Touch football’s founding father quits

 THE father of touch football in the country, Joe Yore, has called it a day after 30 years. 

Yore was the founding president of the game in Papua New Guinea, serving from 1983 to 1996 and again from 2009 to 2011. 

He did not seek re-election in 2012 but was elected technical director with the view to contribute to the development of the code.

While not being president of the national federation between 1997 and 2008, he was involved in a local association as president of the Corporate Touch Port Moresby.

In 2012, Yore, with his daughter Vavine, formed Port Moresby’s third association – Port Moresby Touch Association, which has an eight- club competition sponsored by SP Export Lager.

Yore’s touch life started in 1983 when the sport was first played in Port Moresby. 

By 1984, the Port Moresby Touch Association had been established and Yore was responsible for the incorporation of PMTA and was the only affiliate of TFPNG to be incorporated. He took over from John Balavu in 1989. 

He was a representative player from 1988 at the first World Cup played on the Gold Coast, then in 1991 in Auckland, both in open mixed teams, followed by the senior men’s World Cup team to Hawaii in 1995. 

Yore has played 67 World Cup games for PNG. 

He was World Cup coach for the PNG senior women’s team in the 1991 and 1995 series, with the women ranked fifth in the world after the 1995 Hawaii World Cup.

His only setback in touch football is not taking any PNG teams to the World Cup finals and not attending the 2011 Scotland World Cup because of financial constraints.

At the Samoa Pacific Games and Cook Islands mini Pacific Games, Yore coached the mixed teams to two bronze medals.

Yore’s vision is to see touch football have its own home-ground.