Han River Pirates, Touch for kids starts 7th Sept

Han River Pirates have a lot to announce; their new season starts on September 7th and is open for all boys and girls from 6-15 years. It will run for 10 weeks and is from 9:30-11:00am every Sunday...get ready for some early starts!

In addition, Bev Stratton has set them up with a website so check it out on http://www.hanriverpiratesrugby.com/

ITS 2008 will be held at Korea Military Academy, Taerung, Seoul

The KMA has given permission to use their facilities for ITS 2008 and directions to find this place can be found on www.koreatouch.com
The KMA is in NE Seoul in a place called Taerung, although the Hwarangdae (line 6, 28 mins direct ride from Itaewon) is the closest subway station.
With the first game touching off at 09:00, it will be an early start for teams!!

Taiwan get Touch going...

We were contacted by the Taiwan guys about their efforts in Touch...and a quick look at their website shows they have assembled some great YouTube footage of Touch from Oz...take a look here
http://http://taiwantouch.wetpaint.com/page/Touch+Rugby+Videos
Gotta inspire you ahead of ITS

Spire Touch Championship standings after 4 rounds

1. Te Wei Poiunamu 66
2. Seoul Survivors 52
3. Tits for Hands 44
4. Yonsei Stars 39
5. Hangang Exiles 38
6. Waegook Cook 26
7. Suwon Stormers 18
8. Seoul Sisters17
9. Han River Parents (Grumpy Old Men) 12
10. Royal Frogs 7
11. Paju Pirates 6
12. Raiders 3

Love at first Touch?

It is traditional for Korean honeymooning couples to wear sort of his 'n' hers outfits when they head off. Weekends at the award winning Incheon airport are great for spotting the most twee of get-ups. In this case, it wasn't quite a hoineymoon for Hangang Exiles stalwarts Duncan and Cathy but they were heading out of Korea and into the wide blue yonder (read Oz and N Africa). Their parting gifts, proudly worn, were two ITS 2007 T shirts that (and we have the pics to prove it) they wore all the way back to Canberra.
Our loss is Libya's gain and as we speak, the Tripoli Camels team are preparing for their first run out (really?).

Massive response to ITS 2008, the big Touch tournament in Seoul

So far 20 teams have signed up and more are still pending...come on SheBabs http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shebabs/ and JT and Beijing http://www.beijingdevils.com/Home/touchrugby.html

we want to see you here on Sept 20.

We're having to expand the playing area to cope with the demand and if the weather holds....we'll be looking foir a thousand players and spectators atr this all day party.

Latest news is regularly posted on http://www.koreatouch.com/

Suwon start time brought forward

The tournament will now start earlier so plan to be there at 11:00am....looking forward to a big day of Touch in the 'burbs.. ;-)

Directions for Suwon Stormers Touch Tournament Sat 16 August 2008

Come on out on Saturday....and join the party afterwards in NOW bar (above Purely Decadanet coffee shop....crikey, what a name!).
Tournament is from 11:00-4:00pm (new time)

Directions to field
The details are as follows
We are going to play at Kyng hee University Suwon http://www.kyunghee.edu/campus03.php
If you are driving its Seocheon-dong, giheung-hu, yongin-si, gyeonggi-do 446-701
If you're coming from Seoul get off at Suwon Station line 1
Take a bus from Suwon Subway Station. The bus terminal is across from lotteria fast food at the Aekyung department store side. Take either one of the following buses. They should all drop you at entrance to Kyung Hee University
bus number 900, 7, 7-2
Enter the front gates of Kyung hee (large white columns and statues)- follow the road in straight past the field hockey fields on your left and the soccer field on your left.- the road will curve to the left and go around the mountain/forest area and will loop back down to where you will see a large building with columns and a fountain...- there is a large parking lot (stay to the right side of it) and there will be many buses parked in the back.- you can park there and then walk up a road that is blocked off by small cement pillars.- once you get up the hill you will see the amphitheatre. you will also see the baseball diamond.- the rugby field is beside the baseball diamond- the road leading to it is a dirt road and has stairs leading down to the field. Signage will be posted to hopefully make this more understandable!

11:00 Registration and Referee Meeting
11:30 Captains and Referee Brief
12:00 Tournament touches off

Last call for teams for ITS 2008, pick up Touch still on!

With the roster filling up, the last call is out for teams to enter ITS 2008....please register your team on www.koreatouch.com and get in training!

For Seoul based players, pick up Touch every Saturday morning 9-11am on Yongsan Family Park is still ON! (Bring some water though because it is STEAMING out there).

One week to go before Suwon hosts the Spire Touch Championship

For the second time the Spire Touch Championship goes on the road and this time it is to Suwon where the Stormers will host....contact Patrick on paddykanu@gmail.com for more info on where to find this big event...and the last one before ITS 2008!

Latest news updated for Korea Touch

The website that's all about International Touch Seoul has been updated with latest news on the tournament and tells you all about how to get involved.
With just over 6 weeks to go, it is all hotting up so if your team is enetered, hope the training is going well because competition will be fierce! Will this be the year that a home team captures the trophy? Will Yonsei finally stop choking in the semi finals and show some Korean style?
Check it all out on www.koreatouch.com and book Sept 20 in your diary!

Teams from Singapore and Hong Kong commit to ITS 2008

Will local teams get squeezed out? Certainly spaces are being held for regulars from the Spire Touch Championship and of course encouragement is being made to Korean-only teams to sign up fast....but long term planning isn't normally something you associate with Korea....so wait for a last-minute deluge.

However, with just a week to go before closing out the roster of teams, the tournament looks like being the most international and that surely will help the aim of raising the profile of Touch and showcasing the unique attributes and attraction of the sport.

Lots of work for the organisers now with just over six weeks to go...time for everyoine to come back off their holidays!