Touch Nationals Message from England Touch

Thank you to all involved for your patience and understanding regarding the regrettable but necessary postponement of the nationals this weekend due to adverse weather conditions. A number of issues regarding the rescheduled event have been raised. The following should clarify these issues. If you have further questions about the rescheduled tournament itself, please contact Tom Bedkowski (tom@englandtouch.org.uk); questions about timelines, etc. for international squads and payments, please contact Marnie Wills (Marnie@englandtouch.org.uk); other questions, please direct to David Woolley (Dave@englandtouch.org.uk).

The Nationals have been rescheduled to take place at Bolton School for the weekend of the 13th-14th April. We know that this does not suit everyone and some squads have requested other specific dates. Whilst sympathetic to these issues we have to consider every region, finance incurred by the ETA which we do not want to pass on to players (bookings for venues, referees, referee accommodation), availability of referees, etc. The re-arranged date is far from perfect - but it is the least-worst decision open to us.
The Nationals' status - the winner to be the regional champion of England - remains unaffected.
The Nationals' status as a trial for the England squads remains unaffected. Players who play at the rescheduled Nationals are available for selection for international sides. If players were selected for a regional side and are now unable to play because of the postponement they will need to apply for an exemption to be considered for selection for an international side. These exemptions should be submitted to David Woolley (form available on request) - they will be sympathetically considered and when granted, the coach of the international side they wish to be considered for will be notified. Where a player was originally selected for a regional squad and cannot attend the rescheduled event, the information on their suitability for an international side already submitted by their regional coach will be highly important for the international coaches. Regional coaches are encouraged to re-submit more extended comments for players in these circumstances.
International coaches will receive these comments from the Head of Elite Coaching as soon as possible. They will be able to select an initial squad of between 16 and 24 players (at the coaches' discretion) to get an extra look at players who were not at the nationals and to assess players who have received a similar regional coaches' report.
International coaches and squad managers will receive an updated briefing note on all squad events, selection dates and their interaction with payments due, etc. in the coming days.

We hope this is helpful. Thank you again for your understanding.

We are England Touch,

England Touch Association Executive Committee.