Having an extra 12 teams in this year’s competition has yet again confirmed for the Yass Knockout committee that they offer a terrific product for the touch football community.
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Considered the highest participated touch knockout football carnival in the world, this year’s event, which took place at Walker Park and O’Connor Park was so successful that head organiser Rod Wise believes that at 116 teams, the competition has probably got too big.
“This year we had 116 teams and next year I reckon we will cap it at 104 teams because that’s about the right size. There are not enough fields to cope with the growth”, said Wise who was one of the pioneers of the competition when it started back in 1989 with 39 teams.
“We don’t have the manpower to make it two venues. We will look at approaching council for at least one more field, it is such a great stimulant for the local economy.
“We were really fortunate that conditions over the two days were good for touch football and the Friday showers helped the playing surface a lot.”
Once again the carnival provided a huge boost to the town’s economy with many local shops and eateries enjoying a windfall from all the visitors coming to town from all over Australia.
“There were over 2000 players and spectators on both days,” he continued.
Accommodation in the town was largely booked out, with many touch enthusiasts opting to pitch a tent at Walker Park on both Friday and Saturday night.
Mark ‘Bus’ Boland who coaches the Mavericks is widely recognised as Australia’s best ever player and he was in charge of the South Coast ladies team as they prepare for the national touch championships in Coffs Harbour next month.
High profile referee David Baggio was on hand to officiate in some of the matches on Sunday. Based at Wagga Wagga, Baggio is recognised as Australia’s best referee and number two in the world.
At a local level, the Yass area produced five teams and there were plenty of familiar faces including a number of 2015 Binalong Brahmans players with Chris Rawlinson, Phil Sparnon and Bronwyn Pollack all strutting their stuff across the two days.
Farah Atallah from Harden was involved with the Southern Suns regional team and the scores from each game are available on the Yass Knockout website.
And there was no shortage of support for the popular event with up to $16,500 worth of prize money being distributed among the finalists with Mr Wise making it known that he and the committee were again impressed with all the local businesses who got behind this year’s carnival.
Winners of the A-Grade tournament were the men’s Merinos, who lost to the Roasters 3-6, the Doylo Grommies had a close defeat of the Young and the Bold with a final score of 3-2, the Rebels faced off team Inferno scratching in a 4-5 victory in the A-Grade mixed round.
Sponsoring this year’s event in no particular order was Soldiers Club, Bendigo Bank Boorowa, Australian Hotel Motel, Royal Hotel, Swaggers Restaurant, Hamilton Hume Motor Inn, Northside Takeaway, Yass Earthmoving, IGA Supa, Chambers Cellars, Tank’s Bakery, Hi-Way Motor Inn, Thunderbird Motel, CJ. and M.M. Beck Tree Removalist Specialists, Davis Faulkner and Co Solicitors, Yass Valley Hire, Dairy Farmers, AGrade Solar Solutions Australia, Firth Furnishings, Darrane PTY LTD, McDonald's and Millers Pharmacy, Bargain Base and Galutzi Cafe.
