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Former BUCS CEO, Vince Mayne, joins England Touch
The England Touch Association has today made the significant announcement of the appointment of former Chief Executive Officer of British Universities Colleges Sport (BUCS), Vince Mayne, to lead the organisation into the next chapter of its growth and development.
Vince, who will be joining the England Touch leadership and Board of Directors as Chief Executive Officer, will bring a wealth of experience to the national governing body. He will combine the part-time role with his current commitments as Founder and Director of The Sport and Active Wellbeing Collective, as well as Co-Founder and Trustee of The Positive Youth Foundation in Coventry.
During a hugely successful seven years at BUCS, he led the growth, development and engagement of the membership, working with 53 National Governing Bodies to deliver the sporting programme.
As CEO Vince worked closely with UK Sport, UK Coaching, CIMSPA and other agencies, and gained system partner status with Sport England. Internationally, Vince worked with both FISU, the World Governing Body for University sport, and EUSA, the European Governing Body which resulted in BUCS becoming recognised as world leading on the international stage.
“I’m delighted to be joining England Touch as the CEO," Vince said. "Having a lifelong involvement and interest in rugby, combined with a passion to make sport more inclusive and accessible, to be given the opportunity to combine both of these is very rare indeed!
"I am keen to help England Touch grow and engage with more players, highlighting its role in providing a sense of community, a chance to compete with friends and family and demonstrate its inclusiveness which many other sports cannot do.
"We will also be looking to build the recognition and sustainability of England Touch both nationally and internationally through engagement with, for example Sport England, UK Sport and commercial partners who share our passion for getting more people moving and playing sport.”
The selection process for the new CEO was very thorough, with a significant number of applicants whittled down during three rounds of interviews and assessments.
England Touch Chair, Tim Loveridge is delighted with the outcome, and believes Vince’s experience and skillset is an ideal fit for the Association as it builds on the momentum generated by the nation’s most successful ever Touch World Cup, on and off the field.
“On behalf of the England Touch Board, I would like to congratulate Vince on his appointment as our new CEO,” Loveridge said. “It was great to get so many applications and there were several candidates who could have successfully led the organisation as our next CEO.
“But Vince impressed us throughout the process with his undoubted desire, enthusiasm and strategic outlook on how we can take Touch to the next level, utilising his experience and connections. We are delighted that he will be joining our very experienced leadership team.
“After a successful World Cup year, the organisation is in a good place and we firmly believe that the combination of Vince’s experience, skills and connections, will complement those of General Manager Sammie Phillips, along with our paid and voluntary workforce. This combination will bode well for the next period for England Touch.
“I would like to thank my fellow directors, Emi Beredugo and Geoff Karikari for committing so much to the process and ensuring we secured such a strong CEO in Vince.”
Vince joins an already strong paid management team of General Manager, Sammie Phillips and Operations Manager, Kathy van de Rijt, and with his role being part-time, England Touch is expected to make a further announcement about additional opportunities in due course.
