Rugby Development In South Korea

When Matt Butler moved from Maryland to South Korea to be an English teacher, he had never played a game of rugby in his life.

 

Despite his lack of rugby experience, Butler, like many American and Canadian expatriates before him, was welcomed into the ranks of the Seoul Survivors, Korea’s most prolific ex-pat rugby club.

 

Composed primarily of antipodeans, in recent years the Survivors have had a great deal of success converting Americans to rugby. As Kurt Taogaga, former Survivors Club Manager, told WeAreRugby, “the North American contingent usually provides good raw talent” for the club.

 

This talent comes from the very wide range of athletic experiences that the Americans bring with them; the club boasts everything from former collegiate football stars to hockey players, and even a former National Champion croquet player.

 

Of course, a great deal of training has to be done to get “raw” players up to the level of competition. Much of the required coaching comes from other players within the club.

 

“Players from countries with greater rugby traditions [such as New Zealand and Australia],” Taogaga says, “are more than happy to provide coaching on the more technical aspects of [the] game.”

 

The Survivors also field a development “B” squad, affectionately known as the “Killer Bs,” where players who are new to the game can gain valuable experience and work on their technical skills.

 

On the Survivors first team, the players compete annually in the Yellow Sea Cup, a round-robin tournament that pits the Survivors against some of the best amateur clubs in China. In addition, the Survivors are slated to play exhibition matches against the Korea Rugby Union’s elite teams, the very best semi-professional domestic teams.

 

Their annual schedule is rounded out by participating in a number of 10’s tournaments throughout South Korea and the Philippines. This very busy and very competitive schedule is designed to raise the quality of play, not only for those who are new to the game, but for the club’s experienced rugby players.

 

“Previously, a 23-year old who left the college rugby system … to spend a year teaching in Korea was doing his hopes of advancing in rugby no favors by playing [under] the Korean rugby structure, [which] lacked the resources and opportunities to provide enough competitive play,” Taogaga explains. “We hope to mitigate the effects of that downtime in this country and send guys home better rugby players than when they arrived.”

 

As the Survivors work to improve on the field, they also do a lot of work to give back to the Korean community.

 

The Korea Herald reports that the Survivors raised 4.2 million won ($3,700) to be split between a local orphanage and a school in North Korea*. And for Christmas, several of the guys took a group of orphans ice-skating. Canadian Jordan Smigelsky even had his own ice-skates shipped in for the occasion.**

 

The Seoul Survivors Club presents its players with some amazing opportunities, from touring Asia to providing a little holiday cheer to the less fortunate in their new home country. And in the future, the rewards for their hard work and dedication may be equally amazing.

 

“In discussions with the Korean Rugby Union, there was even some talk of opening up the Korean national team to foreign players who have fulfilled the 3-year residency requirement,” Taogaga tells us.

 

So the Survivors may soon be turning “raw talent” into international caliber players.

 

*http://www.koreaherald.com/lifestyle/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20101214000740
**http://www.survivorsrfc.com/index.php/ko/community/157-survivors-on-ice

 

Jake Crabbs is an American based in Seoul, South Korea. He is WeAreRugby’s Asian correspondent.