This month, our Marketing Director Jane Gimber caught up with Italia Touch and their President, Stefano Emmi about the progress that his National Touch Association are making.
Who? Italia Touch (IT)
President: Stefano Emmi
Number of clubs: 25
Insight: Since the 2012 European Championship in Treviso, Italia Touch (IT) has improved its internal organization and structure significantly. IT has increased the number of teams across the country, 80% of which are located in the North and 20% in central Italy.
IT has worked hard to allow the clubs the opportunity to improve their way of playing. There are currently 25 teams in the Italian championship, which is played across a series of tournaments throughout the year and results in an overall final ranking – in a similar style to tennis and golf championships. Furthermore, both international teams and prospective clubs, are welcome to participate in IT tournaments.
There are still challenges with the development of the sport. The Italian system is not conducive to helping the touch movement spread and grow: it does not encourage the development of sport with children and teenagers in schools and touch is not seen as a prominent sport nationally. In order to change this, IT has been trying to work out an agreement with the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR), and Touch has been recognised by the CONI (Italian National Olympic Committee).
IT is also aiming to collaborate with an institution for the promotion of sports in order to spread our sport in Southern Italy and the islands. For these reasons, every EFT team is more than welcome to participate in our tournaments! Our sunny country is waiting for you!
