MIDDLEBURGH

MIDDLEBURGH SEVENS

It's that time of the year once again. Yesterday afternoon I watched day 2 of the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens and am likely to watch again today!!. I mentioned it to two of my kids in Ireland yesterday evening (my time) and realised that they had no understanding of the cultural significance of the HK sevens. I am such a lame excuse for a father !!!

Number 1 son was in bed, he told me. watching the UK soccer round up and he distainfully dismissed the Sevens or more accurately rugby in general. He may have been grumpy because Arsenal, crucially at this stage of the season, had blown it and dropped 2 points. At least he supports the family team.

Number 1 daughter similarly distanced herself from rugby on the basis it ie sports are not really her thing. She did however sweeten the pill by mentioning that she had applied to go to college, Am I pleased or what !! She then told me she had to go and clean her car - she gets that from her mother not me - I was famed for the comprehensiveness of my bumper insect and road soil collections.

The Hong Kong Sevens is not just about a variant of Rugby which has been elevated to the Olympics. It's a way of life like Zen Buddhism. Take my colleague for instance ..

She is normal HK chinese, brought up and educated in the US, married to a Canadian who is into Ice Hockey. They have 3 young children the eldest a girl, 6. All three Kids are active members of their local junior rugby club. A couple of weeks ago all three (including the girl) represented their club and competed in a local rugby tournament. When I say local I don't mean local like up in the New territories I mean local like in Malaysia. THe kid were pulled from school on Friday afternoon, bundled on a plane in the evening and were were playing first thing Saturday. And this Friday they were playing exhibition games here in HK at the Stadium just before the Sevens kicked off.

Now, not every one engages in the Sevens just for the Rugby. In fact a sizable portion of the crowd, basically the entire South stand, are just here to meet old friends and to enjoy the "craic". People fly in from all over the world .. and Australia. Just for the education of my children and anyone else who read this, the following images show the richness and diversity of the HK sevens followers,

Posted at 3/28/2010 12:51:00 pm by David Middleburgh   Permalink

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