DUBBO Touch president Neil Webster says it is hard to believe the sport has been going for 40 years in this city, but admits it has been an exciting four decades of growth.
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Saturday's gala day at the Riverbank ovals was a huge success for the club, with the annual event doubling as a birthday celebration and drawing players from not only the local competition but also surrounding towns.
Webster admits to being around for most of the 40 years touch has been alive in Dubbo and says he is amazed at how far the sport has come in that time.
"I started playing in 1979 and the competition was small with 12 teams, and it was mainly footy players wanting to stay fit through summer," he said.
"Now we've got 75 teams playing in our summer competitions, let alone what we have in winter, and that includes men, women, mixed and juniors as well.
"There's been some rule changes over the time as well.
"It was originally 10-a-side on a football field, then it went to seven-a-side on a 70mx50m field and now six-a-side on that same size field.
"But we've adapted and grown and we've got a very strong club."
So much so that Dubbo's reputation as a hub of touch football has seen it host multiple country championships, twice been named club of the year, and this year the club gave a presentation at the state conference for all touch football affiliates in NSW.
"We've got a great committee. There's more than 20 people on there who are volunteers and do what they can to help touch grow in Dubbo," Webster said.
"Whenever something pops up they form sub-committees to make sure everything gets done and they do a really wonderful job.
"We've grown a lot in 40 years but there's still areas we can improve and we're looking forward to doing that."
Saturday's gala day was about fun but there was also some events to be won.
In the A-grade final, Mighty Masked Marvels beat Nutricise 5-0 while other deciders went to Buninyong (8-4 over Precise Touching in B-grade), Nyngan Untouchable (4-3 over Mick Nestor Stock Feeds in C-grade), Don Castor Inn (5-4 over Nyngan Innovation in D-grade) and Young And Old (2-1 over Crowe Howarth in E-grade).