On Friday, 17^th November, King’s Park was host to the Plate and Cup Finals of Hong Kong’s u16s and u19s Girls Youth Championship. The competition was open to all female youth players and saw a huge increase in numbers from last year, with this year’s event drawing nearly 300 promising rugby stars to the pitch. Since the beginning of October, the two age grades were split into four equal teams and have battled each other in three tough rounds, culminating in the final event which showcased some of the best female rugby in the u16 and u19 women’s rugby set up and some potential stars of the future of Hong Kong rugby. The competition served a dual purpose: to develop and refine the rugby skills of all participants as well as provide an opportunity to be talent scouted by National Age Grade coaches.

The Girls Youth Championship plays a key role in the development of Girls Youth Rugby in Hong Kong. The continued support from clubs and schools to nominate their players to take part in the competition only allows for the positive growth of the girls game.

Each team was assigned a National Age Grade coach including Women’s Rugby World Cup players Royce Chan (HK), Bella Milo (Samoa) and Aroha Savage (NZ). For added inspiration for finals night, four members of the Hong Kong women’s rugby team that recently went to their debut World Cup tournament in Ireland came down to present prize winners with signed World Cup jerseys and host a Q & A session. Natasha Olson-Thorne, Tammy Lau, Lee Ka Shun and Lindsay Varty were all present to congratulate and chat with participants.

The Girls Youth Championship 2017-2018 Best and Fairest Player awards went to Anna Birkett at u16 level and Hannah Lane at u19s level. Both players showed immense passion and commitment to the game and delivered outstanding performances during the course of the tournament. “We were just a bunch of strangers coming together at the beginning but we managed to work really well together as a team,” said 16-year-old Lane. “I’ve never played fly half before but I enjoyed bossing people around!” she said of her new position.

Kim Boreham, Director of Women’s rugby in Hong Kong, was at Kings Park to oversee the Championship and support the growth of girls’ rugby. “It was great to see some fantastic tries and some crunching tackles tonight, and I was just really impressed by the spirit in which the game was played.”