ANZ donates HK$100,000 to Tin Shui Wai Rugby Club to nurture young players
More than 100 children were given the unique opportunity to meet and learn from elite international rugby players from the Australian Wallabies and New Zealand All Blacks at the ANZ Hong Kong 2008 Bledisloe Cup rugby clinic today.
Australian International School students and disadvantaged children from the Tin Shui Wai Rugby Club undertook training sessions with coaching assistance of the rugby stars at So Kon Po Sports Ground in Causeway Bay. Hong Kong Rugby Football Union coaches also gave tips to the young players.
Participants were given the opportunity to interact with Wallabies (Sekope Kepu, Peter Hynes, Digby Loane, Hugh McMeniman and Michael Foley) and All Blacks (Jerome Kaino, Keiran Read, Keven Mealamu and Conrad Smith), ask them questions, watch them in action and learn rugby skills.
ANZ today also pledged a donation of HK$100,000 to the under-resourced Tin Shui Wai Rugby Club for purchasing new equipment.
ANZ Chief Executive Officer North East Asia, Mr Alistair Bulloch said, “ANZ is committed to being a contributing member of the communities in which we do business and one of the ways we do this is through supporting sports and cultural events.
“It’s important to nurture local players so Hong Kong can continue to be a great rugby destination.
“As title sponsor of this Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup game, ANZ is delighted to support the rugby clinic and the Tin Shui Wai Rugby Club, and to make the sport available to more young people.
“The clinic was a once in a lifetime opportunity for these children to develop rugby skills with worldclass players. I hope this experience will deepen their passion for rugby and strengthen their commitment to sporting excellence, as well as giving them greater confidence to pursue their goals,” Mr Bulloch said.
ANZ has a long association with elite sporting events across Asia Pacific. In addition to the title sponsorship of the ANZ Hong Kong 2008 Bledisloe Cup, ANZ also sponsors a series of tournaments including the IRB Pacific Nations Cup, the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup and the FORU Oceania Cup. ANZ will also support a junior rugby program across the region which will target mass participation initiatives in the nine Pacific Island Member Unions of the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU).