Hamilton Boys High School 1st XV Rugby | World Schools Tournament, Thailand

Hamilton Boys High School 1st XV Rugby | World Schools Tournament, Thailand

Project 2022-10-01 14:00:39 +1300

After recently being crowned New Zealand's National 1st XV Rugby Champions in September, the team have been invited to travel to Thailand in December 2022 to compete in the World Schools Festival Rugby Tournament to be held at The Pattana Sports Resort in Chonburi Province. The travelling group will be made up of 30 people. 26 players, 22 of whom were participants at The Top 4 Finals Series in September, becoming National Champions and earning the right to compete at this tournament. 4 boys will be additional players to the squad. 3 coaching staff who are all teachers at the school (Mr Nigel Hotham, Mr Greg Kirkham and myself, Mr Cam Moorby) will lead the boys whilst on tour. Also, 1 physiotherapist (Mr Chris Pett) will complete the 30 large contingent.

The 10-day tournament will take place from Saturday 10th December – Monday 19th December and will include 3 games against 7 of the best schoolboy rugby teams in the world. The other teams competing in the tournament hail from Australia, South Africa, England, Ireland and Fiji. The first match is scheduled for Tuesday December 13th. The tournament will be structured in a knockout format with the winning teams on Day 1,  progressing on toward the final rounds on Thursday 15th and Saturday 17th. The losing teams from Day 1 will contest the play offs for the minor placings.

New in 2022, Thailand is an ideal choice for the hosting of the World Schools Festival tournament for the following reasons:

- Thailand fits perfectly within the time zone of the core markets involved:

UK (-6 hours)

SA (-5 hours)

AUS (+5 hours)

NZ (+6 hours)

Tournament organisers believe this will increase viewership dramatically.

- Visas are no issue, schools will have no travel issues, nor additional expenses due to visas.

- Ideally placed as the mid-point between Northern & Southern Hemispheres, allowing the “Meeting Point” for teams to travel and play quality fixtures, whilst maintaing variety through playing matches against teams from different countries.

- Thailand has it's best weather during the December period.

- December is perfect timing to match the end of Term in Northern Hemisphere and end of year in Southern Hemisphere schools.

- Infrastructure: Thailand is built for tourism and a variety of off field activities are available to spectators, supporters and athletes alike. 

-  Pattana is the ideal high performance environment for this WSF tournament through its high quality stadium and world class dining and entertainment facilities and fitness, pool and sports training facilities.

The money raised through PledgeMe will contribute toward meeting the travel costs of attending this tournament. We have budgeted a cost of $3,000 per player for the tour. This cost covers return air fares, playing kit, team equipment, off-field attire and insurance. It is our goal to reach a minimum target of $13,000 through Crowd Funding. This total will be split evenly between each of the touring players, subtracting $500 from their $3,000 total owing.

A successful PledgeMe campaign results in the ability for a group of young men to experience an unprecedented, once in a lifetime opportunity. This is a young and talented group of rugby boys who deserve this opportunity of a unique experience. These are boys who each and every day lead their younger peers by example. They are positive role-models in school, at home and within our community. If you could, please help our cause in helping our boys to experience another culture, whilst competing against world class opposition. Your kindness is truly appreciated.

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