Rugby Academy

Rugby Academy , Scholarships and Awards Available to the Hong Kong Rugby Community

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The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union is always seeking to assist in developing rugby players and this is not limited to support on the rugby pitch. The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union offers a number of academic and financial support opportunities.

Scholarship schemes and awards go to individuals who contribute to the game of rugby in Hong Kong. In exchange for their contribution or the undeniable potential and achievements in the development of themselves as players or an individuals contribution to the development of rugby in Hong Kong, the Union offer the following support:

HKRFU Charitable Trust Fund - Educational Scholarship

Overseas Rugby Awards and Scholarships

David S. Davies Rugby Academy

To celebrate its 50^th Anniversary in the 2002/03 season, the HKRFU embarked on an ambitious new development initiative with the founding of the HKRFU Rugby Academy under the Director of Development Dan Hackston. The purpose of the Academy is to provide promising young rugby players an opportunity to develop their rugby skills and education to ensure that they are in an advantageous position to take full advantage of rugby and career opportunities in Hong Kong.

The Academy leverages existing HKRFU initiatives and functions and augments these with various additional and specialiaed modules in a comprehensive structure. Selection to the Academy is based on rugby skills and potential, character, age and personal recommendations. The boys and girls selected for the Academy receive instruction and guidance across three primary areas: rugby skills, education and life skills. On the competitive side, the Academy members receive more than just specialised rugby instruction, they are also given an introduction to refereeing ad coaching to help ensure the continued growth of the game amongst the local community. Fitness is also a key priority of the Academy regiment and players are regularly tested and receive nutritional training and information. To help seed future growth in local rugby, each student can eventually be placed within a local senior club if they are not previously affiliated when joining the Academy.

The first year of the Academy was launched with a trial class of 15 players, both male and female. The programme was expanded with the addition of three more scholars in the second year. To help ease the demand of club and international representation of these players, an intensified summer training session was introduced in the second year to help prepare players for the coming season. The players were then regularly monitored an fitness-tested throughout the season to ensure the Academy scholars were holding up their end of the bargain. In only its second year, the Academy began producing results, and in 2003 a competitive side was formed the Academy Dragons, for the Jonah Jones Sevens Under-21 competition in Malaysia.

The team was led by products of the development programme in former Hong Kong Asian Games representatives Jung Ho Jung and Yong Chi Fong. In Malaysia, one of the new members of the Academy, schoolboy Rowan Varty, scored two hat-tricks as the Dragons conceded only one try on their way to the final. Injures to the side saw the team eventually bow bout the competition 24-5, nut the scholars had passed their first on-pitch test with flying colours.

At the start of the 2004/05 season the David S. Davies Foundation became the first Academy sponsor, entering into a relationship which will allow this project to further develop and grow in the future. In the first year of the partnership, it was marvelous to see four current David S. Davies Academy members and one graduate represent Hong Kong at 15s in World Cup Qualifiers against Japan and Korea, one graduate play in the World Cup Sevens, and seven current members and one graduate participate in the Asian Games Training Squad.

The HKRFU is confident that the David S. Davies Academy will continue to go from strength to strength in the future, producing youngsters of exemplary qualities - both on and off the rugby pitch.

Academy In-take