Flying Kukris RFC

Welcome to the Flying Kukris, premier youth rugby club in the New Territories of the Hong Kong SAR. We have a proud tradition, which commenced with the British Forces based in HK, from where our name originated from the helicopters of RAF 28 Squadron - hence the 'Flying', and the Gurkha soldiers - a 'Kukri' being a traditional Nepalese knife.

Today we offer rugby training for both boys and girls from age 5 to 16 every Sunday morning. This season we have moved from Community Sports in Sheung Shui to the HK Institute of Education Sports Centre alongside the Tolo Harbour near Tai Po. We are a proudly multi-cultural club with members from all walks of life in Hong Kong.

Our season usually starts on the last weekend in August and finishes on the last weekend in April. We train on Sunday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) Sports Centre in Tai Po. Come and join us and find out why we are such a special club. It is the furthest North you can play rugby in HK without needing a visa!!

History

When the British military were based at Shek Kong sports, and particularly rugby, was an important part of the culture. That included the Flying Kukris Rugby Club.  The club was originally for serving members of the Forces, but as mini-rugby developed, so a Flying Kukris Mini Rugby Club was formed. This included a wide cross section of the community and quickly became a popular meeting place for kids and adults on a Sunday morning.

In 1997 the British Forces left and the F.K.M.R.C. was forced to find a new home. Several uncertain years followed and it was not until 2000 that a permanent base was found at the Community Sports Centre (CS) near Sheung Shui. This sense of permanence allowed the club to develop and grow in membership numbers, which have steadily increased since becoming a regular part of the CSC. The Kukris is a bilingual rugby club in Hong Kong, with the current breakdown around 70% Chinese and 30% expatriate. The tradition of bilingual coaching remains a corner stone of the club's ethos. Club players range from 5-16, so covering the full spectrum of Mini and Colts games.

Minis

Flying Kukris welcome boys and girls who are four years or older, but under twelve, to come and play in one of seven Mini Rugby year groups.

Rules are modified as players make their transitions through the year groups in Mini Rugby, and eventually into Youth Rugby. Rules are based on the preceding year, except for the Under-6’s, who we will start with simple drills and games, structured with simple rugby rules such as “Turn and Pass”, “Passing backward”, etc. Mini rugby rules are being followed across all the rugby clubs in Hong Kong and will remain non-contact until the player reaches the Under-9 year group. Descriptions about the different year group rules can be found on individual team pages.

In addition to our weekly training, we get invited to play in tournaments such in TSW, Sandy Bay, DeA, etc, during the calendar year. Historically FK have run our own Festival in December however, the move to new facilities this season have made that unachievable in 2009. We hope to be back in 2010. A highlight of the season is the series of showcase matches at the HK Stadium that precedes the HK Sevens. It's a big thrill for the parents to see their kids too on the turf and a bigger one still for the kids to be out there playing!

We try to provide a playing environment and structure our training programmes in such a way that the players will find playing rugby at Flying Kukris is both fun and enjoyable, where fair play and safety are the other paramount concerns.

Colts

Flying Kukris play colts & girls rugby (for those 12 years old and above) in a tournament format with professionally refereed matches against the likes of DeA Tigers, Football Club and DB Pirates. A change for the 2009 season is that we started with ten a side progressing to full fifteen a side in October.

We currently field a U14B team, a U14G team, a U16B and a U16G. This season will be the first in a long time that FK have fielded a U16B; the prospects look good, building on the strength of the last year’s U14B squad and a strong U16 core squad that had little opportunity to shine last year.

The FK girls had a strong season last year and we plan to build on that through 2009-10. We welcome girls from other clubs who do not have a full squad to join our team. Our girls may also combine with other clubs to form teams if necessary; as is currently necessary with the U16G.

Coaches and Membership

All our coaches are volunteers; inevitably drawn from the ranks of parents though we do have some coaches without their own kids at the Club. The club encourages all coaches to attend HKRFU provided IRB coaching courses and to gain accreditation. The executive committee is similarly drawn from the parent and coaching body.

Membership fees for the Flying Kukris remain among the lowest in HK – we provide a new complete kit at the start of the season. The Club is required to pay fees for its pitch use and other incidental expenses of running the club account for the remainder of the annual subscription. There are no salaried positions in the club.

Representative rugby

While the mission statement of the club is “To provide a safe, fun and sporting multi-cultural atmosphere for all Club members”, it is rewarding to see our more senior players try out for the HK representative teams at Colts level. In the 2008/09 season, FK put forward a number of players and were delighted to see Danny, Nick, Matt and Will represent HK at U14 level.

For the 2009/10 season we have again put forward names at both U14 and U16 level and look forward to more success later in the season.

We put forward players for the annual New Year's Day, Island v Peninsula XV match and also the showcase matches that precede the Sevens.

 

 

At Colts level, the girls are too often seen as the poor relation. Much effort is going into the development of girl’s rugby in HK, particularly trying to retain talent though the teenage years as other pressure come to play. Currently FK alumna, Rose Fong, has been selected for the England U20 squad.

 

Text and images courtesy: Flying Kukris RFC

 

 

Rugby in Hong Kong proudly sponsored by Samurai Sports