Community Foundation support Pride in Touch
- Wigan Warriors Community Foundation supported ‘Pride in Touch’ over the weekend.
- The event saw 8 teams compete in the festival at Manchester Village Spartans.
- Find out more about Touch Rugby with Wigan Warriors Community Foundation HERE.
On Saturday 25th June, Wigan Warriors Community Foundation Touch players took park in the 2022 Pride in Touch Festival by Manchester Village Spartans at Sale Sports Club.
Pride In Touch is a non-profit organisation set up to help remove barriers to participation for LGBTQ+ people in Touch. Whilst Touch is already an inclusive sport, it is the organisations aim to help it become a world leader in this area and through funds raised, they aim to help educate and support everyone in the sport or new to it, so it can truly be a sport for all.
The event saw 8 teams competing under mixed England touch association rules. The Warriors team on the day sported rainbow socks for the event, and the squad consisted of players who started playing the sport through our free exercise and nutrition programme, with an age range of 30+ years.
The Warriors side put in a great display across the festival to finish second, only losing to one team on the day.
Gallery:
On the event, Community Men’s Health Engagement Officer Patrick McLoughlin said: “The pride in touch festival allowed us to showcase the progression participants from our sessions have made over the last 2-12 months. It provided an opportunity for 6 people to play in their first competitive festival alongside family members, within an event which promotes inclusivity.”
Tom Hall, Co-Founder of Pride In Touch added: “Having staged our inaugural Pride In Touch tournament last year in London we were really excited about taking it to Greater Manchester in 2022. We wanted to engage with clubs in the region so seeing Wigan Warriors Community Foundation sign up was a real moment for us.
The day was a big celebration of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies but it was also a platform to show people in the area and beyond that our sport will welcome you with open arms as your authentic self. Having inclusive clubs like Wigan really embrace this will make a difference and will bring more LGBTQ+ people into touch rugby and ultimately improve our sport as a result.
We’d like to thank Wigan for being fantastic participants and would love to see them again in 2023. Maybe our finalists will go one better and take the cup!”
Wigan Warriors Community Foundation run three free Touch Rugby per week, which players of all abilities and ages can participate in. To find out more about the sessions and how to get involved, read HERE.
