The Mount Gambier Touch Association has started its new season with flying colours following an eventful winter.
The first three rounds of the 2020-21 Mixed Summer Competition have already been completed and the enthusiasm continues to rise.
With many hungry for sport after a quiet winter, MGTA president Megan Von Duve said everyone had jumped back into proceedings.
“Obviously everyone has had a bit of a break and no one has played their full off-season sports in winter, so we were all keen to get out,” she said.
“We have actually gained a couple of new school teams this year for that reason, so we went from 14 to 16, which is great.”
A new venue at McDonald Park has also helped the sport build momentum after shifting away from long-time host Vansittart Park.
Von Duve said the new location had given organisers greater freedom and the ability to play double the amount of games each night with two playing surfaces available.
“East Gambier had approached us for a couple of years seeing if we want to come over and play there,” she said.
“The council wanted to run more local events on Vansittart Park, so we struck up a deal to move over to East and it has gone well so far.
“We played at Vansittart Park for around 11 years and previously it was out of town on someone’s property, but now we have two fields at McDonald Park and have use of the back oval if needed.
“We also have use of their club rooms, so it creates a lot better atmosphere.”
Despite new COVID-19 protocols being a common sight, Von Duve said the game itself had not been tampered with and continued to grow.
“COVID didn’t really affect us because our off-season is the winter period, but we do have a few protocols in place,” she said.
“None of the rules have had to change, each player normally has to sign onto a team sheet, but now we just get the referees to tick people off and we just have sanitising stuff around the ground.
“We keep making a profit each year, so we are moving forward and the competition is as strong as ever.”
The association also hopes its popular Your Podiatrist Cup can still go ahead in January, while Sean Fulton, Jessica Kennedy and Yuki Akita are vying for state selection.
The 16 local competing teams are split across three divisions and play every Wednesday night in the 14-round season.
The summer will conclude with the semi-finals and grand final played on Wednesday, February 10 and Friday, February 12 respectively.
