Touch adopt new championship format

The 2008 National Provincial Championship (NPTC) will be held in Port Moresby in August with Team NCD and Lae Touch Association to play host to teams from Morobe, East New Britain, West New Britain, Oro, East Sepik, Madang, Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands, Enga and Manus.
Provincial championship divisions to be played includes the open men, open women, mixed open, senior men, senior women, masters +35, U18s men and women.
All winning divisional teams will get a divisional championship cup, with all players receiving gold, silver and bronze medals.
The province title cup will be awarded to the province with the highest gold medal count, at the conclusion of the NPTC.
TFPNG is banking on provincial governments and local level governments to come forward and support the football provincial touch championships with finance and kind, since each team will be flying the provincial flags and carry the same colours of the flags on their uniforms as well.
This medal and cup format has changed to adopt and prepare athletes with the same format played at the SPG and World Touch Cup championships so that they are focused along the same preparation framework.
At the international scene, TFPNG will be sending open teams to the 2009 mini SP Games in Cook Island, then to 2009 SP Games in New Caledonia. Also during May 2011, will be the staging of the open and senior world touch cup in Scotland.
The under 18 youth touch cup will be played in New Zealand in January 2009. If TFPNG misses this event due to time factor they will select a team to attend the national touch championships at the Australian touch championships, which now being opened to FIT members.
TFPNG will be selecting players, managers and coaches for all the above events during the 2008 NPTC and provide lead up games and coaching and training sessions in between to prepare for the mini SPG, the SP Games and the World Cup championships.
The last time TFPNG ever participated in the World Cup was back in 1999 in Sydney, Australia. TFPNG has been in contact with Touch Football Australia, who has assisted TFPNG prepare for these international fixtures by way of actual games played against their top teams, their top coaches coming to PNG to run workshops and training camps for selected players. Referee training is also on the card, and it is TFPNG’s one objective to have at least three PNG referees officiating at the SP Games and the World Touch Cup.






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