Touch rugby is at the heart of a new initiative by the Rugby Football League (RFL) to increase the numbers of adults involved in the game.

Rugby league has emerged as one of the biggest winners of a record £480 million public investment in sport linking grants over the next four years to increased participation among adults. The sport, has been given an extra £10.9 million or a 59 per cent increase in the allocations announced by Sport England for the 2009-13 period. The RFL is now the best publicly supported national governing body after the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Rugby Football Union.

It is hoped that touch rugby league will help to get more people involved in the sport and for its bit, the RFL aims nearly to double the number of players. It is an ambitious programme for a sport that has struggled to excite many beyond its heartland in the North. The key to its success lies in attracting more women to touch rugby. The target is to increase the number of registered female players from 3,975, most of whom play full contact, to 25,200 over the next four years. Julia Lee, the RFL’s community development manager, said (quote)We researched it and found that in New Zealand and Australia, touch is one of the major sports for women
apart from netball, it is a good thing to keep you fit and healthy and it’s social.
Part of the revamp will mean the women’s competitive rugby league is moved to similar timings to the Super League between April and October instead of the winter months of mud and cold,plus dark nights(end quote).

The RFL hopes to increase the men’s participation base from 53,687 to 83,520 as it seeks to attract more players beyond its core regions. Sport England will audit the RFL’s progress on a quarterly basis, along with all the sports in receipt of Exchequer and Lottery funding.