Touch Rugby popularity growing rapidly in schools

Touch is proving itself as a code of rugby being embraced by school teachers by the rapid expansion of the National Schools Touch Championships.

Delivered by Try Sports, the England Touch Association’s school delivery partners, on May 9 the National Schools Touch Championships will be staging an event in Reigate including around 70 teams from more than 35 schools, needing 16 pitches.

In Touch a team can be 14 players rotating on and off the pitch via unlimited substitutions, meaning that nearly 1,000 players in Years 7-10 could be taking their first steps into a competitive environment in this one competition alone.

The south east has grown from eight teams in 2022 to its current capacity of 70, and in all seven events are being staged by Try Sports, before a national finals.

The successful approach the National Schools Touch Championship has demonstrated has earned backing from Vermeer UK & Ireland, allowing Try Sports and England Touch to invest further into the growth of the game.

Touch provides schools who do not have a rugby programme an opportunity to have oval ball sports available to their boys and girls in a straightforward, minimal contact sport.

Meanwhile more experienced rugby schools can also use Touch as a way to keep their players engaged outside the traditional school rugby months, honing their skills and awareness of space, along with overall fitness and decision-making.

Already the number one nation for age-group Touch in Europe, England Touch is committing to expanding provision across the school environment.

There is a suite of resources available to school teachers, from introductory games aimed at developing hand/eye co-ordination, core skills and concepts all the way to advanced game practice designed by world-leading Australian experts.

Try Sports has been established by Dom Tripp and Zan Hudson – two of England’s most experienced international players – as a vehicle both to provide competition frameworks and coaching support to schools, universities and clubs.

“Zan, myself and our fellow director, Andy Penniceard, have always believed that given the right support and structure, Touch can flourish in schools,” Tripp says, “but we have still been a bit taken aback by how quickly our existing events have grown year-on-year, and in the interest we have received in areas of the country we have not delivered before.

“For example, the regional event in Oxford was a fantastic day, with 16 teams attending for our first event in that region. Our experience in the South East – where Touch has exploded in popularity – can be replicated elsewhere in the country.

“The feedback we have from teachers, players and parents is overwhelmingly positive, and we are looking forward to some more great events in 2025, and more growth in the future.”

As well as Oxford and Reigate, 2025 events are in Nottingham, Harrogate, Bristol, Wigan and Cambridge.

For more information visit try-sports.com