NRL Chief Executive Dave Smith and Touch Football Australia Chief Executive Colm Maguire together unveiled the new ‘NRL Touch Football’ branding at the opening of the TFA National Touch League (NTL) Championships in Coffs Harbour.
It was also announced that Dave Smith and NRL Head of Football Todd Greenberg have accepted an invitation to join the TFA Board of Management as part of the strategic alliance launched in August last year.
The new NRL Touch Football brand was displayed on the NTL Championship field and features the logos of both sports. It will be used to back the combined recruitment strategies through playnrl.com and will feature in a targeted television commercial to be launched later this year.
Mr Smith said he was delighted to be able to support the best touch players in the country at their national championship and that growing the game’s recreational base was one of the NRL’s key strategic objectives.
“It is fantastic to be in Coffs Harbour today to see the incredible skill and fitness of Australia’s best touch football players,” Mr Smith said.
“The NTL is TFA’s premier event and features many former NRL stars and some current Jillaroo players. It not only demonstrates the historic links between our sports, but also our new partnership in action.
“We’re very supportive of Colm and the TFA and our strategic alliance provides both sports with unique opportunities to work together, leverage opportunities and grow our participation numbers as look create Australia’s largest sporting community.”
The NRL TFA strategic alliance was launched in August 2013 and represents the biggest boost to participation and game development in the history of either sport.
It will bring more than 1.03 million participants together playing in competitions under a joint NRL-TFA banner. This is in addition to the 844,000 girls and boys who currently take part in NRL Development programs each year.
“The very welcome appointments of David Smith, CEO of the NRL and Todd Greenberg, the Head of Football to the Touch Football Australia Board is as significant, as it is momentous for our sport of Touch Football and future direction,” CEO Touch Football Australia, Mr Colm McGuire said.
“It marks not only a significant milestone for the sport but a great opportunity to forge more formal governance links between both bodies; providing for the NRL a deeper understanding of our sport, our people and the way we conduct our business and our overall approach, more generally – and vice-versa.
“We always considered this to be a very important step in terms of our future direction and building a stronger partnership in a phased approach, among other initiatives.
“One such consideration is the development and unveiling of the NRL Touch Football brand which will now also provide for existing and future participants of our sport a more visual demonstration and clearer signal of the product and the partnership in action.
“This is just one part of our phased announcements with other strategies and initiatives around joint participation, advertising and promotions and online activities ongoing.
For more information about the strategic alliance and the NRL please visit http://www.austouch.com.au