The South Queensland Sharks were led by Grand Final victories from 5 of their senior men’s teams as they surged to their 13th ‘Golden Boot’ title as champion region of Australia at the 2020 National Touch League (NTL). The Sharks narrowly beat the Sydney Scorpions for the overall title with 5 division championships, two runners up and three teams making the semi-finals out of the thirteen teams representing the region.
The 2020 NTL overall championship for the Golden Boot was so closely contested this year that if any Sharks team had performed any worse, the overall title would have gone to the Sydney Scorpions who have won the title 7 times in the past with two of those being joint titles with the Sharks.
The Sharks were well represented in the referee department once again with four Sharks Referees featuring in finals; Matt Lavery, Matt Butler, Cameron Turner and John Viklund. A big congratulations also goes to Aaron Foxover and Lee Rossow who both received Level 6 upgrades at NTL 2020!
One of the great features of the 2020 NTL was the inclusion of the Indomie All Abilities division with seven of the 119 teams competing taking part in the division that enabled athletes with an intellectual and/or physical impairment to compete along with their family members, carers and friends. The South Queensland region has a strong history with All Abilities programs through the leadership of veteran ‘Sharkie’ Graeme Clancy who leads the program nationally and it was very special to see a South Queensland Sharks All Abilities team feature at NTL and make their way with big smiles on their faces to the semi-final stage of the tournament with strong support from their families and fellow Sharkies.
The 2020 NTL campaign was very much a transition tournament for the South Queensland Sharks under new management and thankfully the off-field team were up to the big task, providing everything the players and coaching staff needed to get the results on the field. Special mention goes to external providers; A Game Sports Medicine who looked after the Sharks various medical requirements, Spare Chef Catering who prepared and served nutritious lunches and Park Beach Bowls Club who did a great job of serving over two hundred Sharkies for dinner through the tournament.
Congratulations to the South Queensland Sharks players, coaches, managers, staff and board for on a tremendous NTL 2020 campaign and thank you to the families for their support to make it possible.
Sharks Results Summary:
Men’s Open – Quarter Finals
Women’s Open A – Semi Finals
Mixed Open – Grand Finalists
Women’s Open B – 15th
All Abilities – T1 Semi Finals
Men’s 30’s – Champions
Mixed 30’s – Semi Finals
Men’s 40’s – Champions
Women’s 40’s – Grand Finalists
Men’s 45’s – Champions
Men’s 50’s – Champions
Men’s 55’s – Champions
Men’s 60’s – 5th
Summary of all Grand Final results: https://touchfootball.com.au/news/2020/03/16/2020-inferno-national-touch-league-results/