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
ChairmanSteve Medeiros
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

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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

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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

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

Notable players

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Sponsors and affiliations

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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

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References

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  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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