North trio keep us in touch with the sport of Touch

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24 April, 2008

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Peter Faasen de Heer

North trio keep us in touch with the sport = of=20 Touch

Published: =20 27 March, 2008

A DRIVE to develop the sport of touch rugby in Scotland is = being=20 spearheaded by Peter Faasen de Heer who now lives in Edinburgh but = was=20 brought up in Sutherland.

The 39-year-old was appointed president of the Scottish Touch=20 Association at its annual general meeting last September.

Former Golspie High School pupil Peter is the younger son of = Bill and=20 Betty Faasen de Heer. He moved to Brora with his family at the age = of ten.=20 A politics graduate from Aberdeen University, he went on to = qualify as a=20 teacher but now works at St Andrew's House in Edinburgh as a = policy=20 executive in the Scottish Government Public Health and Well Being=20 Directorate.

He became involved in touch rugby =96 or "touch" as it is more = commonly=20 called by those involved in the game =96 in his early twenties = when a=20 workmate suggested they put a team into a local league.

Touch is a minimal contact sport which was developed in the = late 1960s=20 in Australia and New Zealand as a training mechanism for Rugby = League. It=20 rapidly caught on and became a sport in its own right, gradually = spreading=20 from the Antipodes into Europe. It has been played in Scotland = since=20 1991.

The game is played by six-a-side teams on a pitch half the size = of a=20 rugby field and using a slightly smaller ball.

No tackling, lineouts, scrumming or kicking are involved and = the aim is=20 for each team to score "touchdowns" and prevent the opposition = from=20 scoring.

Peter said: "The beauty of touch is that it emphasises speed, = agility=20 and skill rather than brute force. You don't need to be built like = a big=20 rugby player to play the game at high level. A lot of players who = play for=20 Scotland have never played rugby before.

"Because it is not reliant on physical bulk and strength, it is = much=20 more accessible to everyone, including women, children and older=20 people."

While still in its infancy in Scotland, the sport is growing = fast, with=20 well established leagues in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and = much newer=20 leagues in Dundee and Perth.

Peter, who plays with an Edinburgh mixed team, the = Globetrotters, has=20 been capped 32 times for Scotland.

It was while participating in the 2003 World Cup in Japan that = he=20 realised just how far the sport had to go in Britain compared with = other=20 countries.

He said: "Japan was a huge learning experience because it made = not just=20 myself, but a number of others, realise that there was very little = being=20 done to develop the game in Scotland.

"It was very clear from my experience in Japan that we had a = long way=20 to go."

Peter and two other players formed a group called "Taking Touch = Forward" in 2004 and in August the following year went on to form = the=20 Scottish Touch Association which is affiliated to the Federation = of=20 International Touch.

Ironically, given the game is not played formally in the = Highlands,=20 Peter is one of three Association officials to hail from the Far = North.=20 Director of Coaching, Iain Craik, a consultant subsea engineer, is = from=20 Embo and is married to Rowan Mackay of Dornoch. Director of = Sponsorship=20 and Marketing is teacher Peter Robertson who was brought up in = Tain but=20 has north west Sutherland connections. His grandfather, Matthew = Elliot=20 Ross, ran the Scourie Hotel in the first half of the last century, = eventually retiring in 1943.

The Association is now working hard to drive the game forward = and=20 establish a proper structure.

Already in place is a referee training programme which has seen = around=20 150 players qualify as referees =96 the highest number of any = European=20 country.

Three Scottish referees took part in the 2007 World Cup in = Africa for=20 the first time ever.

Plans are now well in hand to set up a coaching system with = senior=20 Australian coach Denis Coffey set to visit Edinburgh in May.

And Peter has just laid out the Association's vision for the = future in=20 a four-year strategic plan which lays down the framework to take = the sport=20 in Scotland forward to the next level.

The organisation is also beginning to form partnerships and = links with=20 private sector groups and earlier this month celebrated the start = of a two=20 year partnership deal with Scottish Rugby Union.

"Our partnership with the Rugby Union is a huge stride forward. = The=20 deal allows us to tap into their network. We are using rugby to = help=20 develop touch and they are using touch to help develop rugby," = said=20 Peter.

Last year the Association beat off stiff competition from New = Zealand=20 to host the next World Cup in Edinburgh in 2011.

"We have already started planning =96 that is why our strategic = plan=20 takes us to 2011. We want to use the World Cup as a means to try = and bring=20 about more interest in the game," said Peter. "We're looking for a = knock-on effect. Many people don't know what it is about so we are = looking=20 for the World Cup to bring greater recognition to the sport and = greater=20 awareness of it to the general public. If we achieve that, then it = will=20 have been a success."

Peter would love to see more touch played in the north, but = says it=20 needs local people to come forward as volunteers. "The three of us = are=20 from the north and we can see there is very little going on at the = moment=20 as far as touch is concerned.

"We've started to look at it, but for a group of volunteers it = is very=20 difficult to find the time," he said.

"Partly it has to be done through the schools because that's = where the=20 scope is to get kids involved and put a youth development strategy = in=20 place. The problem is you cannot just walk up to somewhere, and = say, right=20 you are going to set up touch. We cannot and would not want to run = touch=20 competitions in the North from Edinburgh.

"It just needs someone to see the light and step up to do the=20 co-ordinating in the north. If we do get someone then we can = deliver=20 coaching and refereeing courses. We have got a resource package = ready=20 should anyone be interested in taking the sport forward and there = are a=20 number of people who will be more than happy to travel up to = deliver some=20 courses and give assistance and advice."

For further information visit http://www.scottishtouch.org.uk= /=20 or contact Peter at president@scottishtouch.or= g.uk.

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