Three of Parkes’ senior touch football players have secured a place on the Hunter Western Hornets team to play at nationals, one for the first time.
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Fiona Lovett and Sue McGrath are excited to be representing the over 45s women’s side, while Peter Martin will play for the over 50s men’s.
The trio have been selected to compete at the National Touch League (NTL), held at Coffs Harbour from March 7-10.
They caught the eye of selectors at the 2017 Country Championships on October 21 and 22 at Dubbo.
Parkes sent three teams to those championships.
About 25 players were selected for each, with sides reduced to 14 during Hornets trials in Newcastle during November.
It will be the first time Martin will be pulling on the Hornets jersey to play at the NTLs – but he’s no stranger to the NTL atmosphere, having been the Hornets’ over 45s men’s team manager last year.
“I’m excited,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to having the experience of playing.”
Martin is currently Parkes’ under 18s touch footy coach and travelled to Port Macquarie on the weekend to help with the junior players at the NSW Junior State Cup.
He used to play touch football as a child and returned to the sport in the mid 2000s.
“It wasn’t as big then, players treated it more like a warm up for rugby league and rugby union,” Martin said.
“[I returned] when a team of under 15s rugby union players started playing in the local competition and their coach suggested they find some older players for the team.
“It was a very different game returning,” he laughed.
McGrath and Lovett are two of only four players from the western region in the over 45s team.
Two players come from Orange, with the remainder of the women based in Newcastle.
McGrath – who coached the under 16s girls who played at the NSW Junior State Cup – played for the Hornets over 45s women’s last year.
She’s hoping to go one better this year than the 1-0 loss in 2017, with their opponents scoring in the last five minutes.
“There are three teams this year,” McGrath said.
“I’m hoping this year to bring it home.
“There were a bit more women to choose from [during the Hornets trials] this year, which is good – it means there’s a lot of 45s still playing.”
Lovett played with the Hornets about seven years ago with the over 40s team and is excited to get back out on the footy field.
She’s also thrilled her team mate McGrath will be alongside of her.
“I love competing, I’m very competitive,” Lovett laughed.
“And I’m glad Sue is doing it too, it’s a familiar face and we can support each other.
“We’ve been training a lot for this.”
The trio will join remaining Hornets teams for a club training session on February 24-25 at the Newcastle touch fields.
