England Touch Association continues to expand with new roles now available

England Touch is announcing plans for significant expansion as an organisation, including a new full-time Board position of Chief Operating Officer to capitalise on recent successes and continue to grow the sport. This comes at an exciting time as England prepares to host the 2018 European Touch Championships.

The new role of England Touch Chief Operating Officer will be responsible for leading and strategically managing all business operations, working closely with our volunteers to ensure we continue to deliver a high-quality service for all our members. England Touch expects this role to start in the 2017/18 financial year and the contract will initially be for 18 months, finishing shortly after the 2019 Touch World Cup. The sport has experienced significant growth in recent years and remunerating a member of staff for the first time is critical to the ongoing success of the organisation.

The rapid expansion of Touch in England has also been reliant on the commitment and hard work of a dedicated group of volunteers. Given England Touch has always been volunteer-led the rapidity of the sport’s development has been remarkable. As with all sports, Touch will continue to rely on the dedication and support of its volunteers who are absolutely integral to the success of the sport. As such, England Touch is also looking to remunerate those volunteers who have gone above and beyond to deliver for the organisation during the 2016/17 season while the new Chief Operating Officer role has been in development.

In addition, England Touch is always looking for more volunteers to help us develop the sport. We have a range of roles currently available and new roles in development - from administrative support roles right up to Board level positions - there is something to suit every skill set.

In 2017 over 20,000 men, women, boys and girls were regularly playing the sport across England, with over 65 clubs now affiliated to England Touch, double the number from three years ago.

This year the Ryvita Touch Nationals was bigger than ever before, with over 60 teams taking part and a separate event being required for junior and masters teams for the first time.

At club level the Belief National Touch Series, SPORTTAPE Challenge Touch Series and Steeden Development Touch Series expanded to accommodate new clubs, with the 2017 Finals Day giving 36 teams the chance to shine. Plans for further development in 2018 will be announced in due course.

On the international front England is leading the rest of Europe in terms of the number of players and teams competing on the international stage. Earlier this summer teams competed in every category in the inaugural Senior Touch Championships, with three men’s and three women’s teams taking part in the European Federation of Touch’s (EFT) Premiership Permit.

Touch is also developing among younger players, with England being the only country to send students-only men’s and women’s teams to the EFT Championship Permit in France, and entering teams into every category at the Junior Touch Championships in Dublin.

England Touch is also at the cutting edge in a number of areas, from medical research and provision to new schools and universities development programmes to entrenching relationships with sponsors committed to helping expand the sport into the future.

Touch is on the verge of even more rapid expansion in the run-up to England hosting the European Touch Championships in 2018 and England Touch needs to be in a position to capitalise on this platform and reach out to new participants.

“We’re very fortunate that we’ve had a group of dedicated volunteers willing to give their time to help grow Touch as a sport, and the speed of our expansion is a reflection of the hard work that they have put in,” commented England Touch chief executive Gregg Cropper.

“However England Touch can only go so far by relying on volunteers, who have other commitments around their jobs and families. This is why the Board has explored the viability to begin remunerating a member of staff for the first time.

“This is a very exciting and important development for us as a National Governing Body and we believe that it is an essential step for us to continue on our upward path.”

CLICK HERE for full details about the Chief Operating Officer position, and find out more about our existing and new roles  on our Vacancies Page.