Valley Fort RFC

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]

Valley Fort RFC
Full nameValley Fort Rugby Football Club
Founded1978 as Stanley Fort Rugby Football Club
LocationStanley and Happy Valley, Hong Kong
Ground(s)Stanley Fort (PLA barracks), Happy Valley sports ground
ChairmanSimon Anam
League(s)Hong Kong Mini Rugby Club League, Youth Rugby Club League
2020 / 21Premiership & Championship
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.valleyfort.com

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

Being 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

Minis (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

From 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.

Player Position Union
Andrew Kelly Hooker Scotland Scotland
James Lythgoe Hooker England England
Rico Lorenzana Hooker Philippines Philippines
Alastair Kalin Hooker England England
Alex Ng Prop Hong Kong Hong Kong
Jack Bennett Prop Hong Kong Hong Kong
Terry Tsang Prop Hong Kong Hong Kong
Tom Morgan-Harris Prop England England
John Hamilton Prop Hong Kong Hong Kong
Kevin Curtis Prop New Zealand New Zealand
Chris Mason Lock New Zealand New Zealand
Sean Emmerton Lock England England
On King Lock Hong Kong Hong Kong
Brent Kotze Lock South Africa South Africa
Paul Nolan Lock England England
Grant Livingston Lock England England
Andrew Bridle Flanker Hong Kong Hong Kong
Nick Hewson Flanker Hong Kong Hong Kong
Ollie Niessen Flanker England England
Rory McGregor Flanker England England
Tony Wong Flanker Hong Kong Hong Kong
Terence Montgomery Flanker Hong Kong Hong Kong
Alex Baddeley Number 8 Hong Kong Hong Kong
Edward Taylor Number 8 England England
Jack-Daniel Spoors Number 8 England England
Player Position Union
Kirk Munro Scrum-half Hong Kong Hong Kong
Joshua Peters Scrum-half Hong Kong Hong Kong
Kaikobad Karbhari Scrum-half New Zealand New Zealand
Ben Rimene Fly-half Hong Kong Hong Kong
Ryan Meacheam Fly-half New Zealand New Zealand
Charlie Knox Fly-half England England
Niall Rowark Fly-half Hong Kong Hong Kong
Lee Jones Centre Hong Kong Hong Kong
Ian Molyneux Centre England England
Ian Chan Centre Australia Australia
Justin Temara Centre Hong Kong Hong Kong
Tim Sutton Wing Hong Kong Hong Kong
Salom Yiu Wing Hong Kong Hong Kong
Chris Scott Wing Wales Wales
Dom Sing Wing Hong Kong Hong Kong
Martin Field Wing England England
Jean Baptiste Aldigé Fullback France France
Kelvin Lea Fullback Australia Australia

Notable players

  • Scotland Andrew Kelly - former Edinburgh Rugby player. Scotland A. international.
  • New Zealand Kevin Curtis - former Taranaki Rugby Union player.
  • England Grant Livingston - former London Scottish player.
  • Hong Kong Lee Jones - Hong Kong international.
  • Hong Kong Niall Rowark - Hong Kong international.
  • Hong Kong Salom Yiu - Hong Kong international.
  • Hong Kong Ben Rimene - Hong Kong international.
  • Hong Kong Jack Bennet - Hong Kong international.
  • Hong Kong Kirk Munro - Hong Kong international.
  • Hong Kong Justin Temara - Hong Kong international.
  • Hong Kong Alex Ng - Hong Kong international.
  • Hong Kong Andrew Bridle - Hong Kong international.
  • Hong Kong Nick Hewson - Hong Kong international.
  • Hong Kong Terence Montgomery - Hong Kong international.
  • Hong Kong Alex Baddeley - Hong Kong international.

Sponsors and affiliations

The 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

References

  1. http://www.valleyrfc.com/academy Valley RFC Academy page (See scroll-down menu)
  2. http://www.valleyfort.com/Pages/TheClub.htm Introduction to the Club
  3. http://www.valleyfort.com/TextFiles/club_structure_diagram.pdf Club Structure diagram
  4. http://www.valleyfort.com/pages/Payment_procedures.htm Valley Fort RFC: Membership Payment Procedures
  5. Valley Fort RFC: Introduction to the Club/
  6. http://www.valleyrfc.com/academy Valley RFC Academy page (see scroll-down menu)
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