Valley Fort Rugby Football Club or Valley Fort RFC is one of the oldest mini and youth rugby clubs in Hong Kong., offering rugby for players 4–18 years of age. It follows the widespread Football Code of Rugby Union and is the Academy Section of Hong Kong Rugby Football Union Division One Club, Valley Rugby Football Club.[1][2]
| Full name | Valley Fort Rugby Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1978 as Stanley Fort Rugby Football Club | ||
| Location | Stanley and Happy Valley, Hong Kong | ||
| Ground(s) | Stanley Fort (PLA barracks), Happy Valley sports ground | ||
| Chairman | Steve Medeiros | ||
| League(s) | Hong Kong Mini Rugby Club League, Youth Rugby Club League | ||
| 2020 / 21 | Premiership & Championship | ||
| |||
| Official website | |||
| www | |||
Valley Fort RFC was founded in the 1970s through the merger of two of Hong Kong’s oldest and most prestigious rugby clubs, Stanley Fort RFC and Valley RFC. The original training ground was Stanley Fort – at the time, the home of the British Garrison on Hong Kong Island. Some of our teams continue to train at the Fort. However, with over 650 playing members, we are now one of the largest junior clubs in Hong Kong and have added training venues in Tai Tam, Aberdeen and Happy Valley.
Membership
editBeing a mini/youth rugby club, membership is through the youth players themselves; parents are not required to obtain a membership before their child can participate in rugby. Although there are no adult memberships, unlike the social norm practised by a number of prominent social clubs which offer mini/youth rugby, parents get involved by taking up the role as a team manager or coach – usually in one group in which their own child plays. In other cases, these parents join the club council/committee and administer the club.[3] Membership application is relatively straightforward. There are few formalities apart from annual membership renewal at the start of each season in August/September.[4]
Valley Fort Club Structure and Teams
editMinis (U5-U12)
All the Minis teams train on Sunday mornings. The older children (U9 to U12) also train on a Friday evening from mid-October onwards. Girls and boys train and play together until U9s when ‘contact’ skills begin to be introduced. After that the girls teams for U9/U10 and U11/U12 are combined while we run separate age-group teams for the boys.
Competitive opportunities for the Minis up to U11 in the most-part take the form of ‘festivals’ where teams play short games of approximately 10 minutes against a number of different oppositions, as part of a family-oriented full day event. There are usually six festivals each season, held once a month on a Sunday, from October onwards.
At U12, instead of festivals, teams play in one of two tournaments: The Richard Hawkes Cup (a mixed/boys tournament) and The Kim Lam Cup (a girls tournament). There are six rounds of both tournaments and these are typically played on the same dates as the Minis festivals.
There is also a chance to compete overseas on the annual Club tour which has, in recent years, taken Minis players and their parents to Singapore, Japan and Malaysia. The highlight of the season however, is the Hong Kong Sevens held in April each year, where the Minis play in showcase games at the Hong Kong Stadium in front of thousands of rugby fans and some of the players have an opportunity to be ball boys or girls.
Youth (U13-U19)
Our Youth teams train on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well as on Sundays. For boys, individual teams are fielded in the U13, U14, U16 and U19 age-groups. For girls, teams are combined at the U14 and U16 age group level. In many of these age groups, both Premiership and Championship teams are fielded.
The season is split into three main parts:
- September & October – Training and friendly games
- November & December – XIIs and XVs league fixtures
- January, February & March – Xs and Sevens
Youth squads play regular full-length matches against a single opposition. Many of the Club’s Youth players are well represented in Hong Kong’s National Age Grade teams.
Valley Fort RFC Coaches
editFrom U5 to U8, coaching is led by knowledgeable parents focused on fostering a love of the game and an understanding of the basic non-contact laws.
From U9 onwards, each of the teams is coached by a professional coach from Valley RFC. He or she is supported by a parent coach whose role is expected to fade as the children progress towards Youth level. The Valley RFC coaches are all high-level players; some play or coach at national level. All are experienced professionals with a love and respect for the game, as well as up-to-date knowledge of training and playing strategies.
in bold = players internationals
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
Notable players
edit
Andrew Kelly - former Edinburgh Rugby player. Scotland A. international.
Kevin Curtis - former Taranaki Rugby Union player.
Grant Livingston - former London Scottish player.
Lee Jones - Hong Kong international.- Niall Rowark - Hong Kong international.
- Salom Yiu - Hong Kong international.
- Ben Rimene - Hong Kong international.
- Jack Bennet - Hong Kong international.
- Kirk Munro - Hong Kong international.
- Justin Temara - Hong Kong international.
- Alex Ng - Hong Kong international.
- Andrew Bridle - Hong Kong international.
- Nick Hewson - Hong Kong international.
- Terence Montgomery - Hong Kong international.
- Alex Baddeley - Hong Kong international.
Sponsors and affiliations
editThe club is a recognised member of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, and is affiliated to Valley RFC as their Rugby Academy Section.[5] Valley RFC is an adult Rugby Football Club also offering Team-Hockey and Netball. The hockey and netball sections also have a Youth Academy.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ http://www.valleyrfc.com/academy Valley RFC Academy page (See scroll-down menu)
- ^ http://www.valleyfort.com/Pages/TheClub.htm Introduction to the Club
- ^ http://www.valleyfort.com/TextFiles/club_structure_diagram.pdf Club Structure diagram
- ^ http://www.valleyfort.com/pages/Payment_procedures.htm Valley Fort RFC: Membership Payment Procedures
- ^ Valley Fort RFC: Introduction to the Club/
- ^ http://www.valleyrfc.com/academy Valley RFC Academy page (see scroll-down menu)