Youth Trans Tasman Touch Series

Media Release – 15th January 2009

Youth Trans Tasman Touch Series – the best in the world face off
The Trusts Stadium
Waitakere City
Jan 16th – Jan 17th

After a warm up series against South Africa and Singapore, the Under 19’s and Under 21’s Boys, Girls and Mixed teams for NZ and Australia will face off against each other in the first Youth Trans Tasman Touch series in many years.

Australian TFA CEO, Colm Maguire commented “With the introduction of an event such as this the youth of both Australia & NZ have a complete pathway developed. There has been a real absence of opportunity for international competition for junior athletes in recent times & the re introduction of a Youth Series provides the opportunity for the best young talent of both nations to gain valuable experience. This experience will also assist the development of open teams into the future & with the establishment of regular youth competition between Australia & NZ we see this as the commencement of an exciting time for the international aspect of our game.”

These are the future players of Touch internationally, which continues to grow in many countries year on year.

“The level of competition will be high with teams preparing for well in excess of 12 months. With the emerging talent busting to play each other one can only see close, exciting & keenly fought games resulting. Australia V NZ is always a major event in any sport & we are sure that in our sport that means so much more. Furthermore, it is exciting to have the opportunity to assist in the development of nations such as Singapore & South Africa – I am sure we are all very appreciative of the effort they have put in to develop the game in their respective nations.” Said TNZ CEO, Joe Sprangers

“The opportunity for our Youth Players to also meet their peers in other nations is something that will be cherished by all. Touch is a game that is exciting & competitive; but it also is one that is highly social & friendly. We look forward to the establishment of long lasting friendships & rivalries.”

Touch as a sport is maturing and holding this series at a venue such as The Trusts Stadium is a statement in itself of where this sport intends to head. This is the first time a Touch series has been ticketed to enter and after the response from the public on day 1 to come and watch we are now sure that Touch has a real perceived value as a spectator sport.

Julie Monaghan, Marketing Director for Touch NZ explains “In addition to the Touch, the public can expect to experience a lot of additional entertainment along the way. Touch is a community sport that reaches out and touches families and friends and we wanted this event to be more than just watching dynamic sport, so on the finals night, Saturday Jan 17th, following the Presentations of medals made by our new Prime Minister and Patron of Touch John Key, there will be a live performance by Kiwi Band the Fraudsters and an open air cinema screening of the 80’s classic movie GREASE. It’s a total day of fun and entertainment we hope will appeal to families and friends.”

If you would like to follow the progress daily with draws and results, plus news of the day you can do so at www.touchnz.co.nz and follow the link on the home page. Should you wish to interview any of the participating athletes please let me know, Julie Monaghan, and I will arrange it for you.
This tournament is being proudly partnered by Waitakere City Council and The Southern Trust & includes support from McDonalds, Flava , Radio Sport, Open Air Cinemas, Paramount Pictures & Touch NZ preferred suppliers Kia Kaha, Skins, Nomis and Mitre.

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