Life of Guangzhou - Sport Amateurs' Organizations in Guangzhou

Do you wanna join a certain sport group and find your peers in Guangzhou? There are active international rugby, football, cycling and even floorball communities for your interest to share the sport passion and "get you home in a family"! They are open for the public to participate in. Most of their members are foreigners like you.

Some "cross-sportholics" even play in different clubs, like football, floorball or rugby.

The Rams Rugby Club (in red) play against the Utaloy School during the Touch Rugby Tournament of Guangzhou in November, 2006 (LIfeofguangzhou.com)

Rams Rugby Club

Founded 10 years ago, it is the oldest amateurs' organization in the city. It has touch and contact rugby teams, and men's and women's squads, training each Wednesday (at the Tiyu Dong Football Pitch) and Friday evenings (at the South China University of Agriculture) in Tianhe.

They actively play matches with similar clubs from Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and other Chinese and even overseas cities like Seoul, and group for other interesting events outside Guangzhou.

The club of about 70 core members is well-organized, with its Club House based at the Hooley's Pub in Tianhe.

More about the club:

Family-like Club Pushes Rugby Forward

Guangzhou's First Touch Rugby Tournament Bash!

Website: www.gzrams.com

Guangzhou Cycle Group

It's the city's first public group of the sport that is popular in the world and also in this "Country of Bicycles".

It started in 2002 with a few expatriates' "get-away" on some weekend cycling excursion on the outskirts of Guangzhou has turned into a larger group that gets together regularly on weekend road rides, and participates in local bike races as well as organized cycling trips.

Up to their motto "the more the merrier", they meet up most weekend for bike rides.

Website: www.gzcycle.com

Some members of the Guangzhou Cycle Group pose in a ride in Guangzhou. (GCG)

Guangzhou Football League

There are quite a few amateurs' football tournaments of 7 VS 7 citywide in Guangzhou, a city of strong football tradition. The foreigners here also have their own, by setting up a league in 2005, and have been playing two seasons each year ever since.

Each Sunday evening at the Tiyu Dong Football Pitch in Tianhe, Spaniards, Japanese, Turks, and Arabs teams up by nation, while the pub-based multi-national players field out in the names of Elephant & Castle, Paddy Field and other bars. Even there is a Chinese estate-based team. It's not difficult to find a squad to join, or even set up your own team.

More about the league:
Expats' Football League: Spree of Sport, Beer and Friends

Website: http://www.hooleys-pub.com/GZFL

Team Paddy Field (in green) play against Team E & C during a league match at the Tiyu Dong Football Pitch in Tianhe in 2007. (Lifeofguangzhou.com)

South China Taipan Floorball Club

Floorball was introduced into Guangzhou by some visiting Finns who worked for Nokia, and has been developed to be a big fun for 40-50 people of the club. They are Canadian, British, French, Iranian, Swiss, Swede, and Chinese.

The group usually train each Thursday evening at a gymnasium of the Guangzhou Sport Institute in Tianhe, and play tournaments with the teams from other Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou from time to time.

The sticks are "rarely-seen" and not available in Guangzhou, but ordered from Beijing and even the outside of China.

A Chinese female player of the Taipan Floorball Club (in orange) dribbles during a match against Team Suzhou in Guangzhou in 2008. (Lifeofguangzhou.com)

Women's Football Team

The two-year-old group of some 30 passionate multi-national girls train regularly at the Tiyu Dong Football Pitch in Tianhe each Wednesday evening, just beside the rugby lovers.

Irene from Uruguay is their leader while British man Nick and Canadian lady Kara co-coached the girls.

More about the team:
Foreign Girls Cheer up for Soccer Fun

The women's football team train at the Tiyu Dong Football Pitch in Tianhe in 2007. (Lifeofguangzhou.com)

* If you are in or know about any sport groups in Guangzhou other than the above five, please share with us and your peers by contacting us at wjlee72@gmail.com and shanna.chu@gmail.com. Thank you for your favor.