The game of Touch rugby played around Sri Lanka has finally received official tag being inducted into the World body in December 2012.
The Sri Lanka Federation of Touch (SLFT) is the newest entrant to the FIT community who proudly welcomes the SLFT membership. The progress made by SLFT to date has been outstanding with coaching and refereeing programmes being conducted at the beginning of this month for the benefit of prospective technical educators.
SLFT and FIT Secretary Genenral Dennis Coffey was in Sri Lanka 13th May and met with the Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage to progress registration of the game. Representatives of SLFT are also scheduled to present a plan for the next 4 years including participation at the TWC 2015 and hosting the regional Touch championships when the FIT South Asia regional meeting convenes in Abu Dhabi in June this year.
Commenting on his trip to Sri Lanka Dennis Coffery stated : “Having visited Sri Lanka I have been able to see for myself how important the game of Rugby is to Sri Lankans. After witnessing a couple of touch sessions that were played at a recreational level, I can safely say that the game of touch has great potential in Sri Lanka and the country as a whole could be a force to reckon with in time to come.
Touch is an invasive non-body contact sport played by 2 teams comprising of six players each on 70M x50M field. The sport which is an off-shoot of Rugby consists of two 20 minute halves with a 5 minute break. The game can be played on grass or beach or indoors with slightly modified rules.
The game of Touch which originated in Sydney Australia in 1965 and rapidly gained recognition around the world, is a game that can be indulged by anyone and very popular with families as well as in high level competition.
The world body – The Federation of International Touch (FIT) was established in 1986 with founding members Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. At present there are 52 FIT members world-wide.
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