The Bathurst Touch Football operations manager recently picked up the Sporting Blue award at the NSW Touch Football annual convention, the state’s top honour for recognising contributions to the sport.

It’s the biggest prize Lewis has been awarded for his work in NSW Touch Football since winning the Administrator of the Year award four years ago.

However, unlike that previous recognition, the Sporting Blue can only be received once in a lifetime.

“I’ve been involved for 22 years as an administrator of the sport and they were kind enough to acknowledge the fact that I’d done it for so long,” he said.

“I was honoured. It’s always nice to be recognised for what you do.”

It’s not hard to see why Lewis was given the honour.

In his time with Bathurst Touch Football the sport has grown massively in participation numbers and the city has hosted several high-profile schools and senior events.

“Bathurst Touch Football has really grown. When I first started here there were 30 sides and now we’re looking at 125 this year,” Lewis said.

“The greatest thing about it is the mateship. I still know absolutely nothing about touch football, whereas with my other sports basketball and AFL I’ve played and coached. 

“Things have changed now. I think between myself, David Weekes and Stuart Graham – who received Sporting Blues a couple of years ago – we have 70-odd years of experience on the committee. They’re both very good mates of mine and it’s more the mateship than anything else.”

Lewis said while some things have changed in his time with Bathurst Touch Football, the support from those around him has always been strong.

“Most of the work is done prior to the season, setting up competitions. The advent of computers has made life a lot easier. All the draws and nominations are done through that system,” he said.

“It also certainly helps when the parent association NSW Touch have some very good staff. Dean Russell and Kylie Hearne come to mind.

“They’ve been friends as well and if there’s ever been a problem it’s on the phone to them and they can advise me, and vice-versa when they sometimes ring me.

“Socially it’s a great outlet. There’s one guy Ian Crooks who has had a team in there every year since I’ve been there. It’s great seeing all these faces coming back to play.”

Watching the sport of touch football thrive in Bathurst has been an enjoyable experience for Lewis.

“It’s a big sport and we probably don’t get recognised a lot. It’s a summer sport and a very affordable sport,” he said.

"To know we can generate those sort of numbers, while not being as high a profile sport as others in town, I think we do a good job of administrating it.” 

Bathurst Touch Football’s 2016-17 season gets back underway on Monday at Learmonth Park.