Local touch patriarch Paul Eggers with daughter Simone at the fields which bear his name. Photo: Olivia Edwards
November 12 2016
By Olivia Edwards
As the touch tournament comes to a close for this year’s Jupiters Pan Pacific Masters Games (JPPMG), there are few prouder people on the sidelines of the Paul Eggers International Touch Fields at Owen Park, than Paul Eggers himself.
The local touch patriarch, who is still chairman of the local judiciary, was watching his daughter Simone Hepburn play her third JPPMG. Simone has played in Queensland and Australia schoolgirl teams, as well as Australia 21s and Queensland 30s and 40s.
Having recently retired from his public accounting practice on the Gold Coast, Paul continues supporting touch after years of working to build the game to where it is now. He started the code in Queensland on the Gold coast in 1974, before it spread through the state.
“Simone played in the first international schools touch game here on this field against New Zealand, forming a ‘V’ with the teams. I was in the middle as president of international touch at this point, with the Australian and New Zealand presidents next to me,” Paul said.
“My daughter being there was a beautiful moment, you don’t realise it so much at the time but looking back it was a big deal and it makes me proud.”
Simone loves having the support of her dad at every game.
“I’m really proud of dad and his history with touch. The girls love him, he’s our number one supporter, he comes to watch every game,” Simone said.
“There are some old photos of me as a kid on the walls inside so when I walk in I get a bit emotional and reminisce about my childhood. I always see lots of people I know around here so it always feels like home and it’s good to come back. These fields are special to me.”
Paul and Simone live and breathe touch and love that the JPPMG gives them and others the opportunity to play and feel youthful.
– Simone Hepburn
The 10th biennial Jupiters Pan Pacific Masters Games is being held 5 – 13 November 2016 on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
The event showcases competition in 43 sports and is hosting 13,000 participants from Queensland, interstate and overseas.
