Coach’s Corner | Hong Kong’s ‘game for all’ steps up push for more success
As local rugby reaches new heights at home and abroad, development programmes and new coaches promise bigger rewards
As we come to the end of another HSBC Asian Sevens Series and as I prepare to step back from coaching and settle into a new overarching role at the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union as head of technical development and performance, it seems the right time to pause and reflect on the recent success of our international programmes.
I am pleased to report that the game in Hong Kong has reached new heights both at domestic and international levels. On the international front, the comprehensive national programmes put in place by the HKRFU have been the most significant move forward in local rugby over the past five years.
This intensive development has produced championships at Asian Youth Games and Asian Schools Championship level, along with medals at the Asian and National Games level and of course Hong Kong’s first Asian Men’s Sevens title over arch rivals Japan in 2012.
Earlier this month, the men’s sevens team achieved their overall target for the season by finishing among the top two teams in this year’s Asian Sevens Series and booking a spot in the international qualification tournament at the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens next March.
In a few short months at the Hong Kong Stadium, the Hong Kong Men’s Sevens squad will have a shot at becoming the first Asian team to earn promotion as a core side on the HSBC Sevens World Series in 2015.
While the mud has barely dried on the player’s boots from a rainy Singapore Sevens, the team are already preparing for the challenge and looking forward to the outstanding support they always receive at home.