The wait is over! The 2023 Colliers Shield touch football competition is set to kick off on March 5th, and the entire Townsville touch football community is buzzing with excitement.
The Colliers Shield is the premier touch football competition in the North, attracting teams and players from across the region. The competition will feature both men's and women's divisions, graded 1 through to 6, providing a level playing field for all participants from the elite to the beginner, and is played on Sunday afternoons from March to July, with this year’s grand finals set down for Saturday 29 July. All games will be played at Townsville Touch Football’s Queens Park playing fields.
President of TTF, Glen Wilson, launched the coming season at the recent TTF general committee meeting.
"We are thrilled to announce the start of the 2023 Colliers Shield touch football competition, which we’ve been working hard over the last three months to bring together.”
"It’s an exciting time for the Townsville touch football community, and we can't wait to see all the teams and players take to the field."
In conjunction with the competition’s seven clubs, TTF have made some adjustments to the rules for this year’s season, the biggest of which sees the removal of game fees which were previously set at $5.00 per player per game.
Wilson is excited to see the effect of those changes has on the competition.
“Our committee has worked with our clubs to remove the weekly game fees, so that our players simply need to turn up and play the sport they love without having to find any loose change.”
The change has resulted in an increase to the team nomination fee across all competitions, however Wilson was quick to assure members that the increase was less than expected, increasing the equivalent cost of 14 weeks rather than the full 20-week season.
“We’ve been able to average out these fees across all competitions, and it will actually result in players paying less this year than they did last year which we know players will be very happy about.”
Wilson also had a suggestion for those that found themselves with cash to spend.
“Spend it at our canteen, because the more we support our bar and canteen, the less we need to increase fees to cover facilities and maintenance.”
The other rule changes to this year’s competition sees adjustments to the qualifying concessions for players who are injured or away due to work, and to conditions around when and how a player can fill-in for teams in higher grades.
Alongside the Colliers Shield, TTF will also run a mixed-gendered competition on Monday nights, for players of all ages and abilities, and an over-age competition on Tuesday nights for players aged 30 years and older.
The mixed competition is popular with competitive and social teams alike, and TTF encourages local businesses and groups to get together and enter a team. The competition is graded to ensure that competitive teams featuring elite players are not put against social teams.
Commencing in May, TTF will also recommence its “Happy Touch” specialised all abilities programme, which includes a modified-rules competition to provides players with intellectual and physical impairments the chance to learn and play the sport with their friends, carers, and families.