Print

Mail

wiki links

Time for fun and games

Cricket
The Formosa Cricket Club, or FCC, is Taiwan's newest team and is looking for interested cricketers in the Taipei metropolitan area to fill out the team roster. Contact Dwight Johnson at (0937) 060 226 or visit the club's Web site at http://formosacricketclub.tripod.com for more information. Those interested in signing up from other parts of the island can contact Shantha Nanayakkara, who, in addition to playing the game, has been busy trying to establish a governing body for each of Taiwan's teams. He can put you in touch with a team in your area and can be reached at (0937) 109 626.

Fishing
Like to fish? Got NT$20,000 lying around? The Taipei Fisherman's Association provides deep-sea fishing cruises. The fee covers most of the costs for a group of up to five, including bait and tackle. NT$3,000 will hire you the services of an association member who will take you to some of his favorite coastal fishing spots. For more information, call the association at (02) 2511 1022.

Football
We mean the real one where you use your feet, not the American thing. The Taiwan Businessmen's League comprises eight teams, three of which are also active in the Foreigner's league, which consists of the Red Lions, Animals and Dragons in Taipei, two teams in Taichung, the Teletubbies and Compass Utd, and the 100 Pacers in Kaohsiung, the Tainan Phoenix and the Tienmu B-52s.

Football enjoys the widest following among foreigners in Taiwan and each of the aforementioned organizations is open to anyone interested in joining. Contact TBL's Billy Kung via e-mail at billy.kung@ups-scs.com for information on the team nearest you. If you're interested in joining one of the foreigner's league teams, you can do so by calling Siv Sears at (0953) 911 741 or by dropping an e-mail to tainanphoenix@hotmail.com. Siv can help get you kitted out with a team in your area.

Golf
The International Golf Society of Taiwan has negotiated discounts with a number of courses, but currently has the Royal Kuan-hsi and Hsing-Fu as its main venues. A round of golf, with dinner afterwards, costs NT$3,200, annual membership fees are just NT$1,800 and competition fees for all events are NT$300. The IGST meets regularly in accordance with its prearranged calendar of events (which can be seen on the society's Web site at http://www.taiwan-golf.com). Anyone interested in IGST membership should contact the executive director, George Okrasa, at ExecDirectorIGST@taiwan-golf.com.

Gaelic football
The Taiwan Celts were founded in 1996 and have both men's and women's teams, and is one of the few sports associations in Taipei to have a dedicated women's team.

The team competes yearly in the Asian championship, Derek Brady Cup. Derek Brady was the founder of the Asian championships and also the founder of the Gaelic Football Club in Taiwan. Teams from Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea, Shanghai, Beijing, Dubai, Malaysia and Singapore all compete for the cup. This year's games are being held in Hong Kong at the end of November. Last years games were in Phuket, Thailand, and the President of Ireland turned up for the event.

The club trains every Saturday and welcomes new players. Experience is not at all essential as there is an excellent training program. Call Dave O'Sullivan on (0955) 566 015.

Rugby
The Taipei Baboons Rugby Club is Taiwan's most established side, playing matches both with other clubs around the island and against international sides. The club welcomes anyone with an interest in rugby to join the team either competitively or by tagging along on trips down the island or to regular tournaments in Manila and Bali, where they've taken home the silverware on a number of occasions. Contact Max Murphy at (0919) 929 950 for information on becoming a 'Boon. If you're not a resident of the Taipei area, he can help make an introduction to a team closer to you.

Running
An organization that creatively combines drinking, chasing people and drinking, the Hash House Harriers has several groups operating around Taiwan.

The Taipei Hash is men-only and meets every Saturday, usually drawing around 200 runners trodding the sod outside Taipei City. For information on the group, contact Duncan Robinson at (0930) 952 478 or read their highly entertaining Web site at http://www.taipeihash.com.tw.

The China Hash is a mixed group that meets for a run on both Saturdays and Sundays. Call Jed van Voorhis at (0926) 354 310 for more info or visit the group's Web site at http://www.chinahash.com http://www.chinahash.com/ . Other Hashes are run in Hsinchu (call Mark Willardson at (0933) 794 422) and Kaohsiung (call Sean Sartison at (0913) 368 720). There is also a Wednesday night Hash using flashlights that's run from various Taipei MRT stations into the hills surrounding the city, adding a fugitive-on-the-loose feeling to the run and scaring the locals.

Softball
The Taipei Men's Softball League has been striking out lately, first encountering technical difficulties at Taipei American School, where the league plays its games, then being shut down along with the school itself due to SARS.

The six teams are up and running again, however, with pick-up games, small tournaments and barbecues, according to league organizer Joe Duffer. "We expect to pick up again with league play in the fall," he said. Interested players can contact him at (0958) 089 766 for more information.

Ultimate frisbee
Renegade Province is, in its own words, a group of "hacks, former little league right fielders, athlete-wannabes, former youth soccer league all stars, and bitter, washed-up ulti players."

They play most every Sunday near the Chungcheng Bridge in Yungho and will be fielding the Second Taipei Ultimate Tournament of 2003, tomorrow and Sunday. Interested parties -- "even if they don't know what a Frisbee is" -- are welcome to come for a fling.

Contact Josh at (02) 2995 9304. Practices are held on Saturdays, Tuesday and Thursdays. The group has an excellent Web site with all kinds of information about themselves and the history of Frisbee in Taiwan at http://www.renegadeprovince.com http://www.renegadeprovince.com/ .
This story has been viewed 2233 times.