Bringing Team Sports into the Community
Another new ice hockey program was launched recently in Hong Kong; with funding support from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG) launched the Community Team Sports Program (CTS).
Another new ice hockey program was launched recently in Hong Kong; the Community Team Sports Program (CTS) was launched by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG). The 3-year program brings new elements to the usual large scale sports program with the addition of encouraging youngsters of Hong Kong to use their creativity to plan and organize sports related community service or volunteering projects. Selected projects will be eligible for funding from the CTS for execution.
The CTS program offers 5 different types of team sports (Team Running, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Canoe and Rope Skipping) for applicants to choose from, each sport includes basic training sessions, overnight training camp, leadership camp and overseas exchange experiences. With funding support from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the program is large enough to attract 320 new players to ice hockey; and the whole project anticipates to attract around 5,000 youth participants. This project promotes not only physical and mental wellbeing through healthy exertion and achievement, but also builds up skills and attitude towards holistic development, allowing participants to learn how to work together as a team, both in times of success and challenge.
Tremendous amount of effort and preparation work was put in prior to the launch of this project. The Community Team Sports Office was established as the point of contact for all registered players for the 5 team sports and applications for the community projects. The HKFYG has a long partnership history with the Hong Kong Academy of Ice Hockey (HKAIH) on ice hockey programs and trainings and the two organizations will pair up once again for the CTS program; HKAIH will design and provide ice hockey trainings for the 320 beginner ice hockey players.
HKAIH Assistant Coach Robert Kang is happy that the hard work of all staff is finally paying off with the launching of the program, “The HKFYG Jockey Club Community Team Sports project started in September 2015 with the aim to deliver the 5 spirits of sports to the youth in Hong Kong. Ice Hockey is one of the main sports being offered in the program because you need to be fearless to be a good ice hockey player. We want to instill this spirit of fearlessness into our participants so that they can keep forging ahead, not only in sports, but in all parts of their lives. We have recruited 320 players from the 18 districts in Hong Kong to join the ice hockey trainings with most of these players being beginners in ice hockey, which means we have successfully reached out to new potential hockey players with this program.”
HKAIH Assistant Coach and Head Coach of the CTS program Arthur Cheung is also glad to see this growth of ice hockey in Hong Kong. “It is great to see so many happy faces at practices each time. HKFYG has partnered with HKAIH on ice hockey leagues and programs for many years and the popularity for this sport is just getting bigger and bigger. I’ve gotten to know these hockey players on a personal level and have seen the personal growth and friendships bloom between the players. Participating in a team sport not only benefits the players physically, it also provides development socially for each player.”
15 year old Luk Yu Yan has tried ice hockey before and instantly fell in love with the sport but found it difficult to continue with training due to the cost of equipment and ice rental. She is glad she found the CTS Program because she is now able to pursue her dream in ice hockey with the support from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and HKFYG.
On February 27, the kickoff ceremony of the CTS Program was held at the South China Athletic Association Stadium. Officiating guests for the ceremony includes Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Mr. John Tsang Chun-wah, GBM, JP, The HongKong Federation of Youth Groups Executive Director Dr. Rosanna Wong Yick-ming, DBE JP and Hong Kong Jockey Club Board Member Dr. Eric K.C. Li, GBS, OBE, JP,. Hong Kong Academy of Ice Hockey General Manager (Coach) Mr. Barry Beck attended the ceremony as an honorary guest. Also present at the event were 2,000 youth from 18 districts who participated in various sports activity booths to try out different sports such as dodgeball and soccer machine training.
The first 2 hockey practices took place over the Easter holiday break at Mega Ice with a total of 21 teams comprising of 146 beginner players. Coaches, players, parents and staff all gathered at the rink at 6am to get ready for their first ice session. As with all first timers on ice, players stumbled and fell during practice but they all managed to get up and continued skating. Coach Arthur is happy to see so many determined faces at the first practice, “We have an early practice today and it’s great to see committed players like these come out and enjoy the first practice of the program. I’m looking forward to seeing them develop into skilled ice hockey players soon. Because of the large amount of beginner players at each practice, we must arrange to have enough coaches on ice to accommodate the needs of beginner players. For the CTS program, we have recruited past and current elite players from more advanced HKFYG hockey programs to help out as Junior Coaches on ice as we believe learning from more experienced players is the best way to gain ice hockey knowledge and bond with your team and also build friendships within the ice hockey community.”
