In 2006, a man turned up to his first Sandy Bay training session knowing only one person.

He was nervous and new to the game. Not quite sure where he would fit.

That didn’t last long.

“A few people immediately introduced themselves, we got to chatting, and then I felt welcome every time I turned up. Some of those people are still here today.”

Tony Falso came to play rugby that evening.

He stayed for everything else and nearly two decades later, he is our Club Chairman.

Ask him what the Bay means to him now, the answer does not start with results.

“It all started with rugby. But the memories and friendships have been what truly stands out.”

Ask anyone why they're here, almost nobody leads with the rugby. Go ahead and try, we’ll wait?

Garrick Mattheus came a long way to find that out.

A message from Mikey Botha. A proposal thrown on the table.

Garrick thought he had put rugby behind him by then. But rugby, as he puts it, never really left him. Everything he heard about Sandy Bay and Hong Kong started to make sense. Eventually, he and his wife Allison worked out the move.

Then he arrived, half a world from home, bracing for the hard part.

It never really came.

“Every single person at the club was so welcoming that it felt like I’d been there for years already.”

A club can have teams, kit, coaches and matchday posts.

But the real measure of a club is how quickly a new person stops feeling new.

The beginning of moving to a new country is hard, change is never easy.

For Garrick, that load was made a little lighter. Not because the move was easy, but because people at the Bay helped carry it. “Being South African helped; there are plenty here.” But that's not what he talked about.

He talks about a club that cares about you on the field and off it.

A place you want to be around 24/7.

That is not an accident.

That is culture.

And it runs the whole way through.

It runs through the Minis and Youth, where Mikey Botha coaches.

“We don’t just help them become better rugby players. We help shape their confidence, respect and resilience, so they can become the best young people they can be.”

Better players, yes.

But the sentence does not stop there. And neither does he.

Better people.

That is the quiet promise underneath every Sunday morning. That a child walks away with more than a rugby skill. They walk away a little braver. A little more confident. A little more themselves.

It runs through the women’s programme, where Daphne So found something she was not looking for.

She had played mini rugby, but stopped right before tackling was introduced — Rugby deemed too violent for a girl, while her brother carried on.

Years later, during lockdown, she took up tag and touch rugby. After enough pestering from friends, two years of what she calls “comical misunderstanding,” and a couple of pints, she joined Sandy Bay.

First tackle drill in, she was hooked.

But the real story is what happened after:

“Being around strong women reinforced my resolve to stay my weird, weird self. Being different is a cause for celebration rather than isolation.”

That confidence, Daphne says, has found its way into how she carries herself outside of rugby entirely.

A club helped give her that.

Her advice to anyone thinking about joining is simple.

“Join first, think later.”

And then there are the people you do not always see.

Behind every visible moment is tons of invisible work.

Deborah Chan helps keep the place moving — the admin, the planning, the communication, the hours nobody claps for.

“A huge amount of unseen work is what keeps the club running smoothly.”

But when you ask why she keeps showing up, she does not point to the tasks.

She points to the people:

Parents stepping in.

Coaches giving their time.

Kids cheering each other on.

Volunteers making things happen before anyone notices they needed doing.

That human connection, she says, is what sets Sandy Bay apart.

And maybe that is what Tony understood, standing nervous on that pitch in 2006.

What Garrick felt when he arrived from South Africa.

What Mikey sees every Sunday morning.

What Daphne found in the women’s programme.

What Deborah helps hold together behind the scenes.

Sandy Bay is not a collection of separate teams.

It is one club.

Minis to Youth.

Youth to Seniors.

Players to parents.

Coaches to volunteers.

Teammates to friends you keep for life.

One thread running through all of it.

The small ones looking up at the Premiership players.

The Premiership players giving back.

The parents becoming part of the rhythm.

The volunteers becoming part of the fabric.

The people leaving, returning, and still feeling connected.

That is why the move works.

Why the nervous first-timer stays.

Why someone can arrive from across the world and feel at home in a week.

Why children grow here.

Why families come back.

Why people keep showing up.

You may arrive for the rugby.

But you stay for everything else.