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TOUCHRUGBY is once again pushing hard to grow and promote the beloved game to the Juniors of Auckland. Its about kids “running with the ball in hand” and off course keeping off their devices!
We have a special, low cost, school-based Junior Touch competition model that works well for kids and their busy parents. Our competitions are played in TERM 4 and TERM 1 of the regular school year. They are run in 2 7-week seasons. Kids, through motivated parents, coaches and teachers are grouped into their school years (and not age or weight). TouchRugby does all the admin of each competition but likes to partner with the LOCAL rugby clubs who are only too happy to allow use of their club rooms and facilities. Of course Auckland council, certainly comes to the party by providing well-marked, safe and sports grounds free of charge.
Depending on the location, Touch Rugby can charge between $30 to 40 per child per 7 week season, which as far as kids sports goes is very reasonable. We provide referees and a comprehensive draws and results package, trophies and of course official pathways for the talented and ambitious players to represent their Province!
Kids are encouraged to get together with school mates to enter. If their school does not play TOUCH or don’t promote the sport, Kids can ask their Winter sports mates (Rugby, Soccer, Netball etc) to group together and enter. Finally, and not without a lot of extra hours spent, individuals can be teamed up with other to form composite teams.
Once a team is formed, kids simply arrive and play their weekly fixture. Kids in school years 1-4, play 5-aside and are allowed a coach on the field at any time. A dropped ball or forward pass only counts as a TOUCH and not a turnover. Kids from year 5-8 will play proper FIT touch rules. The really talented children are also welcome to attend trials for one of the 3 Super City – Auckland, North Harbour or Counties Touch Associations.
Our 4 competitions are as follows
North West – Massey RFC – Wednesday Afternoons – Moire Park – $250 per team – Click Here
Mt Roskill / Sandringham – EDEN RUGBY CLUB – Wednesday Afternoons – Fearon Park – $260 per team – Click Here
Orakei Domain – Eastern Bays – GRAMMAR-TEC – Thursday Afternoon – Orakei Domain – $250 per team – Click Here
Onehunga – TEPAPAPA – TePapapa Tigers Rugby – Friday Afternoon – Fergusson Park – $200 per team – Click Here
Jul 26
Updated Touch Calendar
Now you can play Touch Footy all year round in Auckland and in pretty much every corner of the Little Big City. Our Calendar for the next 12 months has been updated.
Starting from the Current Winter Turbo Touch and conventional Winter Touch competitions, through to the huge number of Summer Touch competitions and the quirky one-off tournaments such as Waiheke in Feb, and even Lunch Time touch, there is something for everyone.
You can sign up as an individual, or better still as a team.
There are junior competitions in the North West and Central parts of Auckland
Plan your TOUCH year
With our growing popularity we had started to use the SOCCER fields at Coxes Bay (Touch Fields 1&2). We have been officially reprimanded and may no longer use The Soccer Fields as Auckland Football struggles with playing space of their own.
What this means is that we have to squeeze our FULL COMPETITION into 2 less fields and it means we have a complete NEW Round. We have thus had to introduce a 9:30am round AND push other games 10 minutes later. There are now 5 rounds so please check your Team Draws for this week here: Click Here
Further to this Important Notice here are a few more that ORGANISERS and players need to adhere to…
Team Kit: It is compulsory to wear a set of team kit. “Out of uniform” teams may have points deducted. The Kit must be the same colour and style, but does not have to have a number (although that is preferable). See our list of Kit Suppliers if you need some.
Registration of Team Players: All teams need to register their players. There appears to be too many players jumping on to assist and this skews the results. The registration process can be done by Organisers very easily using our online control panel. Browse to our CONTROL PANEL, Log In on the email address you have received this notification, Click My Teams, Click Add players.
To contest any knockout games, all players must be registered AND must have played 4 regular season games.
Rep Players
We do not allow more than 5 open rep players in a team per game. See any other terms and conditions here
Leniency: For the sake of development of touch, affording the opposition a good game and/or for genuine reasons, the organiser, the referee and opposition captain may offer Leniency on the above mentioned conditions. Objections and Leniency issues must be clarified at the earliest convenience and preferably before the game commences, so we are not faced with uncomfortable issues afterwards.
NEW COMPETITIONS FOR WINTER
Indoor Turbo Touch: We now administer the Turbo Touch in the WEST (Trusts Arena), the North Shore (NS Events Centre) and in Newmarket (ST Peters). Entries are open for the WINTER comps stating in late July. Click Here for details
Winter Social Touch on 23 July – Monday: We have a 30-team SOCIAL Mens and Mixed Touch Comp on the artificial pitches at St Peters College. Entries for the July-October 12 week Winter competition are open: Click Here
That’s All for now – See you on SUNDAY if this Weather ever breaks!
Graeme and the Team
The WINTER Touch season is now open for entry.
Monday Night
Newmarket – 5 aside Touch on Artificial Turf (Click Here) and Indoor Turbo Touch at the St Peters College Gymnasium – Click Here
Thursday Night
Turbo Touch at the North Shore Events Centre – Click Here
Friday Night
Turbo Touch at the Trusts Stadium in Waitakere – Click Here
Sunday Morning Touch
Most of the 2018 Sunday Winter Touch spots have been filled, however from Time to Time we need teams, so feel free to check in and inquire if a team has dropped out. This is the undisputed Winter Touch comp and if push comes to shove – we will find a place for your team! Click here
After Summer – Weather is great
STAY IN TOUCH THROUGH AUTUMN and WINTER
Winter Touch
- Sunday – Coxes Bay – 6th May – 2018 – 15 Weeks
Monday Corporate – Newmarket – 9th april – 12 Weeks
Friday Lunch – Vic Park – 6th April – 9 weeks
Turbo Touch
- Monday Night – Newmarket – 9th April – 12 Weeks
Thursday Night – North Shore – Dates – TBC
Friday Night – Trust Arena – Dates – TBC
Comps on the SHORE, CITY and WEST AUCKLAND
Just wanted to share our new video. We are desperate to focus TOUCH RUGBY operation for the community and the Social player – Get Fit Have Fun is what we are about.
Please share this
April is upon us and Summer Touch is a thing of the past as we all switch to Winter Codes, the couch, more sugary coffee and meat pies…
…. Don’t go to the dark side… stay active, keep fit and “STAY IN TOUCH”
Here is how to stay connected with the OVAL ball through the next 6 months
#1: Coxes Bay Winter Touch. Starts Sunday 7th May – Space limited to 48 teams so Hurry Hurry to be part of Auckland Best 16 week competition. Click Here
There is a grade for all teams – Mens, Mixed, Womens and Social. Weather is very settled earlier in the morning. We have cancelled just once in 2 years.
#2: Monday Newmarket Touch – **** Full – Too Late *** – You can play TURBO TOUCH at St Peters (Newmarket) if you get in today – Click Here
#3: CORPORATE LUNCH TIME TOUCH (8 weeks) – VIC PARK: Starts Thursday 4th May – Who can’t find 35 minutes during lunch on Thursday. Click Here
#4: Turbo Touch
Monday Newmarket: 3rd April (12 weeks) 3 spots Left Hurry Hurry– Click here
Tuesday North Shore: 2nd May (11 weeks) 7 Spots left Hurry Hurry – Click Here
Friday Waitakere Trusts: 28th April (10 Weeks) – Still Space – Click Here
#5: Women: We have a Women’s only grade at Coxes Bay at 10am each Sunday – Click here if you are an individual female looking to play.
#6: Individuals: We take individual payments and entries for Vic Park Lunch Touch (Click here), as well as Turbo Touch on the Shore (click here)
#7: Over 35’s: Too Old to play league or Rugby, jump in with the OLD Boys Sunday Coxes Bay . Enter as an individual or better still your whole team – click here
#8: Kids and Whanau: We certainly allow children and families to play in our Mixed Social Grade at Coxes Bay. Games take place around 12:15pm each Sunday. Team entries only – Bring your mom , Dad, Aunty and Uncle for a game of social touch. Boys u12 count as females in the mixed category.
Thats all for now – Emaill, Txt or call if you need any information or would like to give feedback.
Graeme and the Team
At TOUCHRUGBY.co.nz we love the sport of TOUCH and spent countless hours developing and promoting it. We believe TOUCH is a mass participation sport and that promoting bigger and better competitions is the best way forward.
We are structured as a commercial business and cant hide from that fact, however our outcomes are the most noble of any sports administration body. At the height of summer we provide weekly games of touch for close to 450 teams, more than most well-funded sports federations and all done without a single cent contribution from any agency or funder. As an organisation we are proudly affiliated to our National and Regional Sports organisation and pay sizable affiliation fees to 3 Touch provinces and the National Body. We pay hefty PAYE, Income Tax and GST bills and we pay all this happily because we know what wonderful facilities we play on and importantly the pathways that belonging to legitimate sports codes brings.
As an organisation we strive to be innovative, provide friendly referees at well managed and located venues around Auckland. In addition to the weekly touch competitions we promote fun, one-off Tournaments such as the “proud to play” and Waiheke Social Touch competition. We dabble in modified versions of the sport such as Turbo Touch and Tag, only as far as it give our teams something NEW in a competitive social sports market. We are owner-managed, with a great IT backbone to support team captains, who are the cornerstone of our business. We are not scared to try new playing surfaces, new formats of the game and rule variations, draw formats that encourage like vs like participation. We are constantly trying to give more accessibility to women, children, over 35’s, corporates and even the elite Teams!
We make mistakes all the time, but own up to them and try to improve when we can!
As we come to the end of Summer, when the focus tends to shift from participation to winning we get asked by a few teams about the way we do things!
- Why is Touch so expensive?
- We want prize-money?
- Better teams should get better prizes!
- Surely A grade teams are more important!
Here are some of our perspectives and practices in this regard.
- TOUCH is cheap. Per game played, per minute of organised exercise or recreation I challenge anyone to find a cheaper alternative. I am referring to “organised” sport and not volunteer, charity or sponsor driven recreation.
- TouchRugby.co.nz has competitions across Auckland that vary between $2-$5 per person per game. Our Central venues are more expensive, but a little further out, touch can be played significantly less money.
- TOUCHRUGBY has NOT INCREASED FEES at major competitions for 3-4 years. Winter, Coxes Bay, Massey, Juniors.
- We PAY referees and would happily train and PAY any players who could not afford their fees.
- We do “SPEND” significant money on Prizes. We budget 7% of our turnover for Prizes. We work harder to increase that value of those prizes to 10-14% of our Turnover. We do this through barter deals and discounts with our sponsors.
- We do value our Elite teams. We acknowledge that they do set the tone of the competition as they provide examples of the beauty of the game of Touch, that training and hard work delivers results. Without watching these teams, social teams could never understand the value of patterns, settles and set moves.
- Their passion for the sport and countless hours away from our competition IS possibly the most valuable to us. That is where the deliver their true value, however it is a little known fact that elite teams on a competition / module level Elite teams cost us a lot more than our lovable loser teams!
- Elite teams are demanding and rightly so. They get the fastest and most reliable referees, very often 2 of them.
- They tend to get the preferential fields because elite touch requires full width and length.
- We discount their multiple team entry as a way of saying thank-you, but in terms of business outgoings they are paying less per game.
- ELITE teams invariably WIN, receiving prizes and sizable discounts off future participation.
- Unfortunately, and it is a consequence we accept, they cause many of our lovable loser teams to drop out. It is merely a fact that, on the whole teams losing more games than they win over the season are likely to not ENJOY themselves as much and might chose a different recreation alternative.
So the long and short of it is… We Love our Lovable Loser teams as much as our Elite teams and will continue to award equal prizes!
SATURDAY 11th FEB 2017
Times: 9:00am-5pm
Location is the ONETANGI SPORTS PARK – some 15 minutes by car from the Mataitia Ferry Stop (Fullers) and 5 minutes from the Half Moon Bay (Sea Link Ferry).
Cost is $200 per team. Minimum of 4 games per team. Strictly Social with no more than 3 reps per team
Enter online – Click Here
Fixtures – when they are live will be here – Click Here
Book your Ferry through SEALINK. Adult return fare $25 per person and Child return fare $16 per person.
This is approximately 30% off your ticket. Sealink does not have an online enabled booking system. You need to call their SALES centre (above) and tell them you want the “Sports Team” deal for the TOUCH event on the 11th. 0800 SEALINK or (09) 300 5900 or via email to info@sealink.co.nz Have your payment particulars details on the ready. (If the person is confused ask to speak to a manager and failing this send me a rude email and I will kick butt…)
Transfers: The Sealink Ferry uses the Kennedy Point terminus, which is different to the Fullers Ferry that uses the Matiatia Terminus. Kennedy Point is actually closer to ONETANGI park (5 mins by car). What is quite a good idea is for one member of your team to take a vehicle on the 6am Early Ferry. 2 tickets are included in that Fee and best of all, your team will have Wheels on the other side.
Cash Transfer: will have a bus available at $5 (Cash) per one way trip to and from the Ferry to the park.
Departure Points: Sealink Ferrys depart from Wynyard Quarter (City) and Half Moon Bay – Pakuranga (Car Ferry). They arrive at Kennedy’s Point
With immediate effect Victoria Park has been officially closed for the installation of an irrigation system. The fact that Vic Park desperately needs a better irrigation system and will become a far better playing surface as a result thereof, does not help over 100 Touch teams and the organisers of NEW ZEALANDS largest touch footy competition, as well as Grafton Cricket also one of the countries largest cricket clubs, who now have no place to play.
When informed of the possible installation, field users were told that pipes would be thrust under the surface and that there would be work done on the periphery of the park. Plans were made for extra touch fields and an early summer start to acccomodate the upheaval. Regrettably, that has changed and trenches are now being dug in a matrix across the surface. This work will be completed in December with time being set aside in January to allow the replaced grass to “take”.
So here is what we plan to do….
CORPORATE MIXED – It is possible that certain parts of VIC PARK will STILL BE PLAYABLE have been cut away and this we plan to still play on the 5th & 12th December – Bring your KIT ready to play at VIC PARK.
The 5pm Mixed Competition – For the next 3 weeks games will be moved to COXES bay for a 5:30pm start. Those players used to walking across to the park will need to make a 5-minute car trip up along College Hill Road to WEST END ROAD in Westmere to the Awesom Coxes Bay reserve…
Mens Corporate Games – Most of the Men’s games will be moved to 7:55pm at Coxes Bay reserve
IMPORTANT DATES
- 5th December – 5pm and Mens to COXES BAY. Corporate Mixed on Standby (Games still scheduled at VIC PARK spare fields)
- 12th December – 5pm and Mens to COXES BAY. Corporate Mixed on Standby (Games still scheduled at VIC PARK spare fields)
- 19th December – POSSIBLE MOVE OF ALL FIXTURES TO AUCKLAND DOMAIN
- 9th January – POSSIBLE MOVE OF ALL FIXTURES TO AUCKLAND DOMAIN
