Join the team

By David Momphard
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Jun 06, 2003, Page 17

Taiwan's Renegade Province Ultimate Frisbee team enjoys a spin. PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL MCMANUS

Sharpen your cleats, lace your running shoes, practice your swing or clean out your tackle box. As the weather warms and Taiwan begins to unmask from SARS, people are looking to get outdoors and get active. And in a country which has traditionally placed little emphasis on sport, many amateur leagues and associations have been fielded by the expatriate community.

But that's nothing new. Foreigners have been playing sports throughout Asia since they first arrived. The most famous of expatriate sporting associations is likely the Hash House Harriers. It was founded in 1938, came to Taiwan in 1973 and is run here in the same manner as the hundreds of other hashes in countries around the world: Based on the British hare-and-hounds tradition, one runner is given a head start and marks a trail with flour. The pack of "hounds" then runs after, trying to catch him. At the end of the run, and in keeping with tradition, a lot of beer is consumed -- the perfect weekend workout.

It's the way it happens all around Asia, I imagine; a guy is new to a city and he goes to the local sports bar to find out where the teams are. -- Max Murphy, of The Brass Monkey

Taiwan now has five Hashes run on a regular basis across the island. The Taipei Hash, is a men's club that boasts upwards of 600 members who, surprisingly, never tire of running around the Taiwan countryside. Most of the other hashes are mixed groups of men and women, Taiwanese and expatriate.

Kevin Meyer has been running hashes since he first came to Taiwan in 1988. "I'll run 30 to 40 hashes a year and very rarely have I run the same trail twice," he said. "It's a great way to become familiar with the island and find some nice places."

If you're interested in something a bit more competitive than chasing after some poor geezer pretending to be a rabbit, then sign up for a team sport. The most popular teams in Taiwan are playing rugby, cricket and football (the one where you use your feet). Most are active year-round, training, competing and collectively keeping the island's several sports bars in business. In some cases, they own a sports bar of their own.

"It's the way it happens all around Asia, I imagine; a guy is new to a city and he goes to the local sports bar to find out where the teams are," said Max Murphy, one of the owners of Taipei's newest sports bar, The Brass Monkey. But long before there was the Monkey, Max was a Baboon.

The Baboons are Taiwan's best established amateur rugby team by virtue of the fact that they've been around for years and they're the only ones to have competed overseas in the Manila 10s, and in Bali and Phuket. They've taken home the silverware on more than one occasion. While the team is well established, it remains open to anyone interested in playing or otherwise supporting the team, even inviting them to their tournaments overseas.

Like the Baboons, the Formosa Cricket Club is equally open to newcomers, according to one of the team's founding members, Dwight Johnson. "Everyone is welcome," he told the Taipei Times, and invited anyone interested to inquire at the team's sponsor, My Other Place. And if they don't know how to play cricket? "We'll teach them," he said.

And he's serious. In recent years, cricket has been promoted among amateurs perhaps more than any other sport in Taiwan. While other sports have long enjoyed wide support, cricket has slogged on year after year with a small handful of teams. The oldest of them, the Taipei Cricket Association, is composed of mostly Indian players and is widely seen as the team to beat.

The Colombo Cricket Club is mostly Sri Lankans living around the Taoyuan area. There's also the Kaohsiung Community Cricket Club, which started playing in 1985, a team based out of the British school in Taipei and a team out of Hsinchu. Formosa is the newest to step up to the wicket.

While these clubs compete against one another, they spend more time working together to promote cricket throughout the island and trying to put together a governing body for the sport.

Of course, no sport enjoys the kind of support found on and off the football pitch. There are at least two leagues active island-wide, one of which is especially for the foreign community. The Taipei Businessmen's League is made up of teams of expats and local businesses.

The Foreigner's league is just as large with eight teams evenly spread across the island. The Red Lions FC play in both leagues and are this year celebrating their 20th anniversary -- in good style, too; the team is the current holders of the O'Ginny's Challenge Cup and recently managed to retain the Tavern Cup.

"We're always looking for players," the Red Lion's Tony Hewitt said. "You can find us at our regular practice at the Bailin Bridge or tucked away at one of our local sponsors, O'Ginny's or the Tavern."

For every interest there is an activity. Golf, ultimate Frisbee, fishing and even Gaelic football are only a few of the many activities that can be found in and around each of Taiwan's major cities.

Look down our list of some of the more active organizations [see right] to find one that interests you.