Guest Blog from Monty Nyriws – Mini Interview with Chinese Women’s Rugby 7s Star Guan Qi Shi

One of the mini-highlights I had at the Hong Kong 7s tournament was meeting one of the members of the Chinese 7s team. I happened to be sitting right behind her during one of the Sunday games, so I introduced myself. Her name is Guan Qi Shi. She wears jersey #9 and she’s the team’s high scorer as well! She spoke almost no English, but I was with Kevin Swiryn’s cousin Jeff, who lives in China and is fluent in Chinese, so he acted as my interpreter.

She told me that the Chinese women’s 7s team was made up of all college students. She said they get paid 1,000 Yuan per month to play rugby. That’s about $146, which is pretty good spending change in China. Actually, Jeff said that she probably gets a lot more. It’s customary in China to not boast, so they typically understate things like salary.

She had been to the Las Vegas 7s tournament in Feb. I asked her how she liked the Las Vegas 7s and the USA in general. I also asked her if they were disappointed that the US women’s 7s team did not come to Hong Kong. She responded with very diplomatic answers, which is politically correct in China, but her expressions said more than her words.