Monday, February 04, 2013

With the 2013 Super Trans Tasman almost upon us, starting with the Youth Series commencing on Tuesday, www.austouch.com.au caught up with Touch Football Australia’s High Performance Manager, Wayne Grant to learn more about the Australian Youth teams in the lead up to the series.  

18’s Boys

“Dave Nolan is in his first national role after positions in the Masters and Youth programs before. This is his first head coach role. He’s very thorough and methodical and has done his homework, so he has the team well prepared. The team is young and keen, with all of them on debut. They are quite a fast and fit team.”

Players to watch: Jason Norford, Josh Rozairo, Jed Ibbotson

18’s Girls

“Another young and talented team who are also all on debut. They are definitely ready to go, they had a great training camp, they just need to produce that on the field now. They’ve been well prepared, JC (coach – Justin Creighton) and Paul (assistant coach - Paul Cobham) have done quite a good job and have done all of their homework.”

Players to watch: Jordan Lovejoy and 15-year-old Hannah Dyball

20’s Boys

“The 20’s Boys are vastly different from the 18’s Boys in that they’ve got a vast range of Men’s Open level players. The addition of Sam Brisby is immeasurable, who is a welcome return from injury. There is a lot of Men’s Open elite domestic level experience and we’ll be looking for them to do very well. For Paul (coach – Paul Sfeir), who has had experience coaching under Australian Men’s Open mentor, Tony Trad, this is his first national appointment and he’s really looking forward to it.”

Players to watch: Sam Brisby is back playing Youth again, Oscar Sanft also playing in his third Youth series.

20’s Girls

It’s coach Swain Rovelli’s first national appointment as well after some good domestic elite experience and results. He’s looking forward to the challenge of bringing through our next level Women’s Open players in the 20’s team. The experience of the players that played in the Australian18’s Girls in 2011 should serve them well.”

Players to watch: Jenna Hitch, coming back from a series of Women’s Open in Mudgee, she’ll lead the team well.

There are plenty of ways that you can keep up-to-date with all of the latest news and results from the 2013 Super Trans Tasman Series, which is taking place in Auckland from Tuesday, 5 February until Sunday, 10 February 2013.

Touch Football Australia will be reporting live during the games on its social media pages, which can be found by clicking on the links below:

Facebook – www.facebook.com/touchfootballaustralia

Twitter – www.twitter.com/touchfootyaus (be sure to use the #transtasman2013 hashtag)

Instagram – Search for ‘Touch Football Australia’

The www.austouch.com.au and www.transtasman.mytouchfooty.com websites will have all of the latest news, information, stories and match reports uploaded to the sites.

Highlights from the series will also be uploaded to the Touch Football Australia YouTube channel throughout the event – www.youtube.com/touchfootballaus.

Be sure to also send in your message of support to the Australian teams in the lead up to the series, which will then be posted on the www.austouch.com.au website in the lead up to and during the series. You can do this through any of our social media sites or send an email to media@austouch.com.au with your message.

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