Hong Kong Sevens: New Zealand star has extra special reason to enjoy tournament this year
Besides the chance to play at the new stadium, Jazmin Felix-Hotham also gets the opportunity to have a happy reunion with a now-local figure
New Zealand’s Jazmin Felix-Hotham was no stranger to playing in the Hong Kong Sevens but this year is a special one for her.
Playing at the new Kai Tak Stadium was only one of the reasons: the trip to the city also reunited her with her father, Nigel Hotham, who moved to Hong Kong last summer.
A renowned rugby coach back home, Hotham Snr accepted a role with local Premiership outfit USRC Tigers and decided to embrace “a change of my lifestyle” with his wife Dianne, after spending the past three decades coaching in New Zealand.
“We’ve got five children and they’d all left home, so there was a little opportunity, a little window for me and my wife to travel and do some coaching,” the director of rugby at the Tigers said.
“It’s far but not as far away as Europe, and the bonus of having an experience like this was that we hadn’t had the opportunity to travel and watch Jazmin play, so it’s pretty special they’re here and we’re already here.”
Jazmin, who won an Olympic gold medal with the Black Ferns Sevens in Paris last summer, has played twice before at the Hong Kong Sevens, on top of a school trip with her Hamilton Girl’s High School team.
“Hong Kong Sevens is such a historical event, we call it the home of Sevens,” she said. “There’s so much history in that old stadium and this stadium is spectacular, so to play in something built solely for the Sevens is pretty special.”
The 24-year-old added that Hong Kong is “by far” her favourite stop in the World SVNS Series.