Galway Touch Rugby is looking for new recruits ahead of the new season and the inaugural All-Ireland club championship.
It is entering two teams in this new national league, and trials and training are currently underway.
Denis O'Connor of Galway Touch says Galway has enjoyed a thriving league since it was first set up in the city in 2012 by Conor Slack and Jenny McHale, and eight teams play the game virtually all year round, mainly on the astroturf pitch at Corinthians RFC.
"It is an exciting time for us with the inaugural All-Ireland club championship taking place in September and we will be taking part," he says.
Similar to Tag Rugby, Touch is faster and more fluid, and is tremendously popular in Australia and New Zealand. While the game is not as big in Ireland as it is down under, it is growing fast, and the recent introduction of the game to Belfast means it is now being played in three of Ireland’s major cities. Importantly there is a social league, while the Ireland women’s over 27s team, which competed in the European Touch Championships in July, is based in Galway.
O'Connor says the sport has many benefit.
"Although primarily it is seen as a fun, inclusive and social sport for everybody, the benefits of the game in terms of the development of basic skills and awareness of space and tactics have long been recognised. An example of this was the recent Olympic success of the Australian women’s sevens rugby team with seven of their squad having previously represented Australia in Touch and they had been specifically recruited for the skill set that the game brings."
For more information and to sign up for the Autumn League which starts on September 5, visit www.touchrugbygalway.com or contact Jenny McHale via the ‘Galway Touch Rugby’ Facebook page.
