Women’s talent quest draws a mixed bag of athletes and positive reviews
Athletes from a diverse range of sports – from martial arts to rowing, from netball to ice hockey – turned up for the first talent ID programme in a bid to unearth a rough diamond or two as the national women’s sevens squad looks to expand its player base.
Athletes from a diverse range of sports – from martial arts to rowing, from netball to ice hockey – turned up for the first talent ID programme in a bid to unearth a rough diamond or two as the national women’s sevens squad looks to expand its player base.
The exercise drew 80 participants – from beginners to elite athletes – from around 17 sports.
There were British, Russian, Australian, Filipino, Canadian, Singaporean, American, Mexican, Thai and of course local Chinese.
The potpourri of nationalities includes some promising athletes in the mix. None have been “poached” from other sports. They were all drawn to sevens for a number of reasons – friends had told them to come along; because rugby sevens is an Olympic sport; as well as the fact it has elite status at the Hong Kong Sports Institute.
This latter is a key factor. Many young girls who wish to purse a sport would also be looking at some sort of security, and becoming part of the rugby programme at the HKSI offers them that. A monthly allowance averaging around HK$15,000 is nothing to be sneezed at, especially for school-leavers.
This is the age-group that should be targeted. Unlike the ESF and international schools, not every Chinese school has rugby on its sport curriculum.
Now that other talent has been identified – the HKSI sports science team did some basic athletic measurements – the plan is for those given the nod to take part in a one-day camp where they will be introduced more closely to the sport.
Not all the participants were new to rugby, though. Last November, a women’s sevens development squad was formed with players drawn from clubs who had nominated them. These girls, around 25 of them, have been training once a week and were invited to join the talent ID programme.
Elite sevens coach Anna Richards is looking at the possibility of having these girls training alongside her HKSI athletes in the short-term. The benefits can be great, for not only will Richards get a closer look at these raw athletes but the talent pool has also increased.
Instead of hoping that players will fall into your lap, it is better to take a proactive step and put in motion a plan to attract fresh blood.
And now there are plans to run the talent ID scheme every year.
