Opinion | Why next year is huge for sevens
Even the World Cup in Moscow could be overshadowed as Hong Kong go in search of core team status in World Series
If you are reading this, then obviously the Mayans got it wrong. The doomsayers will be left disappointed. Luckily the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union doesn't subscribe to the end-of-the-world theory.
They have planned a hectic schedule for the sevens squad, which faces a crucial year as the game enters a new phase.
According to Dai Rees, the HKRFU's head of performance, 2013 will be a landmark year for sevens with the national team facing a number of challenges.
Top of the list would normally be the Rugby World Cup Sevens, which will be played in Moscow at the end of June. Hong Kong qualified by finishing in the top three in the final leg of the HSBC Asian Sevens Series in Singapore which doubled as the Asian qualifiers.
But even qualifying for the World Cup has been overshadowed by the fact that Hong Kong will be vying to become a core team in the HSBC Sevens World Series when they take part in the London Sevens for the first time at the end of May.
If Hong Kong manage to clinch one of the three berths available, the entire fabric of local rugby is bound to change as the team will have to become professional.
The team are already professional in method and approach, but the players are lawyers, pilots, firemen, holding down day jobs and juggling their love for the game around modern life. This could all change if Rowan Varty and his men claim core-team status in London.