Touch Football (rugby League)

Touch Football (rugby League)

Touch is a field sport also known in some countries as Touch Football, or Touch Rugby. Touch is overseen independently by several organisations worldwide, including the Federation of International Touch (FIT), rugby league national governing bodies, as well as commercial enterprises. Touch has traditionally been played in Australia and New Zealand but the sport has expanded internationally and features many regional and global competitions. There have been seven Touch World Cups, the latest in Scotland in June 2011 with Australia to be the next host in 2015.

Touch has a history in rugby league and in rugby union, with the tackling of opposing players replaced by a touch. Touch is therefore not a contact sport but a limited-contact sport. The basic rules of Touch were established in the 1960s.

Distinctive features of Touch include the ease of learning, minimal equipment requirements and the ability to play it without fear of major injury. While it is generally played with two teams of six on-field players, some social competitions allow different number of players per team on the field. It is played by both sexes, and in age divisions from primary school children to over-50s. The mixed version of the game (where both male and female players are on the field at the same time) is particularly popular with social players, and it is widely played in schools.