the rugby sevens, the world’s premier rugby sevens tourinament and one of the highlights of hong kong’s social schedule kicks off tomorrow.

the first hk rugby sevens tournament was held in 1976, with eight teams competing.  as the tournament grew in popularity, more teams not only started attending, but tourists as well. and not just rugger fans! anyone who liked a party knew the sevens was a must attend tournament.

the stands are crammed with fans, many painted, most inebriated, who scream for their teams or any teams. alcohol flows freely as do songs, while the many morose fans who haven’t been able to score tickets, wait outside and buy one from scalpers for up to five times the original ticket price.

at night, the parties head to lan kwai fong and wanchai, but the loyal fans still make it to the stadium for the sunday finals.

ahem.

this year, young sebastian caldwell will be participating in the "junior" tournament. this entails playing a "test match" friday to sort of kick off the weekend and entertain the fans (like the alcohol won’t) between the "real" matches and another match sunday, after which all the junior teams will march past* the big teams.

tonight we were praying about the tournament and sebastian asked magnificent if he would be coaching, or at least on the field while he was playing. we said no. i don’t know how sebastian is going to react, being in a stadium for 40,000 people. he has a tough enough time concentrating on the ball and remembering to "run forward, throw backwards" when he’s playing on the local field. i wonder if he’s not going to walk out on to the field at get totally overwhelmed!!

to help sort him out, we are going to bring a flag (i might make one with a big S on it) and wave it, so hopefully he can spot us. i don’t hold out much hope…but i am sure going to try.

* the march by is a big deal and the kids need to be fully kitted out in their rugby gear. we were firmly instructed by our coaches that the kids need to wear their "socks up" for the march round, which might be a problem for sebastian. the socks are quite wide and his calves aren’t, and the socks keep slipping down! i have tried elastic bands, and although it wouldn’t do for the long term, at least we know we can do that incase nothing else works out.