HKRU: Strategic Research Study findings

The HKRU (Hong Kong Rugby Union) have released the results if its KPMG led Strategic Research Study which was a key component of the HKRU Strategic Plan launched in late 2019.

HKRU’s Strategic Plan

Online, the HLRU said “The first objective of the HKRU’s new Strategic Plan was to commission a market research report into the state of the game, and the resulting KPMG survey was submitted to the Board – with 6 surveys developed based on the outputs of 10 workshops with 98 stakeholders of the Union, and a total of 12,514 survey responses received, this was the most in-depth study of rugby in Hong Kong to-date.”

HKRU: Strategic Research Study findings

The findings of the KPMG Strategic Research Study has also been presented to the Hong Kong Rugby Union community stakeholder groups such as the “club chairs, Youth groups, and Union staff”.

The results will assist the two Steering Groups that will work on “delivering the remaining Strategic Objectives over the next 4 years –  both the “Building the Brand” and “Alignment & Transition” Groups are already up and running” said the HKRU.

What were the findings of the HKRU study?

Some of the key pieces of data in the market research included:

• 11,026 registered rugby players across all age groups
• Overall numbers decreased by 7.8% from the previous year
• 54% of players are Chinese, and 28% are female
• U6, U19 and 21-30 are key age groups for recruitment
• 53% of Seniors started between the ages of 21-30 years
• U8, U19 and 31-40 are key age groups for drop-outs
• 45% of U8s drop-out
• 61% of U12s drop-out
• 60% of U19s drop-out
• 44% of 31-40s drop-out

Common themes that attract players at all ages to play rugby in Hong Kong:

• Fitness
• Friends
• Fresh – a new and different sport
• Fun
• Values
• Value for money
• Achievement

Common themes that lead to player drop-out:

• Time commitments (school, family, friends)
• Choose a different sport
• Friends stop playing
• Not fun anymore
• Quality of coaching
• Broken pathway at club

Photo Credit: HKRU

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