Orton take home Midlands honours

Orton Ospreys took home the first trophy on offer in the Midlands in 2017 last weekend.

The team from Peterborough beat off stiff competition from across the region at a development tournament in Wixams, near Bedford.

Sides from as far afield as Norfolk, Northampton, Essex and Whitley Bay headed to Wixams to take part, and organiser Adrian Twigg said that it was a cracking way to start off the season in the area.

“We were really pleased with the tournament,” he said. “Teams approached the games positively and the standard improved as the day went on. We’re growing as a club and this type of event gives our players the opportunity to test themselves against teams from across a wide area.

“Thanks to all the teams for coming to Wixams, especially those clubs who travelled several hours to get here. We hope they enjoyed it as much as we did!”

Soul Phoenix, an ETA Development Officer in the Eastern region, brought a Norfolk Freightforce Lions team to Wixams and said that he was seriously impressed by all areas of the competition.

“A tournament like this provides a great opportunity to develop players, referees and organisers towards the ETA’s regional and national Development Touch Series standards,” he said. “What was great about the Wixams tournament was the range of ages and experience that we saw, with players helping each other and working with the referees in a really positive way.

“We’re seeing the standard of Touch increase with each passing year, and entry level tournaments like this are playing a massive role in that.”