The Griffins are coming! The sixteenth staging of this now famous Chris Kays Memorial Tournament will take place over the weekend of 30th April and 1st May at the Horseshoe Point Resort in Pong. Like the film industry there are many sequels in this tournament and this year’s focus is on the Griffins, fortunately not the mythical creatures from Greek mythology but a team of the most dedicated tourists on the planet.
This year the Valley Griffins, led by Aarann Young (who interestingly went to school with Chris Kays) and ‘Tyro Tourist’ Boris Niethammer, are bringing a touring party of 40 and Aarann has also signed up his local pub from Derby in the U. K., who will play under the guise of La Vache Rouge. We expect plenty of fun from these two groups including a bull riding rodeo at Hooters on Saturday night.
The Valley Griffins will be part of an all star line-up of teams for this weekend’s Pattaya Rugby Festival at Horseshoe Point.
There will be 16 teams in the tournament and again this year there will be a very strong local influence. Reigning champions the Southerners Gold will lead the charge with their sister team Southerners Black and the Old Bangkok Bangers Colts and of course crowd favourites The Bangkok Japanese. Former champions Phuket Vagabonds will be hoping to regain the trophy that they last won in 2014 with a reinvigorated line up coached by Pat Cotter.
There will also be a very strong representation from the rapidly developing Thai club scene, including the Elephant Brutal team from Surin, who have graduated through our youth tournament and Arch Thai, a team formed from the architectural faculties at several universities. Young Blood will also be making a return and stressing that they are still Young Blood.
There will also be a new team from Ubon Ratchathani and the Chiangmai Suas will be out to prove that they are not extinct! There will be a very welcome return of the French Asian Barbarians (FABS) after an absence of more than 10 years and Hong Kong will again provide the biggest overseas input as apart from the Griffins, the Hong Kong Scottish and the Parents of Borelli Walsh USRC Tigers will be boosting the representation from China.
The host team Pattaya Panthers have been training hard under the eyes of Ta’atu Apa and Brian Bain, an unlikely combination for a coaching team involving a blend of the South Pacific and the Highlands of Scotland. The Panthers have also gained some experience by entering several local and foreign tournaments so far this year and Captain AD is promising to provide a few surprises!
The Panthers would like to thank all of the tournament sponsors, who have made this event possible particularly the principal sponsors Hooters Pattaya and Amari Orchid Resort Pattaya, plus CR Asia Ltd. for providing all the cover and 4U for supplying the water. Significant support has also been received from Hemaraj Land and Development, Manpower Thailand, NMT International Project Logistics Co., Ltd. S 5 Shipping Services and Phoenix Pacific Inc. as well as Baron Edward Devereux and Societe Generale de Surveillance.
Players and friends will get together on Friday night 29th April for a welcoming party and ‘training session’ at Hooters Restaurant on Beach Road, the newest venue in Pattaya.
Over the weekend the action begins at 10:00 am on Saturday and concludes around 5pm on Sunday in what should be a memorable weekend festival of rugby with almost 24 hours of entertaining rugby action during the two days. Jim Howard, Chairman of the Pattaya Panthers commented, “The weather is forecast to be very hot! But the beer and cider served by the Hooters Girls will be very cold! Steve Mines the ‘Pie Man’ from the London Pie Shop will also be on hand to satisfy your hunger. Everything is set so we have no doubt that this will be the best tournament yet.”
