After the event began with a bang last year as 10 teams took part, there were 12 teams this year while matches lasted 15 minutes each.

Once again the event involved Gunnedah Family Support in conjunction with Healthwise New England North West.

With each team required to have a minimum of four children aged 12 years and under, competition organisers remarked that there was more participation from children this year than last year.

Competition organisers also spoke highly of sportsmanship as the matches were played in good spirits, while players were willing to swap teams to fill numbers if need be.

Some of the youngsters even took the time to have a hit of cricket when one of the fields was available while some teams had a break from playing touch football.

As the cost of registration included steak sandwiches, the barbecue area was a hive of activity while the canteen was also busy as the Red Devils junior rugby union club ran the canteen.

One of the organisers, Mel McCulloch, said it was a family day involving a healthy lifestyle and fitness while siblings, mums, dads, uncles, aunts, cousins and friends were involved.

“It’s really a fun family day to basically involve the whole community and make sure everyone’s aware that Gunnedah says no to violence,” McCulloch said.

There was plenty of colour on show, with McCulloch saying  “everyone looks great in their shirts” which contained the writing #gunnedahsaysnotoviolence.

Whilst many teams had numerous family connections, one team that stood out was the aptly named “Next Generation”.

David Jaeger, who has played touch football for 44 successive years since the sport began in Gunnedah, relished the chance to play with his son Chris and grandsons Harvey and Chas.

Harvey and Chas scored lots of tries as players were generous when playing against youngsters, while Chris Jaeger earned the Memorial Sportsmanship Award.

This award was named after Alex Costello who was very involved in community sport and exuded qualities such as great sportsmanship and promoting team spirit.

For the record, The Shire was the winning team on the day after recording the most victories in the round-robin format, while there were no finals.

This was different from last year when Team Wicks defeated The Protections 2-1 in a decider.

The prize for players from The Shire team was dinner, courtesy of the Gunnedah Services & Bowling Club.