My life: Dai Rees

I grew up in Abercarn, in South Wales. It's a real rugby valley and Abercarn Rugby Club is one of the founder members of the Welsh Rugby Union. It is a small village, with three mines in the nearby hills and mountains. Many families work in the steel and coal industry, with mining having been entrenched for generations. All of the mines are closed now. My parents always had aspirations for me to look for a career away from mining. They supported my sister and me through university; we both went to the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, to study sports science and teaching. This is the same university that Welsh internationals Gareth Edwards and John Devereux attended - rugby and sport is ingrained in the university's culture.

When I came to Hong Kong, it was inevitable that I would become a member of the St David's Society [for Welsh people]. I was on the committee within the first week of being in Hong Kong. The society hosts a ball at the beginning of each March to mark St David's Day, which falls in the same month as the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. The rivalry between English, Irish Scottish and the Welsh is true on one level, particularly on the rugby pitch. And on another level, it's just banter. They say the relationship between the Welsh and the English is based on trust and understanding; they can't understand us, and we don't trust them!

People may say it was bittersweet that I decided to come to Hong Kong about the time that Wales won the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai, in 2009. I'd hit a "dead end" as coach within the Welsh structures; I was looking for a new challenge. I'd had 11 years in Welsh Rugby Union coaching roles. Outside of rugby, I couldn't see myself growing old as a college principal [at Coleg Gwent, City of Newport]. I'd been in education for 18 years while also coaching Wales at under 19, 20, 21, Wales 7s as well as the women's team. I had also been a front runner for the job of assistant coach to Warren Gatland, for Wales' national team. When deciding to become a full-time coach [for the Newport Gwent Dragons] I had a job for life, a wife and three young children, but at 41 I was ready for the change and a challenge. Rugby is renowned for being an old boy's network when applying for jobs. In Hong Kong this wasn't the case and it didn't matter that I wasn't a household name or a former international. My experience and skills were what mattered.

My family has adapted well to Hong Kong. My daughter Maisie was 13 when she came here - not an easy age to move to a new country - but she settled in well. Our next daughter, Tirion, was eight and Will was four. They're Hong Kong kids now. Our eldest daughter grew to like Hong Kong so much she found it hard to leave. She went to the UK after she finished school for a short stint but missed her siblings and her life here, so she's come back and is working at Clearwater Bay Equestrian Centre. My wife, Sarah, after the initial shock, has blended in easily.

The Hong Kong Sevens is a magnificent showcase for the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU), but rugby is a 365-day-a-year commitment for the union. The HKRFU does much for the community, growing rugby from the ground up, with 4,300 (at the "mini" level - under the age of 12) and 1,700 ("colts" - up to 19) playing every week during the season.

Many of our best players leave at 18 or 19 to go to university. Despite this, the number of people playing rugby in Hong Kong has never been so high, and increasingly our players are not just expats. In the Hong Kong Sevens squad, 80 per cent of the players were born here, and rugby across all competitions in Hong Kong is now predominantly a local sport. With the Sevens as an Olympic sport for the first time in Rio in 2016, the Hong Kong Institute of Sport has been exceptionally supportive.