2013 Annual Report v1 | Page 14

14 ETA Annual Report High Performance (Report) Home Nations 2013 Champions The 2013 Home Nations (HN) Championships were difficult to navigate as it fell within the England Domestic Season, however, the preparation through the Nationals Tournament, the NTS & CTS series’ and National Squad sessions, helped the England Touch Association again gain supremacy against its rivals in securing the MO, M30, SMX, W27, M35 and M40 divisions and were named overall 2013 HN Champions. The Home Nations Touch Championships were hosted in Dublin during June 2013. For England Touch, 128 national representative players, across 8 divisions, crossed the sea to Ireland for the tournament. The teams competed in anywhere from 4 to 6 games each during the two day tournament; there was an exceptional level of sportsmanship evident during the course of the event, as was there an exceptional level of competitive Touch on display. Nationals and Open Trials The sun was shining, the Touch was flowing and we hosted the biggest national Touch trial that the UK has ever seen. The addition of an open trial was brand new to the Nationals programme, this proved to be a huge success. With numbers close to 200 participants, the National selectors were hugely impressed with the potential that graced the fields of Droitwich Rugby Club from all over the country. Results for England saw success in the Men's Open competition, with both the Mixed Open and Women's Open both coming second by narrow margins. In the Senior and Masters divisions all England sides experienced the jubilation in victory for their respective division. What an achievement England Touch walked away (emphatically) with the Open's, Senior's and Overall Championship titles. Not to be outshone, the players were backed up with superb performances by their respective coaching and managerial teams as well as the always amazing medical staff. A huge thanks to all players and ETA staff involved! This annual tournament worked two fold. 1. To increases player’s exposure across England to coaching, improve coaches’ skills and lift the standard of England Touch across the board. 2. To showcase the best players from each region and used as a basis for selection for the national squads open, senior and U18s sides. “ ” Ben Powell Quoted England Touch Association