Sand, sun and rugby a winning combination
Youngster Elliot Robbins and his teammates had the time of their lives playing beach rugby yesterday - in the heart of Causeway Bay. They were doing two of the things they liked best, playing on the beach and playing rugby, at the same time - and to win was an added bonus.
'This is definitely more fun than ordinary mini-rugby,' said Robbins, captain of the Sai Kung Stingrays, one of six mini-rugby teams participating in the Crocodile Hong Kong Beach Festival at Victoria Park yesterday.
'But it is harder to run on sand,' said 10-year-old teammate Christian Overton after his team defeated the Causeway Bay Monkeys 8-1 in the five-a-side encounter.
Brushing sand from her hair, Angela MacCarroll, who scored a couple of tries, adds: 'But we are used to it because we normally train on the beach in Sai Kung.'
Rugby made its debut at the Beach Festival being held for the second successive year. A total of seven sports are involved in the event which is being held this weekend as well as next. They are rugby, soccer, tchoukball (a type of handball), latin dance, bodybuilding, handball and volleyball. The last two are international competitions for women.
'We decided to have it only for women as we believe it is more attractive to the spectators,' said Erica Sum Ching-mui, project manager of the Beach Festival. 'The standard of competition in the volleyball event next weekend will be very high as China will be sending their Beijing Olympic representatives. Twenty-four countries will take part.'
Yesterday, however, it was all about having fun, even though the Stingrays looked quite serious as they demolished their opponents in a preliminary round game. Today, rugby will feature the adults in a touch tournament.
More than 700 tons of sand was trucked in from Guangzhou to build two arenas on the cement football pitches at Victoria Park. Seating for 1,700 spectators has also been built. The cost for both is more than HK$1 million. Thankfully for organisers, this event is backed by the government's M-Mark scheme whereby funds are provided.
The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union also decided to get involved. Six mini-rugby teams and a handful of mixed touch teams are taking part.
In Hong Kong Rugby Union league action yesterday, it was as you were, with the three top sides in the G4S Division One all winning. Leaders CBRE Club emphatically disposed of Generali Causeway Bay Rams 81-3 at So Kon Po, second-placed Synovate HKCC defeated DeA Tigers 17-3 at Aberdeen, and third-placed Crown Valley blanked inProjects Kowloon 48-0 at Happy Valley.
Crowd pleaser
Number of countries that will take part in the women's beach volleyball contest: 24
