Last fall, in an attempt to help spur on the development of Touch and the amateur rugby scene here in Korea, surveys were sent out to both contact and touch rugby clubs to find out more about what they were doing and hopefully develop a more co-ordinated approach to the development of the sport here in Korea. This Blog is an excellent communication tool for sharing this information.
Touch and rugby share more than the shape of the ball....both need open space and decent playing surfaces and that is the biggest challenge facing both sports here in Korea.
Please take the time to review the reports below and see if there is a club or a contact you wish to get in touch with to either organize a game or can even help further develop. More clubs to be posted shortly.
If you would like to get your team or project on the site, please email me at nathallemans@yahoo.ca and I will post it on your behalf ASAP!!
Schools
Primary Contact: Selwyn Wharepapa selwyn2003@yahoo.com.au mobile phone 010 5810-7899
Level of play: competitive, at all levels
The times and days you practice or play: Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday mornings/lunch
Type competition seeking: All including middle/high school level, boys and girls, inter-school competitions, Seoul/Incheon etc
Any help coaching or otherwise you need for 2008: Sponsorship & organisation i.e. competitions/tournaments middle/high school level
Game plans are for 2008: Theory/Practice clinics, exhibition/trial at schools, curtain raisers for rugby tournaments either social or competition etc and eventually school tournaments
Club or teams rugby objectives for 2008: learn basic skills, improve via organised non and competition games, and increase player numbers through exhibition/trial games, and promotion etc
Do you have any refs involved in your club? If so are they available to help ref games in the upcoming year?: Yes, but are already doing it...
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Club: We are the informal club for the US Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, which is headquartered in Uijongbu and based out of Dongduchon. Club members are currently all military (both US and ROK), but we are open to civilian members.
Primary contact: match secretary is Phil Corrigan, philip.corrigan@hotmail.com
The level you play: We like to think that we play competitively.
The times and days you practice or play: We practice twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6 p.m.
Type of competition seeking: Whatever we can get.
Any help coaching or otherwise you need for 2008. : We are player-coached, but would welcome a real coach.
Game plans are for 2008: Nothing planned as of now.
Club or teams rugby objectives for 2008: Our club goals are 1) provide a social and physical activity for soldiers stationed in the 2nd Infantry Division. 2) compete in the east-Asian rugby circuit 3) restart the Combined Forces Rugby league
Do you have any refs involved in your club? If so are they available to help ref games in the upcoming year?: No refs. We’re still bringing in new players!
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Han River Pirates
The Han River Pirates Rugby Club was established in 2005 by a group of expat parents who wanted their children to have the opportunity to play what has been called “the greatest team sport”. Prior to that, there was no possibility for foreign kids to play rugby in Seoul. Over the course of the first three years, some 250 youngsters, coming from approximately ten nations, joined in the fun. Since adequate facilities for rugby are not available in Seoul, the kids play Touch and occasionally Tag Rugby. The club is just starting its sixth season beginning in April.
Primary contact:
Chris Morgan is Head Coach, his email is chris.morgan@tetrapak.com
Jeremy Burks is “Patron” jeremy.burks@dowcorning.com
Rex Duncan is Treasurer rex.duncan@dhl.com
Level you play: It is all about fun, fitness and learning new skills. To keep the interest high, Han River Pirates have also played in tournaments such as ITS 2006, 2007, Daejon Autumn Invitational 2006 and Seoul Spring Tournament 2007.
Times and days of practice or play: The season starts on April 6th and runs for 8 weeks, every Sunday morning, 9:30-11:30am. We will play on Yongsan Family Park in Seoul unless the Seoul Metropolitan Government can help us with better playing facilities.
Type of competition you are seeking: We’d love to play against more kids teams. Right now we play against Taejon Dragons, SIS Tigers and YISS as well as Korean schools like Bupyeong, Nagwon
Any help coaching or otherwise needed for 2008: We need coaches! Our coaches are all volunteers and have come from the parents of our players as well as local teams like Seoul Survivors and Yonsei.
Game plans are for 2008: Season starts April 6th and runs for 8 weeks. We hope to have a tournament in the spring and will join the ITS 2008 tournament too.
Team rugby objectives in 2008:
We want to solidify our organisation
Establish a permanent, reliable and safe ground to play on
Increase the quality of the coaching and refereeing
Give the kids new skills
Build a broader group of Touch and Rugby clubs for kids
And for everyone involved to have a great time each Sunday morning
Do you have any refs involved in your club? If so are they available to help ref games in the upcoming year? We have some Touch referees amongst parents and they will referee in tournaments.
Seoul Touch League
STL emerged from a group of people who played each Saturday morning on the banks of the River Han in Seoul. This initial group of Touch devotees became known as the Hangang Exiles because they kept being moved by the local authorities who didn’t want them to play on the grass…. Following the success of the Saturday morning pick up games, more people became involved and eventually enough critical mass was there to form the league which started with six teams in 2007. Unsurprisingly, the Exiles won the first league.
Primary contact: Duncan Cole leads the Exiles and the main contact for social Touch Duncan.cole@austrade.gov.au, Jeremy Burks STL Chairman jeremy.burks@dowcorning.com, Barny Hampson League Commissioner Barnaby.Hampson@kr.schneider-electric.com, Suzanne Liddell Referees suzanne_liddell@hotmail.com
Level you play: Each Saturday morning there is a game of social Touch going and in 2008, there will be a league programme for eight teams each playing two matches. We start the season on March 15th 2008 with a tournament and we’ll also help to host the International Touch Seoul (ITS) 2008 in the autumn.
Times and days you practice or play: 9:30-11:30am Saturday mornings on the rugby pitch at the foot of Sogang Bridge on Yeoido.
Type of competition you are seeking: We want to enjoy the game and are prepared to travel around Korea from time to time.
Any help coaching or otherwise you need for 2008: We need all the help we can get! Especially with the continuing development of Korean teams!
Game plans are for 2008: The league will start with the tournament on Sat 15th then the league will run 22nd March and for 7 weeks with breaks for Easter and the Hong Kong Sevens weekends. We intend to send teams to international competitions, starting with the
Teams rugby objectives in 2008:
Expand the league to eight teams and change to a championship format
Take the Spire Seoul championship on the road and spread the word about Touch
Improve all aspects of organisation and quality, especially reliability and safety of pitches and refereeing
Increase the involvement of Korean teams
Help expand Touch across Korea, even into schools.
Do you have any refs involved in your club? If so are they available to help ref games in the upcoming year? Yes, we are trying to get to a committed team of referees who can ref in the league and in tournaments.
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Womens Rugby and Touch
Seoul Sisters Rugby Club (touch and contact)
The Seoul Sisters Rugby club was founded in 2005 when a group of enthusiastic ex-pats got together to host the first contact women's rugby practice for foreigners in Korea. Since then, the club has grown and has helped promote both touch and contact codes here in the peninsula for both ex-pats and Korean women.
Primary Contact: Colin D. Castelli tejedor@9mmlargo.com
Level of play: competitive and social.
The times and days you practice or play: Saturday morning games touch rugby, Saturday 1pm practice for contact rugby (subject to change).
Type competition seeking: Club level and international. 7s, 10s, and 15s.
Any help coaching or otherwise you need for 2008: Always looking for new coaches to help develop our players.
Game plans are for 2008: Theory/Practice clinics, exhibition games, curtain raisers for rugby tournaments and international tours.
Club or teams rugby objectives for 2008: learn basic skills, improve via organised non and competition games, and increase player numbers through exhibition/trial games, and promotion of the sport.
West End Girls Rugby Club
A newly created women's rugby team based in the west end of Seoul.
Primary Contact: Natalie Hallemans nathallemans@yahoo.ca
Level of play: competitive and social.
The times and days you practice or play: Saturday 1pm practice at Onsu (subject to change depending on field availability).
Type competition seeking: Club level and international. 7s, 10s, and 15s.
Any help coaching or otherwise you need for 2008: Always looking for new coaches to help develop our players.
Game plans are for 2008: Theory/Practice clinics, exhibition games, curtain raisers for rugby tournaments and international tours.
Club or teams rugby objectives for 2008: learn basic skills, improve via organised non and competition games, and increase player numbers through exhibition/trial games, and promotion of the sport.
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