FIT Hall of Fame
FIT Hall of Fame
Inductee Bios
Peter Walters (New Zealand)
Peter was the first Touch player to reach 100 international caps. He achieved this in 2011 at the World Cup in Edinburgh, Scotland. Peter currently has 130 Caps, 97 of which have been achieved at World Cup events. From 1988 to 1997 (9 years) he played open divisions and from 1999 to 2019 (20 years) he represented in age divisions. Peter has scored 127 tries in his international career and is the leading scorer at World Cup events with 119 tries.
In 2022 Peter became an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Touch, awarded by the New Zealand Government. He has received multiple Touch NZ Awards over the years, including a Service Award in 1998, Players Award in 2004 and the Touch NZ Distinguished Service Award in 2016. In 2022, the then FIT President welcomed Peter into the FIT Legends Club.
In conjunction with his playing career, Peter has been active since the late 1990’s in developing Touch throughout the South Pacific, Asia and Europe by taking his Galaxy (or Academy) teams on tours and conducting coaching clinics and courses. Peter is referred to as a "Legend" or"Mr Touch"by many who have crossed his path.
Kerry Norman (Australia)
Kerry was the first female Touch player to attain 100 international caps and the second person overall to reach that milestone. She achieved this at the 2011 World Cup in Edinburgh, Scotland. Kerry’s 104 caps were attained in her career from 1988 to 2011 and include 76 World Cup caps, 36 as a Women’s Open player and 40 as a Coach.
Kerry received another 19 caps as a player (1986 – 1988) and coach in Tests for Australia. She received an additional 9 caps as the Women’s Open Coach at the 2005 All Nations tournament in New Zealand.
Kerry was Vice-Captain of the Women’s Open Team at the inaugural World Cup in 1988 and again for Tests in 1988. She was also Captain of the Women’s 30 Team at the 1999 World Cup. Of the 104 international games in which Kerry was a player or coach, her teams never suffered a loss. She scored 20 tries in her international playing career at a time when international events for women were extremely limited. Kerry was inducted into the Australian Touch Football Hall of Fame in 1990.
Scott Notley (Australia)
Scott, like Peter Walters and Mark Boland, was a freakish player with exceptional skill levels. He has 61 international caps, 44 of which were attained at the 1988, 1995 and 1999 World Cup events in the Men’s Open Division and the Men’s 30 division in 1997. Scott captained Australia at the World Cup in 1991, 1995, 1997 and 1999 and for Test matches in 1991, 1993, 1997 and 1998. He was the Men’s 30’s Player of the Series at the 1997 World Cup and scored 42 tries in his international career.
Scott’s rivalry with Mark Boland at State level (Queensland v NSW) was unparalleled, but when representing their country together, their teamwork was legendary. Scott won the 5 World Cups he played in and was Captain of 4 of them. Scott played in 17 Test matches, losing only 3 games.
Scott’s greatest moment was at the 1995 World Cup Final when Australia came from behind to defeat New Zealand 5-1. He recalls this win as a career highlight. Scott is regarded by all as a great ambassador for the sport and was inducted into the Australian Touch Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
Scott was welcomed into the Australian Touch Association (ATA) Legends Club in 2001 and into the FIT Legends Club in 2003.
Karen Smith (Australia)
Karen is widely regarded as one of the best female players to play the game. She attained 27 international caps in an era where international competition for women was extremely limited. Karen achieved 19 caps at the 1988 and 1991 World Cups, where she captained the Australian Women’s Open teams to victory.
Karen also captained the Australian Women’s Open Test Teams in 1987, 1988 and 1991 for a further 8 caps. Karen, along with her adversary and teammate, Kerry Norman, was a standout player during this time. Between 1982 to 1988 the two players were awarded equal Players of the Series at the Australian National Titles.
Karen was inducted into the Australian Touch Football Hall of Fame in 1988 and was welcomed into the ATA"Legends Club" in 2002.
Mark Boland (Australia)
Mark, along with Scott Notley and Peter Walters, was a great ambassador throughout his career and possessed exceptional skills. Mark has 37 international caps, 25 of which were gained at World Cups between 1988 and 1999 in the Men’s Open Division. He captained Australia at the first World Cup in 1988 and was Vice-Captain for the 1995 and 1999 events. Mark was also the Australian Captain or Vice-Captain in Test matches in 1998, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1998, all in the Men’s Open division, losing only 3 of the 12 Test matches in which he played.
Mark’s finest achievement was in the 1995 World Cup Final in Hawaii. After being defeated by New Zealand in the preliminary rounds and the semi-final, Australia was down 1-0 at half time, mainly due to the side-stepping wizard, Man of the Series from New Zealand, Remus Gentles. However, Mark (Bus) Boland stole the limelight in the second half; combining his inspirational defence and
deft passing, he led his team mates to set up 5 second half tries, restricting New Zealand to one try for the game. Although Bob Brindell was named Series MVP for Australia, the final belonged to Mark.
Mark scored 18 tries in his international career. He was inducted into the Australian Touch Football Hall of Fame in 2003 and welcomed into the ATA's Legends Club in 2001.
Kristy Judd (Australia)
Kristy is a five-time Women’s Open World Cup winning player. No other player, male or female, has represented in the Open Divisions in five consecutive World Cups - 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011. Kristy attained 69 international caps with 45 being at the World Cup level. She scored 34 tries in her international career and her teams during this time never suffered a loss at World Cup events.
Kristy also played fifteen (15) Test matches between 1997 and 2012, losing only two games in these fifteen years.
Kristy is still seen as an icon and role model for the women’s game and has been a mentor to young and up and coming players, not only in Touch Football, but other sports as well. Many players state that she was a major inspiration to their careers and have modelled their game on hers. Kristy was an outstanding competitor with a very astute touch brain, individual brilliance, initiative and ability to read the game. Kristy was inducted into the Touch Football Australia Hall of Fame in 2024.
Bobby Brindell (Australia)
Bobby played Men’s Open in 4 World Cups from 1988 to 1999, for a total of 35 World Cup caps. He was named Player of the Series in 1998 and 1991 and was runner up in 1995. Bobby was also Australia's Player of the Series in the Men’s Open at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups. He attained another 10 caps, when representing his country, in Men’s Open Test Teams from 1988 to 1998.
In the early years of international competition, the ability to earn international caps was extremely limited. Due to his talent and skill levels Bobby stood out, along with some other great Men’s Open players during this period, which is reflected by the Player of the Series Awards he earned. Bob scored 12 recorded tries in his career, however official try scoring documentation was not kept in his earlier playing years.
Bobby was welcomed into the ATA"Legends Club" in 2002 and the then FIT president welcomed him into the FIT Legends Club later in the same year. Bobby was inducted into the Australian Touch
Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
Stacey Gregory - Australia
Stacey was an icon of the mixed game during her time on the international stage. Without peer as a female mixed player, she was defensively as strong as her male counterparts and in attack stronger
than most of her male counterparts. Stacey possessed the complete game as a female mixed player with superior ball skills, agility, vision, ability to read the game and a never-say-die determination.
Stacey represented her country from 1988 to 1998 collecting 38 World Cup and 9 Test caps. During this period, she was Co-Captain or Vice-Captain for the 1991 and 1995 World Cups and Test matches in 1991, 1993, 1997 and 1998, scoring 11 tries for Australia, again at a time when try scoring records were not kept.
At the 1998 and 1995 World Cups, Stacey won the Player of the Series Award in the Mixed Open division. She was welcomed into to the ATA" Legends Club" and was inducted into the Australian
Touch Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
George Jahnke (New Zealand)
George, also known as George Albert-Jahnke, was a renowned mixed-division specialist in his early playing days. George attained 60 World Cup caps from 1995 to 2019, scoring 64 tries. He played Tests for New Zealand between 1997 and 2012 in the Mixed or Mixed Seniors divisions, scoring 21 tries and collecting another 17 international caps.
George earned 10 more caps by representing his country at Other International Matches in Europe and at the All Nations in 2005. He was a member of the NZ Mixed Test Team in 1993 which handed the Australian Mixed Team their first-ever defeat. This set a trend for the New Zealand Mixed Teams, defeating Australia in Test matches twice in 1997, once in 1998 and twice in 2001 and 2002, thus becoming the dominant Mixed Team during this period. George was also a member of the NZ Mixed Teams which won the 1999 and 2007 World Cups. George received the Touch NZ Players Award in 2016 for services to the sport.
Katrina Toohey (Maher)
Katrina is one of the icons of Australian Touch Football. Kitty (as she was affectionally known) started playing Touch at the age of ten in a local Cronulla (Sydney NSW) competition and, at age 16, became the youngest female to represent her country in the Australian Women’s Open Team. An outstanding performer, Katrina played as hard at the end of the game as at the start. Her great skills, vision and inspirational leadership set her apart from the rest of the players. She was one of the mentally toughest players to have ever played the game.
Katrina represented Australia at three World Cups in 1991, 1995 and 1999, earning 28 caps, scoring 7 tries and being named Player of the Series at the 1995 World Cup. Katrina played Tests for Australia from 1986 to 1997, earning another 9 caps, and never tasted defeat at an international level.
During her career, Katrina captained the Australia Women’s Test Teams in 1993, 1997 and 1998 and the World Cup Teams in 1995 and 1999. In 2001, Katrina was welcomed into the ATA" Legends Club" and in 2003 she was inducted into the Touch Football Australia Hall of Fame and the NSW Touch Hall of Fame in 2007.
Kopae Irihei (New Zealand)
An inspirational leader and highly skilled player, Kopae captained the New Zealand Mixed Teams through their "purple patch" winning streak against Australia. He represented his country at the 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003 World Cups, earning 39 caps. Kopae played 16 Test matches from 1991 to 2002, winning 11 of them, including a 3-0 whitewash of Australia in 1991 in Hamilton NZ.
A quiet individual off the field, Kopae led by example on the field with his brilliant ability to drive his team in both attack and defence. He scored 19 tries at World Cup events and another 10 during his Test career. In 2004 he was the fourth player to be awarded the Touch New Zealand Players Award, with only eight other players having received this award.
Sharlene Bannister-Plumridge (New Zealand)
Sharlene was a skilful mixed division player from 1997 to 2007, representing New Zealand at the World Cups in 1999, 2003 and 2007, attaining 29 caps and scoring 23 tries. At the 2007 World Cup, New Zealand's Mixed Team defeated Australia in the Grand Final and Sharlene received the Player of the Series Award ahead of the male players in her team. She played 16 Test matches in 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002, scoring 9 tries. Sharlene received 11 more caps when competing at Other International Matches for a total of 56 caps for her country.
After retiring from international competition as a player, Sharlene offered her services to the refereeing fraternity and in 2023 was called up to referee her first Test Series in the Women’s and Mixed divisions. She had five appointments (caps) for games between New Zealand, Australia and Japan.