We are pleased to bring you the November newsletter.
This autumn, each class had very enjoyable programmes.
In late September, we held a camp in Sugadaira, Nagano Prefecture, for classes from pre-school age to Samurai classes.
This year, a total of 183 people attended, making it the largest camp in SIRC history.
On the first day we held the traditional campfire just outside of the hotel, and the “Matsuken Samba” dance troupe, led by Coach Ken Minagawa put on a fantastic performance. The children from the U12 Raptors in Australia, who were in Japan, were also invited along with their families, and it was a fun time of international exchange.
While the older children took part in the Heroes Friendship Festival, the younger children enjoyed rugby while taking part in activities such as the ‘drum bath’ (U4-8) and ‘bamboo cake making’ (U4-6). These are the unique programmes of SIRC.
From late September to October, there were a series of international exchange games with visiting teams.
On 25th September, the U12 Raptors and U13 Shogun played friendly games. On the 29th, the Colts played against the West Melton Club from New Zealand at Nagasawa. In addition, on 13 October, the U15 Kellett School from Hong Kong played with U15 Shogun/ U16 Colts.
The Colts’ gamees against overseas teams provided the impetus for them to arrange recent games with Meiji Hachioji High School and Kibogaoka High School. On 19 October, they were able to play a game against Sodai Gakuin at Yoyogi Park on “Shibuya Rugby Day”.
Meanwhile, U15 Shogun took part in the Tokyo Junior Rugby Tournament, and on 29th September they beat the Machida/Showa joint team by 19-7, bringing about the first official victory since the founding of SIRC.
The U15 (third year junior high school) team, who have made new histories by taking part in Shogun’s first official match, Shogun’s first Sugadaira training camp, and many other new events, will advance to the Colts from 10th November. The new Shogun (U14) team will also start training as the new team, and in December they will be holding a training camp in Omiya, Saitama Prefecture, and taking part in the Saitama City Cup.
The younger children’s classes took part in various tournaments in Tokyo, while the Reds actively participated in the TOKYO Girls‘ Rugby Festival and other joint events with other girls’ teams, demonstrating the results of their regular training.
Azabudai Classes which started just one year ago got very popular and their U4-U6 class is already full.The Azabudai Campus team joined the Showa teams when they participated in various tournaments, and there will be more opportunities for exchanges between two campuses.
This autumn, Showa Primary School was unable to use the school grounds very often, but our coaches actively organised away games for the teams. Thanks to the Waseda Club and other teams, we were able to arrange opportunities for exchange with various teams on a weekly basis. This is a great asset for SIRC for our future activities.
This autumn, we also welcomed new members from new countries. Lena, who came to Japan from Austria and joined Shogun, is one of them. Nikita, who joined the Colts, is from Ukraine. Our club motto, ‘Make friends all over the world through rugby,’ is being released weekly.
Finally, our President Will has started a new project to recruit new sponsors for SIRC. Our big dreams include having our own ground in the future, and creating a scholarship system for children who want to join SIRC. However, we would like to start by focusing on the immediate future.
The following is a message from President Will.
SEEKING SPONSORSHIP PARTNERS
Thank you for your support to Shibuya International Rugby Club.
The club is looking to raise funds to buy equipment, playing & training kit.
Initially we would like to target small businesses and individuals in the local area. If you have any contacts or possible leads then please contact to info@shibuyarugby.com. Again thank you for all your support. Will
The above is a brief report on the current situation of SIRC in November. There are less than two months left in the year. I hope everyone will stay healthy and get through this autumn and winter.
Koji Tokumasu,
Founder/Chairman,
Shibuya International Rugby Club
