England Touch News
22|03|2021
Safety in Touch is paramount for ETA
The England Touch Association’s management recognises, acknowledges and appreciates the range of emotions that many of the Touch community, particularly those playing in London might be feeling, sparked by the tragic news of Sarah Everard last week.
With so many women across our sport involved in Touch clubs and leagues based at Clapham Common specifically, as well as across the Nation, this week has highlighted the safety concerns that many of you may and do feel, on a daily basis.
As we continue to reflect on what has happened and the feelings that many in our community are experiencing, we want to reassure you that the safety and welfare of everyone that participates in Touch is of paramount importance to us.
We are acutely aware that we may not have all the answers and solutions immediately. However, we are taking this time to review our own policies and practices to see what improvements can be made. We will be engaging with our member clubs, leagues and other organising bodies, continuing to work together to ensure safe spaces and environments, while playing the sport we all love.
Women should never have to feel unsafe going about their lives and we are always here to listen and support those that need our help.
If anyone in the Touch community would like to talk about their concerns or feelings around safety in our sport, please get in contact with our Safeguarding Lead, Cari Thorpe, via safeguarding@englandtouch.org.uk.
04|02|2021
England Touch and UK Coaching promoting positive mental health
On #TimeToTalk Day (Thursday, February 4th), England Touch is focusing on positive mental health.
Our friends at UK Coaching have launched an updated version of the popular e-Learning course, Mental Health Awareness in Sport and Physical Activity.
UK Coaching, which partnered with Mind, the mental health charity, and Sport England, has reduced the cost of the course by over 30 percent, and it is available for £12 per person.
Even a small conversation about mental health can make a big difference, and over 35,000 coaches enrolled on the first release of the course. Join them in learning how to spot the signs and start these conversations by enrolling on the Mental Health Awareness in Sport and Physical Activity+ course, which is awarded by 1st4sport and has been awarded 1.5 CPD points by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity.
CLICK HERE to find out more and enrol.
Meanwhile England Touch has appointed a team of mental skills coaches to support the High Performance (HP) programme, led by Hannah Stoyel from Optimise Potential Sport, with the prospect for providing information and advice for clubs, coaches and players across the sport in England.
“The last year has been very hard for our HP squads,” says High Performance Director Ben Powell/Head of Elite Performance Sammie Phillips. “We’ve had the Euros postponed twice, along with the Youth World Cup postponed and Junior Touch Championships cancelled.
“Initially we were running regular virtual weekends of sessions and activities, but it has been challenging to keep everyone motivated and engaged when there is no sport on the field.
“Having Hannah and the mental skills coaches as part of our staffing going forwards will be important for us as we do something a little bit different to provide all our athletes with support and information for positive mental and physical wellbeing. And we will also be looking to cascade this knowledge throughout the Touch Rugby community, as we’ve done with Aaron Green’s strength and conditioning sessions and the England Touch cookbook which the nutritionists put together.
“It is also pleasing to see UK Coaching maintain their commitment to positive mental health with their updated Mental Health Awareness in Sport and Physical Activity+ course, and I would encourage all coaches to enrol on it.”
03|02|2021
England Touch Association and British Heart Foundation partner to get hearts healthy across the country
The England Touch Association (ETA) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have announced a new charity partnership.
The foundations were laid at the start of lockdown 2 in November, when the #TouchMyHeart 28-day challenge of Touch Rugby skills and fitness activities got hundreds of Touch Rugby players off their feet across the country and raised nearly £2,500 for the BHF.
This came hot on the heels of an academic study published in British Journal of Sports Medicine which highlighted that regular participation in Touch Rugby over a 10-12 week period improved cardiovascular risk factors, including resting heart rate and diastolic blood pressure.
The research also showed that Touch Rugby players participating in the study experienced improvements in their rate of oxygen consumption, and the metabolic risk factors associated with the prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus, and the reduction in total body fat mass. The study also suggests that Touch ‘could be actively advocated as health-promoting activities across the general population’.
This has inspired the ETA and BHF to continue working together, beginning with a new programme of short home workouts designed and demonstrated by Aaron Green, the ETA’s high performance strength and conditioning coach, which will be shared by the BHF across their own digital channels.
BHF Area Fundraising Manager Peter Tarrant says that he was impressed by the positive attitude and innovative thinking shown by the ETA management, by the dedication of the Touch Rugby community, and by the potential of the sport to be a driver of healthier hearts and more physical activity among people of all ages.
“Touch Rugby was a new sport to me, but the potential of a positive and proactive partnership quickly became apparent, and we’re delighted to have come to a more formal agreement with the England Touch Association,” he commented.
“As a sport it ticks all the right boxes for the BHF – it can be played by male and female players of all ages, it is really accessible with no specialist equipment needed, and the health benefits are clear.
“We’ve already begun in-depth discussions about ideas and initiatives with Sammie Phillips and Chris Simon and it will be exciting to see these progress in the future.”
England Touch Association Chief Executive Chris Simon is excited by this new partnership.
“The BHF is a fantastic charity which works in an area that impacts families throughout the country, so it is an honour that they have chosen the England Touch Association as their first national governing body partnership within sport,” he commented.
“Firstly, Sammie Phillips deserves a massive amount of credit for setting up the Touch My Heart challenges back in November which have ultimately brought about this partnership. And I would like to thank the Touch Rugby community who raised the thousands of pounds for the BHF.
“By working with the BHF we can showcase Touch Rugby as a mass participation sport at all levels, and a real driver for improved physical health and the other benefits which come from that.
“This is just one of a number of strategic partnerships that we have either finalised or are close to finalising, and we are looking positively into 2021.”
The BHF is the largest independent funder of cardiovascular research in the UK. Heart and circulatory diseases cause more than a quarter (27 per cent) of all deaths in the UK.
To find out more about the charity’s ground-breaking work head to www.bhf.org.uk
