Princes Park Touch

2025 getting rolling

Posted on Sunday, June 1st, 2025Sunday, June 1st, 2025 by Peter Shaw

All,

Just some things to touch upon as we head into week 5 with the mens competition beginning to wrap up and the mixed now a quarter of the way through (in terms of time not games at least).

Mens final week next week

Next week, week 6 – 11th of June, is the final week of men’s. All mens teams will pay at 7PM and there will be drinks and a brief presentation in the clubhouse. All men’s players are expected to attend so if you are a men’s captain get them to lock it in.

Team lists

Team lists are now due so if you’ve not sent them through already please do so asap. The team list is a two step process

Ensure everyone on your team checks in at least once during the season
Send us a list of full names (not just given names) of everyone on the team

As a rule of thumb if a player on the team is not on the printed team list they either need to check in or you (the captain) send me their name.

Uniforms

If you capatain of a mixed team and have not yet sorted your uniform then we need an explanation as they are expected to be in place by week 3 (this coming Wednesday is week 5).

Being out of uniform lets everyone down ie the player, the opposition, the referee and the spectator.

Fixture and byes

The fixture for week 5 is up and please made some minor changes in mid/early afternoon so if you checked it around then, I suggest checking again as there were some minor changes to game times whilst I was editing it. Everyone else can ignore it as its now complete and won’t change.

https://princesparktouch.com/social-competition/wednesday-draw/

You will also note there have been and will be a lot of byes for mixed in the first 7 weeks of the season (this coming Wednesday is week 5). This is because the men’s and women’s competitions and state of origin. All of which have ended already or will end soon. In fact over the last 9 weeks every mixed team will play every week (excepting week 10 state of origin 3). All teams will get the regular number of games it is simply that all the byes are front ended this season.

Social Touch

As you should all already know Princes Park Touch’s aim are not touch, they are social relationships and opportunities through touch.

To that end I’ll reiterate that if your team is just playing and going home you are missing the whole point.

Anyway to that end I would urge you all to arrange a drink and dinner with your team, ideally at our sponsor the Great Northern Hotel.

Of equal importance through are the relationships between players across teams and with officials and that is something uniquely strong at PPT. As such we will be restarting presidents drinks. So if you see team in the fixture with 🍻 next to the team in the fixture keep afterwards free for a drink with the opposition and the committee.

On why we don’t have forfeits – an opinionated explainer

Posted on Saturday, May 24th, 2025Saturday, May 24th, 2025 by Peter Shaw

Social Competition

This is the second instalment in a series explaining why we do things. It is certainly not required reading but hopefully of interest to our members and possibly helpful to other organisations

PPT has many aspects to it including its refereeing, juniors, women’s, and representative programs. However the main thing that we run and that most are familiar with is our week night social touch competition. There are many things about PPT that are unique and this one is very different to similar organisations, and that we were recently asked to explain, it is the fact that forfeits are not allowed and do not happen at PPT.

This above fact should not come as a surprise to anyone who is playing regularly at PPT. We talk about how they can easily be avoided both in our playing member FAQ (which every regular player is expected to be familiar with) and the captains expectations (which all captains are expected to be familiar with).

But this essay explains why we believe this is vital and to do so its probably best to start with our aims and circumstances.

Our aims are:

To further social opportunities through touch football and other social sports for juniors and adults in the City of Melbourne and adjoining areas

Notice that “social opportunities” are at the forefront. At PPT, we often say we’re not a touch football organisation, we are a social organisation that happens to play touch. Our competitions exist primarily to foster fun and social relationships. That doesn’t mean we don’t take the games seriously, in fact quite the opposite. We are fanatically committed to making sure every game happens, and we expect our captains to share that same commitment, because it is social.

Being “social” means that everyone involved; teammates, opponents, referees, coaches, and officials should treat each other like friends, or potential friends. And when friends compete, they usually do so with intensity and respect and goodwill.

When a game is scheduled, players, referees, and volunteers have all kept that night free to play, officiate, and connect. They’ve made a commitment, and we believe the right thing to do (and what a friend would do) is to honour that commitment.

Forfeits are avoidable and worth Avoiding

Forfeits are easy to prevent with communication and coordination. In competitions where they’re tolerated, forfeits occur in 10–20% of matches. But at PPT every game goes ahead every season. That’s not a coincidence, it’s the result of deliberate culture-building.

It’s about culture, not convenience

Most adult sports competitions are run by businesses or bureaucracies, and many of those are seeing adult participation decline. PPT is different. We’re a member-driven organisation built on relationships, and we’ve grown consistently over time. We believe that’s because we both encourage and require a culture of mutual respect and accountability.

Insisting that every game is played isn’t just about enforcing a rule, it’s also about reinforcing our values. Our games are not transactions. Everyone involved from players to officials contributes their time voluntarily. Each match is an opportunity to connect, to build friendships, and to be part of a community. Competition is part of that, but it comes second to relationships.

Our policy might seem idealistic, but it works and it works because we set standards and uphold them.

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