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Touch was introduced to Wales in 1988 by the arrival of Paul Nepia and David Swain - two individuals who had developed a passion for the game in their native New Zealand.
A league was initially set up in Cardiff involving 24 male teams at the Cardiff HSOB ground, running for 10 weeks in May to July. The league quickly became popular in particular with male rugby players looking to improve skill levels and retain fitness levels through the summer months.
The next few years saw continued and steady increases in participation levels, particularly among women with the tournament re-located to the Canton RFC ground.
Elite competition in the early days comprised of the winners of the main competition entering as club teams into the UK National Championships, competing against the best National, Regional and Club sides from all over the world. Welsh success at these tournaments was commonplace via the Kiwi Dragons team of Cardiff coached and motivated by Paul Nepia, great nephew of all black legend George Nepia.
The Wales Touch Association (WTA) was established in 1999 to promote the development of touch in Wales, and to enable Welsh players to represent their country at an international level at FIT sanctioned events.
The efforts of the members of the WTA, and in particular Neil Perkins, Dave Swain and Ali Eves, have seen participation levels and awareness of the sport increase steadily. Additional league modules running throughout the summer months are well-established in Cardiff, Gwent, Caerphilly and Pontyclun. There is an annual Beach Touch Tournament involving elite squads from all over the UK competing at Pendine Sands in Pembrokeshire.
Wales also successfully hosted the European Touch Championships at the Cardiff HSOB rugby ground in 2002, involving teams from Europe and fuest teams from the Southern Hemisphere.
There are currently 2000 registered players in Wales competing in the various league modules with numbers growing steadily.
In 2006 Touch was recognised as a sport in its own right by the Wales Sports Association, the body which provides advisory, advocacy, consultative and training services to the National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of sport and physical recreation in Wales. For further details on the WSA click here http://www.welshsports.org.uk/
The rise in the profile of Touch in Wales was confirmed as Heineken sponsored the inaugural Heineken Pub 7s tournament. In association with the WTA and the England Touchrugby Association an Anglo-Welsh Touch game was held as a curtain-raiser to the 2006 Heineken European Cup final held at the Millennium Stadium
A number of initiatives have been identified to expose Touch to an increased audience. They will demonstrate the benefits of the game to potential participants to take up the game. (see community initiatives for further information)
This will include offering the opportunity for mothers, fathers, and children to play together in a common physical activity, participation in the sport in either a competitive or recreational capacity and the development of fundamental skills that can readily be transferred to other sports.
These community programmes will seek to increase participation at grass roots level particularly among women and juniors, as well as continuing the commitment to develop the International squads to enable them to compete effectively on the world stage.
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