Rugby to make a splash at inaugural Hong Kong Beach Festival
The sport of rugby has been selected as one of the showcase events for the inaugural Hong Kong Beach Festival 2014 and it will be the centrepiece of the action Saturday as the event gets under way at Repulse Bay.
The sport of rugby has been selected as one of the showcase events for the inaugural Hong Kong Beach Festival 2014 and it will be the centrepiece of the action Saturday as the event gets under way at Repulse Bay.
The HKRFU is one of seven sports associations participating as co-organisers of the Hong Kong Jockey Club – Hong Kong Beach Festival 2014, which runs October 11-26.
On opening day, as well as the event’s opening ceremony, several exhibition rugby matches and tournaments will be held.
More than 30 teams will be take part in five-a-side games and the action kicks off at 09:20 with the first of three touch rugby contests – the 20-team All-Girls Beach Rugby Tournament.
Two exhibition matches will follow and will be played between a select team comprised of players from Hong Kong’s two hearing-impaired rugby playing schools – Chun Tok School and the Lutheran School for the Deaf – and a group of 12 hearing-impaired players representing the Cambodian charity Krousar Thmey Foundation.
“The HKRFU’s vision is to make rugby a game for all and hosting our first international hearing-impaired match at the Hong Kong Jockey Club – Hong Kong Beach Festival is another major milestone towards realising that,” McRobbie said.
“Being invited to take part as a co-organiser of the [inaugural] Beach Festival is also an important way for the union to further extend awareness of rugby in the wider community and we are delighted to be involved,” he added.
The Krousar Thmey Foundation works with underprivileged youngsters in Cambodia, and for the 12 youngsters taking part over the weekend, this is their first overseas adventure.
They will be accompanied by volunteers from Kampuchea Balopp which, much like the HKRFU’s own Community Foundation, implements and supports rugby programmes in Cambodia and helps to address social issues.
As part of their Hong Kong visit, the Cambodian youngsters will spend a morning at the Chun Tok School where the teachers have planned a series of activities to help them get to know each other and build friendships.
It should be an interesting meeting. Although both groups use signing to communicate, Cantonese signing and Khmer signing are distinctly different, much like the spoken languages.
The hearing-impaired rugby matches will shoulder the Beach Festival’s official opening ceremony, with the first game running from 11:00 to 11:30 and the second match beginning at noon.
From 13:30 until 16:30, there will be a men’s and women’s Hong Kong Disciplined Services Beach Rugby Tournament, featuring 13 teams from the Fire Services, Police, Auxiliary Police, Civil Aid Services, Immigration Department, and Customs & Excise Department.
In addition to rugby, the event will include volleyball, handball, soccer, rowing, surfski, swimming and kayaking.
For further information, please visit the Hong Kong Jockey Club – Hong Kong Beach Festival 2014 Facebook page.
