Valley Fort Rugby Football Club or Valley Fort RFC is a rugby football club located in Hong Kong, offering rugby for players 4–18 years of age. It follows the widespread Football Code of Rugby Union. It is the Academy Section of Hong Kong Rugby Football Union Division One Club, Valley Rugby Football Club. It was named Stanley Fort Rugby Football Club before its partnership with Valley RFC. The 'Stanley Fort' name came from the barracks at which the club is based, located at the southernmost tip of the Stanley peninsula, Hong Kong.
Membership
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. Membership application is relatively straightforward. There are few formalities apart from annual membership renewal at the start of each season in August/September.
A regular season; which involves the inter-club league; begins at the start of every September and technically ends by mid-march with the playoffs/finals. There are several off-season on-day leagues usually played throughout the rest of March and April. The season officially ends at this point. The club holds regular training sessions before and through the entire season at the three locations where the club is based - Stanley Fort Barracks, St Stephen's College Pitches and Happy Valley Sports GroundsPre-season training sessions are held as the players need to be warmed-up and there are pre-season friendly matches. Training sessions are generally held every Sunday morning throughout the season, the Colts also train on Thursday evenings while the Contact Mini's train on Friday evenings. The mini-rugby section trains at the "Fort" or St stephen's while the colts-rugby section trains at the Happy Valley sports field.
There are no training sessions held before the season resumes in September.
Leagues
During the main season, the inter-club league is held where the colts-section teams play the other division one colts rugby clubs such as Hong Kong Football Club and DeA Tigers RFC. The colts league is divided into U14, U16 and U18 matches with other teams of each age-groups in different pools. Allocation into pools are based upon the strengths and skill-levels of teams; like that of different divisions. The colts section of Valley Fort RFC currently stands in Pool A/Division 1.
However, teams with a lot of players often field a separate roster of a "seconds" team which are fielded to play weaker opposition sides in one-day tournaments. It is rare for a club team to field a second team to compete in a weaker division in the inter-club league. After off season playoffs, there are other off-season tournaments. For instance the 'New Year's Day tournament' at the Hong Kong Football Club grounds and the 'International Youth Day tournament' in March at Kai Tak / King's Park allow the Under 12's, 14s, 16s and 18s to play against overseas teams.
-U14 Valley-Fort: Becky Maltas Team Manager, Deano Herewini Head Coach -U14 Girls Valley-Fort: David Mallinson - U13 Valley-Fort: Jonathan Berney
Mini-rugby section
Valley Fort is one of the largest mini-rugby clubs in Hong Kong. The club runs a number of teams at all age groups from Under 5's to Under 18s. Like the senior game, mini-rugby is played from September to April. There are full festivals involving all clubs around Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories and regional festivals are organised where clubs with smaller facilities are able to invite clubs based close to them or specific age groups to participate. Valley Fort RFC also promote inter-club training sessions foster greater competitiveness. -U12 Dragons: Philip Lynch Head Coach U12 Girls: Robert Sleigh Head Coach
-U11 Tigers: Keir Macintosh and Andrew Tam Head Coaches
-U10 Tigers: Simon Anam Head Coach U10 Girls: Steve Hersey Head Coach
-U9 Tigers: Michael de Sombre and Allen Head Coaches
-U8 Pandas: Steven Glynn and Matthew Moskey Head Coaches
The club is a recognised member of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, and is affiliated to Valley RFC as their Rugby Academy Section. Valley RFC is an adult Rugby Football Club also offering Team-Hockey and Netball. The hockey section has a Youth Academy Section. The teams' rugby kits are manufactured and designed by Kukri Sports, and bear the corporate logo of sponsors, Linklaters.
