Sai Kung Stingrays’ Youth section plays under the Kowloon Barbarians umbrella, combining with the DB Pirates and Flying Kukri clubs for U13, U14, U16 and U19. This partnership allows us to field teams at both the premiership and championship level accomodating a wider range of skill levels. The first part of the season until January is 15 a-side leagues with weekly matches on Sundays. In January teams switch to 10s in U13 and 7s in the other age groups. Teams have regular training on Sundays until the league starts.
11 Wylie Path, King's Park, Kowloon
"The youth players are trained by professional coaches from our Premier partner, Kowloon Rugby Club. This enables our older players to grow and develop, either enjoying the camaraderie of social rugby, or progressing into the more competitive divisions and National Age-Grade rugby."
Stingrays works on the calendar year. U13 | 2013U14 | 2012 U16 | 2011 + 2010 U18 | 2009 + 2008
All registered players will be given a Kowloon Barbarians match shirt, and Stingrays shorts and socks, as well as a Stingrays training top. In addition, they will be required to wear studded rugby boots and a fitted mouthguard. No mouthguard – no play. Jewellery and watches are forbidden during play.
Many HK sports shops (eg Escapade, Marathon Sports) sell mouthguards, which can be easily moulded and fitted at home. If you wish your child to have a more precisely fitted mouthguard, please consult your dentist. Mouthguards are also sold at King's Park and can be bought from the food kiosk on a Thursday evening if players forget theirs.
King's Park is an artificial pitch and stays open in rainy weather. The pitch is usually open during amber rain and only closes for red and black rain or T8s. In the event of training or a game being cancelled Team Managers will contact teams through their regular messaging channels.
Team coaching is run by pro-coaches from Kowloon rugby club. Coaches also select the team for weekend games.
Each age group has at least one team manager, but often more than one representing each club's players. Team managers are your first point of call when joining the club and help run messaging and sign ups on behalf of the coaches. All general enquiries should be directed to the team managers.
TeamSnap coordinates youth teams. TeamSnap helps to run scheduling, attendance and communication via email. Players will need to submit their match day attendance for the weekends games to be selected for the weekend's games. We recommend downloading the TeamSnap app for easy access.
Many teams also have Whatsapp to coordinate messaging with players and parents. As players become older, player only Whatsapps are created to allow players to communicate directly with each other, coaches and Team Managers. The aim is to have players develop as independent athletes and organise themselves through the Whatsapp groups, as well as develop team camaraderie.
Age groups can often have multiple teams at the Premiership and Championship level. Coaches will make selections based on ability, availability and commitment. It is important that a player regularly attends training to be eligible for a team.
In 2021 the Barbarians was formed post covid to help with the recovery in player numbers. Sai Kung Stingrays combined with DB Pirates and the Flying Kuri's at the youth level under the Barbarians name. At the same time the Stingrays continued developing their pathway with the Kowloon rugby club, and the Kowloon Barbarians were born. This has since grown to having some of the most successful rugby youth rugby teams in Hong Kong competing from U13 to U19. There are now ovr 160+ players trainig on Thursday's at King's Park as Barbarians.
