History of Touch
The game of Touch had very humble beginings indeed. Used as a training technique for Rugby League teams during the 1950s and 60s it was never seen as a sport in its own right. Eventually more and more people turned to touch for a safe social game to play and it soon became inevitable that an official competition would be held. The first official game of touch was held in the traditionally strong rugby league area of South Sydney. The South Sydney Touch football association was founded in 1968 and ran a competition in that year. The matches were held at the aptly named Pioneer Park. Very soon after this other associations were formed and interdistrict competition began in 1978.The establishment of the national body, "The Australian Touch Football Association" came in 1976. A highlight came after the drawn Sydney Rugby League Grand Final of 1977 when the rematch needed a curtain-raiser and Rugby League officials asked the newly formed "Touch Football Association" to provide the prelude game. With a crowd of 40,000+ this game helped to raise the profile of Touch around the world and was nothing short of spectacular according to Bob Dyke in the book "The Story of Touch". Another profile raiser came in 1978 when the Sydney Metropolitan Touch Football side played the Touring Great Britain Rugby League Team, an excellent touchdown-scoring spectacle, with the local team winning with a disputed touchdown on the siren. As more people began to play Touch, organised competitions developed. Very soon other associations emerged and representative matches have been played since 1978.
In 1979 the Queensland Touch association was formed, with the four initial districts of North Queensland, Central Queensland, South East Queensland and Wide Bay. The game soon blossomed in Queensland as well and in 1980 the inaugral National Championships were held. Only three divisions were contested in that year, being the men's and women's open, and the men's over 35s. In 1995 the National Championships catered for eleven divisions which included 1500 players and officials!
The game has also expanded rapidly in recent years, especially in the South Pacific and United Kingdom. The 1999 World Cup in Sydney, Australia, attracted teams from over 20 nations including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, Lebanon, USA, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, England, Italy, Cook Islands, Fiji, Ireland, Malaysia, Kenya, Singapore, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Scotland, Wales, China, Chile and Korea.
The 2007 World Cup, held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, played host to 15 nations. The event was again dominated by the strongholds of Australia and New Zealand, but also featured strong performances by Lebanon, Samoa and host nation South Africa.
There are currently 250,000 registered Touch players with approximately 500,000 school children playing the sport.
 1985 Australian Touch Team |
 1988 Australian Touch Team |