B.A.C Rugby & Furious 5s Beach Festival 2024 – Wang Shao Ing
During the Singapore Rugby Festival 2024, we were invited to the Furious 5s Beach Festival which is organised by members of the Singapore B.A.C Rugby Club. Experienced campaigner Wang Shao Ing, (Organising Committee Member of Furious 5s and Former Singapore National Rugby Athlete, Coach, and Captain) and Singapore SVNS Judicial member spoke about the beach tournament, the B.A.C Rugby Clubs roots, and the development of women’s rugby in Singapore.
Wang Shao Ing – Serious Rugby Pedigree
Wang Shao Ing has an incredible rugby CV – she has been a member of the Asia Rugby Committee (Chairperson of Asia Rugby’s Women’s Rugby Committee), acted as a Judicial Chair at the Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan & 2023 in France and previously at the Rio Olympics 2016 – the first time Sevens rugby featured at the Games. She was also the first Singaporean to be appointed to the World Rugby Advisory Committee in 2016.
As a player, she won the silver at the SEA Games in Rugby Sevens for Singapore among a string of accolades and is a licenced Word Rugby Coach Educator.
She is currently filling the volunteer capacity as the Furious 5s Tournament Director and has been a long-standing member of the B.A.C Bears Rugby, while in her career she is a proven legal counsel and considered an expert in Safeguarding in Sport.
Sign Up for the Rugby Asia 247 Newsletter Now To Receive the Latest Asian Rugby News (coming soon)
B.A.C Rugby – Club Roots
When asked what the club stands for, Ing told us on the sunny Sentosa beach, “Anything you want it to be. That’s quite an interesting story behind why it’s called B.A.C. We actually left a club in Singapore that we were previously with. One of the reasons why we left was mainly about gender equity, I think it was difficult for us to accept that we couldn’t have women in leadership positions at that club.”
We were quite surprised a rugby club would still have such a policy (although this was in the mid-1990s) and asked if it was ingrained at their previous club (who she did not name).
“It was systemic because it was written into the constitution. We tried to sort it out and we tried to persuade leadership at the time it wasn’t good for representation, and the women’s team was really a big part of the club.
We wanted to be at the table for important decisions, and I think it was important for us to signal to younger players that we felt that this was important for them as well,” she told us.
“We’ve (B.A.C Rugby) been around since 1996 and I think we can say that we’re the oldest Women’s Rugby Club in Singapore*. We’ve always been about creating opportunities to participate and one of the big issues with rugby, and women’s rugby here in Singapore, is the opportunities to participate. You can form a team, you can recruit as many members as you want, but it is maintaining that interest and everybody wants to play. This is what this tournament is about at the Furious Beach 5s.”
*For clarification they have been a group of womens rugby players since the 1990s but formally formed B.A.C Rugby in 2022 after leaving their former club.
Obstacles To Girls and Women Playing Rugby
Wang Shao Ing said, “It’s really a combination of everything with rugby and women’s rugby. The SEA Games, Asian Games and the Olympics have given it far more exposure. Now, with the HSBC World Rugby SVNS Series here in Singapore, it’s so exciting that women are actually playing this particular series for the first time because in the past, it has only been the men and I think there’s real interest in the women’s game.
Maybe 20 years back, even I hid the fact that I played from my parents – they were very disapproving. It’s certainly not a game that an Asian female should be playing, they thought. But with the advent of the internet and the exposure now, wow.”
She added, “I remember, my favourite player was Keith Wood (the former Irish and British & Irish Lions international) and I had this poster of him in my room. And none of the girls today would have a favourite player as a male player – their favourite role model would be female. And that’s simply because they have so much access to content and to girls playing rugby, and they can see it, and if you can see it, you can be it, so it’s so much more accessible for everyone.
Furious Beach 5s Tournament – Singapore
“There are low barriers to entry with an event like the Furious 5s – you don’t really need to be part of a club, you can just form a team. So we are very happy to have the under 16 and the under 19, and even under 12s with the exhibition match with five-aside and non-contested scrums. it’s just about run, catch, pass – those parts of the game that are so attractive as part of the SVNS” Ing said.
The branding and the name of the beach tournament are excellent in our opinion as was the setting and the atmosphere in a very festive setup which all help generate interest in the sport. This is only the second time they have managed to hold the tournament as initial plans were derailed by the pandemic.
The 24 HSBC Singapore SVNS captains had popped down to watch and engage with fans and were swamped with requests for interviews and signatures.
“You can see this all fits in with part of the whole SVNS setup. It’s all about the music, the fringe activities and it’s not just straight-up rugby. It’s all about everybody getting together and having fun.”
During the day, the overall response from all the teams and fans we spoke with was very positive, there were slip-and-slide events and races with participants wearing inflatable animals to create an all-round entertainment experience.
There were a lot of recognisable faces such as former England and GB Sevens star Dan Norton, former professional player Duke Krishnan and even the Singapore Rugby Union GM Sidney Kumar all involved.
“We were very lucky and fortunate to have the SVNS captain come around – I think that only happens in rugby where famous players are very accessible – I think that’s really the beauty of the game that we play, that there are still very wonderful people that are playing and fans of the game,” added Ing.
We are fans of the tournament and hope it becomes a regular fixture but are well aware of the energy and work that goes into pulling it off – the tournament is run by BAC and all those involved are volunteers.
The Tournament Director said, “We think it’s really important for the girls, and to be part of something and they contribute to something. When they run a tournament like this, they learn life skills as well, and that is something that we feel very strongly about.
In the past, we have run other types of tournaments and we will keep running other small events throughout the year.
This is our marquee event and we want to keep providing opportunities to participate, and not necessarily need to wait for the Singapore Rugby Union or someone else to do it, we can just run it ourselves. As long as there are opportunities to play, we feel that we can keep alive the interest in the game as well.”
Opportunities In Singapore Rugby
“I would say that the biggest opportunity in Singapore is actually in women’s rugby. We’ve seen a couple of things, we’ve doubled the number of female women’s clubs and maybe women’s teams, in the last two to three years, so that’s a great sign,” Ing told us.
“It has always been difficult to have women’s rugby start among the domestic population at a non-adult age, they usually start around university time, and that’s part of the cultural challenge, but that’s changing. You can see the reflection of that in the number of teams that participate in tournaments, and that’s great for the game. It’s a real growth area with the sport.”
B.A.C Rugby as a club had several representatives in the Singapore national team that was playing in the SEA 7s 2024 that week in Singapore, as many as 6-7 players which is a great indicator of the work that has been done.
Before we left them to get back to managing the tournament we had to ask about the BEAR which is a part of the club and Furious 5s branding.
“It’s a Southeast Asian Sun Bear. I think not many people know about the Southeast Asian Sun Bears – but it is the smallest bear.
When we were looking at something that would represent the kind of spirit that the team has, we felt that it represented the way that our team plays – we are usually smaller and they really are very resourceful – Sun Bears can even climb trees, I mean, like which bears climb trees!
Asian Rugby News 2024
- Four Asian Unions Sign On For Unions Cup To Develop XVs Rugby.
- Sidney Kumar On His Guiding Principles To Grow The Game In Singapore.
- Sam Pinder – SVNS Is A Fantastic Vehicle For Being Able To Grow The Sport Of Rugby.
- Tyla King On Setting An Example For The Next Generation.