournament in Dublin. This tournament will increase player exposure across England to coaching, improve coaches skills, and lift the standard of England Touch across the board.

Regional and assistant coaches have been selected by the Director of Elite Coaching . Regions have conducted their trials over the Winter and squads have been announced. See below for more information on each regional side.

When? Where? Who?

The 2013 Nationals is to be held on 23 and 24 March, venue is Bolton school. This is not open to club sides, only sanctioned regional franchises are allowed to participate.

Club sides will have the NTS and CTS series to compete in and this will continue as normal for 2013.

The regional sides for 2013 are:

The exact borderlines are as shown here - Regional Map

Coaches and Contacts

North East Raiders Regional Lead – Lesley McCallion

Email: NorthEastRaiders@EnglandTouch.org.uk

North West Blades Regional Lead – Ben Powell

Email: NorthWestBlades@EnglandTouch.org.uk

Midland Tigers Regional Lead – Jon Lovell

Email: MidlandTigers@EnglandTouch.org.uk

West Wildcats Regional Lead – Dave Woolley

Email: WestWilcats@EnglandTouch.org.uk

South West Saxons Regional Lead – Nathan Joyce

Email: SouthWestSaxons@EnglandTouch.org.uk

South East Taipans Regional Lead – Marnie Wills

Email: SouthEastTaipans@EnglandTouch.org.uk

South East Sharks Regional Lead – Anna Stibbs

Email: SouthEastSharks@EnglandTouch.org.uk

Vacancies

If you would like to be at The Nationals assisting your regional team then see our vacancies page for current regional and national voluntary role vacancies.

Masters Grade for 2013

Based on player numbers and feedback there is sufficient scope to have a "North vs. South" Masters grade. Trials for the two sides are open to male players aged 35+ on or before 22^nd March 2013. The format will be North vs. South, played over a 3 games series at the Nationals tournament. This also forms the basis for player development and selection for the England Men’s 35 and 40 sides for the 2013 Home Nations.

The exact borderlines are as shown here - Regional Map

Masters - North Regional Lead – Jeff Bimson

Email - Masters_North@EnglandTouch.org.uk)

Masters - South Regional Lead – Christian Garland

Email - Masters_South@EnglandTouch.org.uk)- We are England Touch.