A sporting chance

WHEN American or European youngsters decide to devote their lives to sport, their parents often relish the thought of a national sports idol in the family. In Hong Kong, parents want their kids to get an education and a well-paid job.

'Sport is way down,' says Dennis Whitby. 'The problem is the society, the pressure on athletes for education. You cannot beat the system, but we are always trying to find ways around it.' Whitby, director of the Hong Kong Sports Institute, believes there are committed people in Hong Kong sport. But when parents here say, 'there's no future in sport,' they're right, he admits. But it's changing.

'The only thing we can offer is a career in sport, but the career structure here is so limited. I feel we have always let the good people go too early. Our major theme in the next two or three years is to keep people in the institute.' It has been paying athletes since 1987, but is now going further with a career development programme with local companies to give athletes a job with flexible hours, time off to train.

But however accommodating the boss, ultimately, the drive must come from inside, Whitby says. There is a 'Hong Kong mentality' that means five days off at Chinese New Year, no training on holidays.

'Some [coaches and athletes] lack the edge of commitment. You can't give it to them, it is there or it is not. That edge and drive comes from within the individual, but that comes from society.' Whitby believes in making a commitment and sticking to it. That's what he did. When he was a student and athlete at England's Loughborough College he met a lecturer who studied at the US home of track and field, the University of Oregon. 'That's it. That's what I will do,' he thought.

Two decades, a bachelor's degree, two master's degrees and nine years' coaching, including the UK track and field team, later, his dream had come true. A full-time coach at Oregon, Dennis Whitby 'used to go down on to the track at night and think, 'wow. I am really here'.' That had seemed the end of the rainbow for the young student from Barnet, north London, who made it to county level in sprints and hurdles. But by 1982, after four years full-time coaching, the challenge was fading.