Education | EPM and MAC win school touch rugby competition

The International School of Macao (TIS) hosted Macau’s first touch rugby competition on Saturday.
According to a statement sent to the Times by the organizers, the winner of the boys’ competition was the Portuguese School of Macau (EPM) team, which remained unbeaten throughout the day. Two teams from TIS and one from Macau Anglican College (MAC) also represented their schools.
The girls’ competition was between MAC and TIS, with the scores tied after two matches. In a thrilling playoff, members from each team were gradually removed, until MAC scored the winning try.
The event was sponsored by the Macau Bats Rugby Club, which is more commonly known for playing contact rugby. Club President Simon Carrington said: “This has been a great event and the children have really enjoyed it, despite the heat. Although our club only offers touch rugby for 5-8 year olds, touch rugby is a great way for children to start learning ball skills and to keep fit. Our aim is to promote all forms of rugby in Macau, both inside and outside schools.”
Last year the Asian Rugby Football Union appealed to all Asian rugby associations to get more schools playing touch rugby. Since then, touch rugby has been offered at three international schools in Macau. The School of the Nations has also agreed to add touch rugby to its sports curriculum from next term, and the Macau Rugby Club offers support and training to other schools wishing to join in.
However, according to the statement sent to the Times, the process has not been entirely smooth. One of the coaches at Saturday’s competition explained that government-owned playing fields can only be used by schools for football. Although TIS has its own full-sized grass pitch, other schools do not, meaning that they are unable to play field sports other than football. One teacher was asked about how they held the training sessions for the competition. “We tried to use the astroturf pitch at the Taipa stadium but were turned away when the security guards saw the shape of the ball. Some of our players had never even touched a rugby ball until today’s competition,” he said.
Simon Carrington criticized the local Sports Bureau (ID):  “The motto of the ID is ‘Sport for All’, however in reality it is ‘no field sports except for football’ for our school children. This is really disappointing not just for rugby, but what about field hockey, softball, and other sports? Not all school children are gifted at football, and other field sports need to be made available to them. I would ask the government to urgently review this facilities usage policy, and to add more all-weather pitches.”
Carrington said that the Macau Bats Rugby Club resumes rugby training (for boys and girls born in 2011 and earlier) in mid-September.

what is touch rugby?

Touch rugby refers to games derived from rugby in which players do not tackle each other in the traditional way. In the Macau tournament, teams of 12 players attempted to get the oval-shaped ball into the end zone without being touched by the opposition.