About us

Valley Fort RFC is one of the oldest mini and youth rugby clubs in Hong Kong.  The Club was founded in the 1970s through the merger of two of Hong Kong’s oldest and most prestigious rugby clubs, Stanley Fort RFC and Valley RFC.

Our original training ground was Stanley Fort – at the time, the home of the British Garrison on Hong Kong island and now the base of the People’s Liberation Army.  Some of our teams continue to train at the Fort.  However, with over 600 playing members, we are now one of the largest junior clubs in Hong Kong and have added training venues in Tai Tam, Aberdeen and Happy Valley.

At Valley Fort, our mission is to be the ideal choice of rugby club in Hong Kong for boys and girls, providing them life-long learning abilities through sport in a safe and welcoming environment.

We have 4 strategic objectives around which we set our goals and objectives:

• CLUB: To provide the highest quality on-field rugby offering and coaching in Hong Kong.
• COMMUNITY: To have the best club culture amongst players, parents and coaches in Hong Kong.
• INDIVIDUAL: To instill the core Rugby values and develop all players as individuals.
• SUSTAINABILITY: To be financially independent and in strong health.

We welcome boys and girls of all abilities from all corners of Hong Kong.  We aim, firstly, for new players to gain confidence and to increase their contribution to their team.  Our players are encouraged to lead by example on and off the field in the fairest and truest spirit of the game.

It is vital to us that players of every age, gather and improve both the individual skills and the team-work that forms the foundation of the full game of rugby, played under HKRFU laws.  We aim for all our players to reach their potential within the sport and to develop the desire to maintain a lifelong involvement in it.  For our most committed players, that means providing the foundation for progression through Hong Kong National Age Grade levels and eventually into our senior club, Societe Generale Valley RFC.  From there, a cap for Hong Kong is naturally, the ultimate goal!

We ask players, parents and coaches to show sportsmanship and to adopt a competitive but fair attitude and an honest dedication to the Valley Fort Codes of Conduct and to our Valley Fort colours.

Minis (U5-U12)

All our Minis teams train on Sunday mornings.  The older children (U9 to U12) also train on a Friday evening from mid-October onwards.   Girls and boys train and play together until U9s when ‘contact’ skills begin to be introduced.  After that the girls teams for U9/U10 and U11/U12 are combined while we run separate age-group teams for the boys.

Competitive opportunities for the Minis up to U11 in the most-part take the form of ‘festivals’ where teams play short games of approximately 10 minutes against a number of different oppositions, as part of a family-oriented full day event.  There are usually six festivals each season, held once a month on a Sunday, from October onwards.

At U12, instead of festivals our teams play in one of two tournaments: The Richard Hawkes Cup (a mixed/boys tournament) and The Kim Lam Cup (a girls tournament).  There are six rounds of both tournaments and these are typically played on the same dates as the Minis festivals.

Added to these opportunities is the chance to compete overseas on our annual Club tour which has, in recent years, taken our Minis players and their parents to Singapore, Japan and Malaysia.  The highlight of the season however, is the Hong Kong Sevens held in April each year, where our Minis play in showcase games at the Hong Kong Stadium in front of thousands of rugby fans.

Youth (U13-U19)

Our Youth teams train on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well as on Sundays.  For boys, we field individual teams at U13, U14, U16 and U19 age-groups.  For girls our teams are combined at the U14 and U16 age group level.  In many of these age groups we field both Premiership and Championship teams.

The season is split into three main parts:

• September & October – Training and friendly games
• November & December – XIIs and XVs league fixtures
• January, February & March – Xs and Sevens

Our Youth squads play regular full-length matches against a single opposition.  It is a testament to the commitment of our players and the quality of our coaching, that the Club’s Youth players are well represented in Hong Kong’s National Age Grade teams.

All our coaches are committed to enabling players to reach their full potential, and receive the training and oversight necessary for them to do so. Alongside having fun of course!

Our U5 to U8 on field section is led by our Professional Coach, Henry Shiell. Henry works with committed and knowledgeable parents on focusing on fostering a love of the game and an understanding of the basic non-contact laws.

From U9 onwards, each of our teams is coached by a professional coach from Societe Generale Valley RFC.  He or she is supported by a parent coach whose role is expected to fade as the children progress towards Youth level.  Our Societe Generale Valley RFC coaches are all high-level players; some play or coach at national level.  All are experienced professionals with a love and respect for the game, as well as up-to-date knowledge of training and playing strategies.

We recognize that coaching at grassroots level is a collaborative process and welcome feedback and participation from our players, parents and coaches.

For further details on your specific age group coach(es), click on the relevant age group under ‘Teams‘ and select the appropriate age group for your child.