By Tom Primmer

Kick It Touch Football is branded the closest social sport to rugby league, and the format is going from strength to strength in southeast Queensland.

The format combines traditional touch football with rugby league concepts and is played by more than 600 men and women on a weekly basis.

Kickit Director Corey Smith said the game gives fans the chance to emulate their NRL heroes without the physicality of full contact rugby league.

“There was a bit of a gap in the market for, I guess touch footy with that rugby league element,” Smith said.

“We wanted to touch on the rugby league aspect and just give everyone a bit of freedom while incorporating the traditional touch football aspects.”

Smith and his team have established weekly competitions at Taringa, Stafford, Carseldine and Toowoomba, with a focus on fitness and building a community of players.

For the more serious players, Kickit runs an annual representative carnival which pits teams from South Brisbane, Toowoomba and North Brisbane against each other.

This year’s tournament will take place at Taringa’s Jack Cook park on October 18, and Smith says it’s an opportunity to see the best players the competition has to offer.

“From a business point of view, is just to give players that incentive and that drive that we do have an extra level besides the nightly competitions,” Smith said.

“Depending on who that person is, that could be a motivating factor to perform well… whether that be a playing standard or just a sportsmanship type standard as well.”

South Brisbane representative Antony Tatkovic said his side is well prepared for the carnival

“It’s always good to be playing against the best players the competition has to offer,” Tatkovic said.

“We’ve trained hard the last few months so hopefully we can perform well on the day and take it out.”

With the format growing, Kickit is looking to expand to more regions and establish a junior competition in the next 18 months.