Few months before Touch World Cup 2019, I was nominated to be part of the TWC Event Team

by Touch Association Philippines. In line with FIT’s goal to help developing nations, I was
chosen to be part of the event team. Having been playing this sport for about 5 years and being
able to help in the local tournaments sometimes, I was still nervous on how I can help the team
in running the big of an event. Even though I am exposed to different international tournaments
around Asia for the previous years and having been lived in Hong Kong for 6 months last 2018,
I still can’t think of how big the most prestigious tournament in our sport can be. This was really
something new to me but I still wanted to be a part of it also to help in developing and improving
our local tournaments here in the Philippines.

This year’s Touch World Cup is attended by 117 teams from 27 nations around the world
scheduled from the 29th of April until the 4th of May. Also coming to the world cup are the 129
FIT refeeres that would officiate the week long tournament. The tournament is hosted by Taman
Ekeustrian located in Putrajaya Malaysia which is able to cater 13 playing fields. Our team
(events team) is headed by Gary Reynolds (tournament director), Kevin Hill (tournament
control), Ian Milne (tournament operations), and Adam Collins (ground announcer and central
timekeeper). Other members from the team are: Linda Acker (France), Guy Barton (New
Zealand), Soyra Milne (New Zealand), Zoe Malarkey (England), Erica Robertson (England),
Colette Richie (Australia), Peter Topp (Australia), Anthony O’Brien (Australia), and Hannah
Chiam (Malaysia). All of them are very experienced people except me and Hannah. Our lack of
experience didn’t hinder us from doing our work as the whole team was very supportive with
each other during the whole week where I realize the value of communication and
understanding between the team. Aside from these people, I was also able to work and speak
with the board of FIT whom I consider very nice people and have shared a good amount of their
experiences to me.

Moving forward to the tournament itself, we started going to the venue few days before the
tournament starts: marking the fields, setting up ropes, restrooms, discussing the protocols
during the tournament and of course, getting to know each other on the event team. Before the
tournament started, we checked every nations players eligibility. Most nations have players
coming from a different country mostly from Australia, New Zealand and those players from
Europe are also mixed due to most of them having British passports. I was amazed to see Hong
Kong and Japan having only local players in their roster, probably because they are also coming
from Asia and I recognize them especially the players from Hong Kong.

During the tournament, we had shifts on the areas we are monitoring. The 13 fields on the
venue was very huge compared to our local tournaments only having 2 fields at max that
doesn’t even reach the official length. It was really exhausting as we are continuously walking
through the areas during our shifts and the weather is also very unstable. We also had fun
using the buggies and our walkie talkies while moving around the venue especially at times we
are in a rush. But then again, even though I was exhausted inside, the games got me exciting
and my rest periods were either watching again some games or eating meals while sharing
experiences with my team and meeting friends from different countries also visiting and playing
on the world cup.

Some of the challenges we encountered during the tournament are: water supply, attending to
injured people, fixing tents/umbrellas for playing teams, covering up holes in the fields and the
constant change of weather of extreme heat and rain showers. We have used whatsapp and
our walkie talkies to continuously reach each other and check everyone’s status. The team has
to also keep on checking the scorecards and referees. There are a few times when there are
referees suffering from fatigue and they really have to rest and find a replacement. I can still
remember a game played by seniors over 50s where they have to stop it on the second half
because the players cannot take the fatigue combined with the heat anymore. Tournament
control is constantly checking the temperature of the area and there are a number of times
where we had to change the games into quarters instead of halves.

I was amazed by how the leaders of the team, Gary Reynolds, Kevin Hill and Ian Milne,
managed the whole tournament. They always have an answer or solution to the problems we
bring to them and I think that was what have made this TWC a very well ran tournament for me.
The adjustment they had on the final games were really on point when the weather was very
bad due to the thunderstorm. They would also come down to the fields whenever we really need
help and manpower, to which we really appreciated. I can still remember when there are
arguments with team managers regarding the rules and protocols of the tournament and these
guys would be the one going down to the fields helping us explain to those people. I would also
like to appreciate the team members, as everyone was always there for each other and
continuously asking one another how are we and how things are doing during the whole
tournament.

I have learned that running this big of a tournament is really on a different level compared to our
local tournaments. I won’t say that we can’t do it here in the Philippines but for now, I think it is
important to grow our community because manpower is really vital in handling such an event. I
hope that as more people get involved in our local tournaments we would be able to host an
international tournament just like the Asian Championships.

I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with different leaders of the community and
members of FIT board regarding our developing nation. I still remember the story from one of
the board members regarding Samoa’s team being locals this world cup compared to their
previous world cups’ attendance and how he was able to see it. He explained to me how
development can happen within the nation and the point is you just really have to start
somewhere. Another notable point he told me was about giving importance to the local
community especially the schools that would encourage the younger generations to be involved.
Australia for example, started touch football on schools involving only the ladies. Then a year or
two, the boys have realized ‘why aren’t we playing this’ and started playing it too. One of the
board members told me, there are different paths on how you can develop the sport in your
country because of a lot of reasons such as the community and the availability of the fields but
one good thing to note is that you can always consult and learn from your neighboring countries
whom you can easily tie up with.