1987 Beginnings
2017 The Association celebrated its 30th anniversary on Saturday, 20th May 2017
2024 due to the unavailability of fields, the Association folded. (see below)
| 1987 | First matches (23 May) |
| 1988 | Representative game v. Ipswich churches team |
| 1989 | First summer competition, First men’s competition |
| 1990 | Mixed B grade introduced, Association incorporates |
| 1991 | Men’s B grade introduced |
| 1992 | First women’s competition |
| 1995 | Moved to Tennyson fields |
| 1997 | 10th anniversary function |
| 1998 | First web site |
| 1999 | Player email subscription list, Mixed C grade introduced |
| 2000 | “Swiss” draw system, Fair Play Awards and Mixed D grade introduced |
| 2003 | Scoreboards first used |
| 2004 | Adopted Code of Conduct, Acquired www.bcta.org.au domain name |
| 2007 | 20th anniversary function |
| 2008 | Adopted our logo following a design competition |
| 2011 | Fields flooded (see photo below), first ran Brisbane Christian Schools carnival |
| 2012 | Electronic player registration, 6-a-side introduced for A and B grades |
| 2013 | Mixed E grade introduced, All grades now 6-a-side |
| 2016 | Live the Comp management software |
| 2017 | 30th anniversary function |
Life Members.
- Barry Thornton 1997
- Selwyn Dickfos OAM 1999
- Chris Kelly 2006
- Col Roome 2018
Famous Players
A number regional, state and national touch representatives have participated in our competitions.
Some well-known sportsmen from other sports have also played, including:
- Former Australian cricketer: Shane Watson
- Former NRL players: John Plath and Ken Gittens
- Australian rugby league representative: Ali Brigginshaw
The below was written in May 1997 as part of the BCTA’s 10th Anniversary celebrations
The Brisbane Churches Touch Association was founded by its inaugural President, Barry Thornton, in early 1987. Barry was a member of the successful Sunnybank Church of Christ cricket team which played in the Brisbane Churches Cricket Competition over Summer, and was keen to establish a Winter competition to maintain fellowship and outreach for Churches in Brisbane in a sporting context. The first competition commenced on Saturday, 23 May 1987 at MacGregor State High School with six mixed teams: two from Sunnybank COC and others from Redlands, Acacia Ridge, MacGregor along with a combined Annerley/Kenmore team. The competition was played largely under social rules, with mixed teams fielding five male and two female players under a relaxed touch-and-pass rule, and in bare feet!
The competition remained small and fairly informal for the first three seasons, until a substantial growth spurt in 1989/90. We ran our first Summer competition on Monday nights over the 1989/90, and it was also the first men’s competition. The following Winter mixed season saw an expansion to 10 teams competing in A and B grade. Our budget had grown from $400 for the first season to over $25 000 per year. The Association had a full management structure, with a President, Chaplain, Secretary, Treasurer and Referees’ Co-ordinator, and a supportive Management Committee. We also became incorporated, and played two representative matches against the Ipswich Churches competition side.
The early seasons were dominated by sides from the Sunnybank COC. However, the continuing expansion through 1991 and 1992 saw us move permanently to Men’s and Mixed competitions all year round, and also introduce a Ladies competition. The large influx of players and teams led to much bigger and more competitive premierships, and the emergence of new forces such as Regina Caeli, Gateway Baptist, St Barts, Greenslopes Baptist and St Bernard’s.
The Association has maintained those levels of participation for over five years now, with our capacity limited only by ground availability. Each season is either nearly of fully subscribed, our budget is almost $30 000, and we generally run approximately 350 matches per year. New teams and Churches continue to be introduced, and those that remain frequently switch players and move between Men’s and Mixed competitions. Team fees have been kept at a very affordable level, and the playing facilities at our ninth and hopefully final home at Tennyson are second to none. The Association has never felt its goals would be furthered by affiliation with local or regional Touch bodies. This has helped keep fees down, but has not stopped a significant number of our players from achieving success in other touch competitions and at representative level. We are also able to maintain a level of refereeing which is at least as good as other comparable associations in the Brisbane area.
One satisfying note is the continued membership of so many players, teams and Churches over that long 10 year period or large parts of it. The fact that so many people come back year after year is most gratifying, and an indication that the Association is achieving its goals and satisfying its members’ needs.
Following the recent Annual General Meeting, Barry Thornton was honored with our first Life Membership. There are many other people who have contributed greatly to the Association’s health and well-being over the past 10 years. At the risk of omitting someone, the following persons in particular are worth singling out: Glen Anderson, Gary Epps, Wendy Dickfos, John MacRae and Selwyn Dickfos. All have provided sterling service, and will no doubt be rewarded in part with Life Membership in the future.
Apart from the summaries of each individual season (complete barring a few details which would be well received if anyone has a long enough memory), there are a number of summary pages which faithfully reflect our enormous growth. The Sunnybank COC’s record of 11 premierships looks safe for a few years only as the Gateway Baptist and St Barts teams continue to rack up titles.
The Mixed division has been the mainstay of the BCTA, with premierships being run in all but one of our 18 seasons to date. Sides from the Sunnybank COC dominated in the early years, but competitions these days are much more closely fought. Teams such as Rapid Fire, Crushers and Fore Frontiers have added depth which was lacking in earlier seasons. The mixed division continues to be the Association’s success story, with a record 18 teams competing in the recent 1996/97 Summer season. Continued growth could lead to the introduction of a C grade in the near future.
The initial Men’s competition was held in 1989/90. This was also our first summer season, and due to the cricket commitment of many players on Saturdays, meant that matches were played under lights for the first time at another new venue- Brittain Park at Coopers Plains. While never quite approaching the popularity of the mixed competition, the men’s division has run both an A and B Grade premierships in just about every season every since, and reached a high of 12 teams several times, though numbers have been slightly down over the past couple of seasons. The A Grade competition has been dominated by the St Bernard’s Bandits and Regina Caeli/St Fabian’s teams, while the B Grade has been so open that 10 different sides have each won it on one occasion.
We have run four Ladies competitions to date, each Winter from 1992 to 1995. The competition could never quite become established, with no more than five teams competing in any one season. The high turnover of players meant that no team has dominated this division. Unfortunately, the limited ground capacity and continued growth of the mixed competition make the revival of the Ladies Competition unlikely in the near future.
Overall, 322 teams have competed in a mammoth 2,416 individual matches over 18 seasons, and 58 individual premierships have been awarded. When the costs associated with player insurance, referees and ground hire are taken into account, the average per game is about $60. At $500 for an average 18 week season, the competition is the cheapest around. Combined with an excellent playing venue and a good refereeing standard, it really does represent value for money.
The Association has a number of goals for the immediate future. The positions of Chaplain and President have remained vacant for some time now, and are in need of filling. We appear to have found a permanent home at Tennyson, and expansion to competitions on two nights each week is not out of the question. Whatever course we follow, it is important that we do not compromise our fundamental goals of providing a competitive Christian sporting forum providing fellowship for Christians and non-Christians alike.
The growth, progress and stability of the Association over these 10 years has been quite staggering, and while we are now in a phase of consolidation rather than continued expansion, with everyone’s support it is realistic to expect the next 10 years will be just as successful.
The below was written in April 2007 as part of the BCTA’s 20th Anniversary celebrations.
At this point in the Association’s history it is interesting to reflect not just upon our 20 years of existence, but also to compare and contrast with ourselves of ten years ago.
We have averaged 260 matches per year. To put that in perspective, both the NRL and AFL run about 190 games per year. The budget in our first season was just $180 (6 teams at $30 each) yet we still managed to make a profit! Things have certainly changed as we paid only $100 for fields for the entire season, referees were volunteers and we operated without insurance. Budgets quickly grew to $750 in 1989, $11,000 in 1990 and is currently about $25,000 per annum. Overall we have churned through around $360,000.
Possibly the biggest change has been the end to our nomadic existence. We played at nine different venues in our first decade, but just one in our second- the magnificent Tennyson fields which are perhaps the best touch-playing facility in Brisbane. It is therefore appropriate to acknowledge the contribution of St Joseph’s College, the grounds owners, and particularly their forbearing grounds man Alan Kennedy.Our mixed competitions have continued to be the mainstay of our competition, regularly attracting 16 to 22 nominations and since 1999 comprising four grades. The use of Swiss-style match draws since 2001 has also increased utility by maximizing the number of games between teams of roughly equal ability. It has enabled us to run four mixed grades with as little as 16 teams, while avoiding both too many one-sided matches and the same teams playing each other too often. It also means virtually every team qualifies for the semi-finals in one grade or other.
It is also pleasing to note that we have attracted some second generation players, with a number of sons and daughters of original players and referees now active members of the Association. We have some 20 players (around 8% of current registrations) who were born after 23 May 1987 when the Association played its first games.Unfortunately we have been unable to sustain a men’s competition since 1999, and the ladies’ competition has suffered a similar fate since 1996. This is in some ways a blessing in disguise, as with regular mixed nominations of around 20 teams, and a ground capacity of 24 teams, it would be impossible to run more than one competition on the same night and venue.
We have retained the seven-a-side format as there is no popular support for moving to six-a-side. With our full-sized fields and referees maintaining a good five metres between teams, there is certainly no shortage of try scoring. We can still see no benefit in affiliating with the various touch organizations. As we continue to have teams nominate year after year, so our atmosphere of social yet competitive matches in a Christian environment obviously appeals to them.Another major change has been technology led. The Association first developed its first, very modest, website in 1998. It has grown in sophistication and, with the associated email lists for players (with about 150 subscribers, or about 60% of our members), referees and committee members, is now our primary means of communication. Our “In Touch” printed newsletter is but a faded memory. The on-line archive has recently been completed and contains the results and points tables for all our past seasons. We have also acquired our own domain name: www.bcta.org.au.
Another innovation since 2002 has been our Fair Play awards. At the conclusion of each round game, referees award each team up to 3 points in the Association’s Fair Play awards. Teams regularly achieve very high ratings, with about half qualifying for the fee discount by achieving a perfect score.One-day touch carnivals were run in 1998 and 1999 with modest success. We are willing to run similar events in future if there is sufficient interest, though they do not seem attractive to the majority of our members for some reason.
Gateway Baptist (18) has overtaken Sunnybank Church of Christ (13) as the most successful church in terms of premierships, while St Barts, Sunnybank Baptist and Kenmore Baptist have all enjoyed considerable success over the past decade.It is appropriate to acknowledge the efforts of a few people who’s contributions make Association what it is. These include Life Members Barry Thornton, Selwyn Dickfos and Chris Kelly, our past and present office bearers and committee members, and our happy band of referees. The position of Chaplain has remained vacant for most of the past decade, and a fair proportion of the decade before. This is something of an omission in an Association such as ours, and will hopefully be rectified. Thankfully it has not compromised our fundamental goals of a Christian sporting forum providing fellowship for all its members.
Ten years ago we recognized that the Association was entering a period of consolidation rather than continued expansion. It is very gratifying that we have maintained our high levels of achievement in terms of members, fellowship, playing facilities, communication, financial management, administration and refereeing over that decade. Teams and individuals have and gone, and sometimes come again, but the Association has remained strong and stable throughout. Happy 20th Anniversary to all our past and present members.
2024 March 5th – Facebook post
It is with great sadness that we announce that our upcoming winter season is cancelled. The College has reneged on their offer of field hire and we have no alternative venue. It seems likely this will mean the end of the BCTA as a going concern. Thanks to everyone for your support over the decades, it’s been a great ride. God bless.
https://www.facebook.com/BCTA.Brisbane.Churches.Touch
Facebook Comment re above:
BCTA was such a rite of passage for kids growing up in the 90’s like Kate Yap Kirsten Van Der Walt Steph Bule Laldam and myself. We’d watched many Son State game competitions and heard about the cool, older kids like Paula Anderson Vicki Hawkins Dale Peddie Craig Stanway and many others playing touch footy. We were then old enough to finally play touch footy and we felt like we’d made it!!
For generations it has been a great way to connect with friends from church like team mates from SAVAGES…. Stephen Parker Matt Phillips Amanda Henderson Brad Lynch Niel Van Der Walt.
It was a fabulous way to meet new friends like PRETTY IN PINK players Jason Appleby, Renae Appleby, Mark Morton, Eva Morton, Pip Wheeley, Michelle Andrew, and SDBC players like Rachelle Barrie, Jo Carpenter-Bates, Nathan Bishop, Scott Carpenter, many more teams.,
It was an amazing opportunity to bring non church friends like team mates from PIRATES (we even had a team cheer) Todd Veling, Shane RowdyForest, Jennifer Bryer, Rob Finucane, Ben Stewart and many more.
It was great to see that age was no barrier 
Wazza Margy, Peter McCullough. To see Selwyn reffing all those years and generations of Keevers Sheridan, Criddle Leeana McCullough, Tamara Davis playing was lovely.
Cheekily it was also a great opportunity to see love blossom in a Christian environment as Andrew Lynch and I had many long chats in the chaperoned cars in the carpark… I’m sure we weren’t the only ones.
So I guess a short way of saying it is thank you. Thank you to Christian Kelly and the team of chappies, refs, board and anyone who has been involved over the decades.
30 Year Statistics:
| Measure | 1987-1997 | 1997-2007 | 2007-2017 | Total |
| Seasons | 18 | 21 | 21 | 60 |
| Premierships | 58 | 77 | 86 | 221 |
| Teams | 322 | 367 | 425 | 1,114 |
| Games | 2,416 | 2,761 | 3,411 | 8,588 |