The town's newest and most elite touch football competition got underway last Wednesday, November 24, at Carr Confoy. Although the opening match was delayed by half an hour due to rain, all games went ahead in spite of the continuing deluge.

And, according to tournament co-organiser Sophie Broadhead, the first round went as well as it could have despite the conditions.

"I think it was pretty successful," Broadhead said.

"We were going in without knowing what it would be like, but I think the quality of the games spoke for themselves, and it was a pretty even competition considering the weather and everything. They were all good-quality games."

In the first game of the evening, the Stallions (co-captained by Broadhead and Macleay Robinson) pipped the Royals (co-captained by Abram Kara and Annie Kent) 9 to 8.

Meanwhile, the Angels (co-captained by Ash Mewburn and Lachlan Handley) bested the Jets (co-captained by Vaughan Winnel and Grace Marshall) 8-3.

While the first game was an absolute squeaker, Broadhead was surprised to see the disparity of the second game's score, and said it was an indication of how much the wet weather impacted all the teams' tactics.

"It was a lot more difficult, you had to change your whole game plan," she said.

"Vaughan's team was probably the worst to adapt to it (laughs), but everyone else adapted pretty well."

The idea of the new tournament was to give talented and aspiring representative players an opportunity to develop their skills and spend time on the field with high-level touch footballers.

With 48 players in total participating in the tournament, Broadhead said there was ample potential in town, but still work to be done if these players are to fulfil their potential.

"The boys' talent in Goulburn is particularly strong," she said.

"When Vaughan and I moved back to Goulburn, there was no rep-level tournaments. So we've just tried to pick it up and get the rep stuff going, particularly for the boys.

"The girls have a long way to go, and it'll involve a lot of rebuilding with them."

While each of the teams will have their own focuses and methods during training sessions, the most crucial aspect of the young players' development will take place through exposure and time on the field with the more experienced veterans.

"Having exposure to quality games [is the most important thing]," Broadhead said.

"We now want to send our teams to State Cups and high-level tournaments."

The Goulburn Men's Under 20 side would have traveled to the State Cup this Wednesday, but the weather has forced Touch Football NSW to postpone the event until March 2022.

The second round of the Goulburn Touch Association's Mixed Premier League will take place this Wednesday, December 1. The Stallions and Jets will get proceedings underway from 6pm, with the Angels and Royals to follow at 6.50pm.

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