Jade Geiger, Darcy Cabassi: Mackay flavour in touch football national championships

Most people consider touch football a social sport or a midweek activity. But for Jade Geiger and Darcy Cabassi, it is much more competitive.

For many it is just a social sport, but for Darcy Cabassi and Jade Geiger touch football is as competitive as it gets.

The two 11 year olds have been selected to represent Mackay at the National Youth Championships on the Sunshine Coast at the end of September.

Darcy, who was selected for the under-12 boys’ team, said he made the transition from rugby league.

“I play rugby league as a winter sport and then touch in the off-season,” he said.

“I eventually got good at it and made the rep team, we had a trial up in Townsville where they picked the team based on the trials.”

A total of 15 Mackay touch footballers have been chosen to take part in the national championships, with representation across several age groups.

While it is seen as a relatively relaxed and social sport, Darcy said it was very competitive on the field.

“You don’t get to tackle everyone like in normal rugby league, but everyone still tries really hard,” he said.

“We go to Townsville every second weekend for training camps, we usually train about 11 hours over the weekend that we go.”

While there were three other Mackay boys selected in the U12 boys’ team alongside Darcy, Jade will travel to the championships as the only Mackay player in the U12 girls’ squad.

“It’s exciting to get to travel down and play with new people and make some friends,” she said.

“We’ll try our best and have some fun.”

Jade was raised around touch football fields, with both of her parents playing the game.

“I was brought up with it and I love playing,” she said.

“It’s so competitive at a good level.

“I’ll keep playing, I’ve got no reason to stop anytime soon.”