Valley Fort [iPhone]

One of the earliest mini-rugby Clubs in Hong Kong, the club has its roots in two of Hong Kong’s oldest, most successful and prestigious clubs: Stanley Fort RFC and Valley RFC. Valley Fort RFC was founded in the late 1970’s as a merger between these clubs and was originally known as Stanley Fort Rugby Football Club. The club was based at the British Garrison in Stanley (known as Stanley Fort) which in June 1997 transferred to the PLA. After the handover the club has been allowed to continue training at Stanley Fort PLA Army barracks.

Over the years the club has developed into being one of Hong Kong’s largest and leading mini and youth rugby clubs, with over 750 playing members. We have teams at all age groups from U5s to U19s organized by birth year. We welcome girls and boys, and consider ourselves an inclusive, family club for all ranges of abilities (from both hemispheres)! Our club colours are a combination of red and black, to mirror our Valley elder siblings, and with a flash of green and white to recognise our Stanley Fort heritage. We train at a number of venues, mostly on the Southside of Hong Kong island. These include the PLA Army barracks in Stanley, HKIS in Tai Tam, Aberdeen Sports Ground and in Happy Valley….being nomadic is a part of our culture!

At Minis level (U5 to U12) teams are mixed (boys and girls) until the end of U8 and then we split. Boys have individual U9 to U12 age group teams whilst the girls have combined U9/U10 and U11/U12 teams. We train regularly on Sunday mornings for all Minis age groups and Friday evenings for the U9 to U12 ‘Contact’ age groups. The Minis also take part in up to 10 festivals and tournaments throughout the season. This includes the showcase games at the world-famous Hong Kong Sevens and our own festival in January/February each year, which is attended by over 4,200 players and a further 6,000 supporters. We also organize a club tour each year, and in recent years we have traveled to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Japan.

Following Mini rugby, players progress to Colts level rugby where we are organized into individual U13, U14, U16 and U19 age groups for boys and a combined U13/U14/U16 girls team, again by birth year. We normally field multiple teams per age group and typically train on a Tuesday evening, Thursday evening and Sunday morning / afternoon. Colts Valley Fort RFC players have historically been well represented for National Age Grade (NAG) teams….a testament to the quality of coaching.

We are proud of our close relationship with our elder sibling club, SocGen Valley RFC, and we continue to benefit at both Minis and Colts level from the expertise of over 20 Valley RFC elite professional players including numerous Sevens and XV’s Hong Kong national players. These professional players take a leading coaching role, from U9 upwards, at every training session and are critical to the continued development of the children.

With the exception of the professional players, the club is wholly run by volunteers, who are mostly (though not all), mum’s and dad’s of children playing the game. This means we all contribute to the coaching, refereeing, first-aid and club social events. Like other mini-rugby clubs in Hong Kong, our club depends on the continued good spirit shown by all children and parents who turn up to become a part of the greater Valley Fort community.