Charity Touch Comp is a Great Success Nottingham Rugby Chief Executive Simon Beatham’s side, The Great Ramondoes took the men’s trophy at the Nottingham Social Touch competition on Saturday 16th July, with local league side, The Bees taking the mixed honours.  The tournament was organised by Chris Simon of Perfect Motion as part of the Testimonial Year for two Nottingham Rugby stalwarts – David Jackson (Jacko) and Neil Fowkes (Fowkesy), with proceeds going to the local charity Balls to Poverty. Beatham’s ‘Great Ramondoes’, named after one of the players, beat Jacko’s ‘Team Too Ripped’ (clad in figure-hugging orange and grey lyrca) 6-5 in the semi-finals, and Fowkesy’s ‘Team Dave’ 3-2 after a drop off in the final. In the mixed competition, The Bees held off a Black Ops fight-back in the semi’s to win 8-7, before edging out Here Comes the Boom 5-4 in the final. The mixed comp featured double-score rules for touchdowns by female players to try to encourage rugby clubs to move the ball about a bit more! It seemed to go down well and Perfect Motion will be using a similar system during the forthcoming Beach Touch to be held in Nottingham’s Market Square on Tuesday evenings over the summer. Commenting on the day, organiser Chris Simon said: “The day was a great success, raising an estimated Ł1,200 for Jacko and Fowkesy’s Testimonial Fund. We had 14 teams in all, with a good mix of regular teams playing in our Perfect Motion leagues and some newcomers featuring a mix of Nottingham players, supporters and hangers on. Several of Nottingham’s full-time first teamers played a part, with skipper Craig Hammond and USA’s Tim Usaz amongst the big names. Feedback has been excellent and we have already been approached to run a similar event for Nottingham High School on Saturday 10th September. They have some fantastic facilities, with possibly the best pitches we could ever hope to play touch on and we’re hoping to get a similar mix of players, but would also welcome any social touring teams who fancy a weekend in Nottingham!”
NTS – Round 1 Round Up  Saturday 16 April saw the first leg of the 2011 National Touch Series arrive in Nottingham. 20 of the best teams in the country came together to compete for the trophies and league points on offer.
Nottingham Trent University’s Clifton Campus, the new home of Touch in Nottingham, was the setting for an enthralling day of action which saw many hotly contested matches. The Cup competition was won by London Galaxy after a thrilling match against London Otters, with the score finishing at 6-4. The Bowl final saw an end to end game finish 4-3 to Statue Bro, who just held off the challenge of the Bareback Riders. The Plate was secured when Durkas beat the Thames Valley Vikings 3-2. The Shield was taken home by Oxford Touch after a closely fought final against Ghetto Touch ended 2-1. The Salver final was a high scoring match that saw home side Perfect Motion overcome Bath Shortstriders 10-5. The closeness of all the finals and indeed the knockout matches beforehand continues to demonstrate the improving quality of the competition. Chris Simon of Perfect Motion said: “It was a great day for Touch today. The sun was out, the pitches were in great condition and everyone played with a smile on their face. There was a fantastic atmosphere around the tournament as there has been since the inception of the NTS three years ago. We always enjoy having the teams in Nottingham and were proud to host the first leg this year. We’d just like to wish all of the players the best for the rest of the series and hope that all of the England players enjoy a successful World Cup.” | 