Women's Club Championship

The inaugural Women's Open Club Championship took place in Buccaneers RFC in Athlone on Saturday 26th April. Five teams took part on the day; Buccaneers, Racoon West, the Tipsters, DSC Wanderers and Old Wesley. With several current Women's Open internationals in their ranks, Old Wesley were strong favourites to win although the competition turned out to be extremely competitive on the day.

After the round robin stage where each team played 4 games, DSC topped the table and qualified for the Cup Final to face Old Wesley. Tipsters and Racoon West qualified to meet in the Bronze Medal Match with the Tipsters coming out on top 4-3 in a close game.

In the Cup final, Old Wesley and DSC fought out a tight battle and were locked at 2-2 at half-time. Old Wesley managed to find an extra gear in the second half to take the title on a 4-2 scoreline. Congratulations to them.

This tournament was a great success overall on what turned out to be a very sunny day in Athlone. As well as the many experienced players on view, there were also a significant number of newcomers who were playing competitive Touch for the very first time. Many of these players looked very promising indeed which bodes well for the future of Women's Touch in Ireland. The next Women's Club Championship will be held on 28th June so watch the ITA social media channels for more information.

Overall MVP:

Keeva Mooney (DSC Wanderers) – Keeva's pace and her eye for a gap proved very difficult for teams to deal with.

Spirit of Touch Award:

Emma Duddy (Racoon West) – Emma guested for the Racoons and travelled all the way from Belfast to take part along with her kids. Now that is dedication to Touch!

Team MVPs

Risa Egerter and Georgia Codyre (Racoon West)

Anna Power (Old Wesley)

Shauna Dempsey (Tipsters)

Niamh Purtill (Buccaneers)

Best Newcomers:

Demi Wright, Rebecca O'Sullivan (Racoon West)

Gin Loughnan (Old Wesley)

Rhema Tselapedi (Buccaneers)

Kerri Edwards (Tipsters)

Zoe Hunt Byrne (DSC Wanderers)