Touch football

Touch football is a sport that is based on Rugby League and was primarily invented in Australia and New Zealand but is played throughout the world, including countries that do not play any form of Rugby. It is occasionally called Touch rugby or simply Touch.

In touch football, 2 teams of typically 7 players per side face each other, 10 metres apart, then passing the ball to each other, backwards, aiming to move past the opposition players without being touched. When touched, the toucher yells "Touch" and they count it as "1 touch", in a similar way to how Rugby League has tackles. There are a total of 6 touches that are allowed before the ball must be handed to the other side.

Unlike Rugby League, there are no tackles (just touches) and also no kicking of any kind is allowed. The only way to score is by scoring a try, though the player does not need to drop the ball to the ground. There are no field goals or conversions.

If a player who is the dummy half (the first player to be passed the ball after the original person) is touched, then possession is given to the other side.

If a foul is awarded (such as a violent tackle of any kind beyond a simple touch, or if an opposition player is offside and more than 10 metres away), a penalty can be awarded. In a penalty, the opposition simply stands 15 metres further back instead of 10 metres.

Touch football is often popular in areas where Rugby is popular, offering a non-violent version, a virtually non-contact sport, where injury is virtually impossible. Touch football is equally popular with males and females.

In Australia, touch football is played nationwide, even in Australian Rules football-dominated states, where it is called Touch football as opposed to Touch rugby, which is its name in Rugby-dominated states. In countries where Rugby is not seriously played, it is simply referred to as Touch.

While the sport is still not very popular worldwide, it does have a much larger number of countries who play it seriously than any version of Rugby does and potentially could end up being more popular than Rugby long-term.