Teenage professionals Chan Siu-ki and Sham Kwok-keung were honoured for their successful maiden season when they picked up the Hong Kong Young Footballer of the Year Awards.
Chan, a striker, scored seven goals last season on loan to Kitchee from Buler Rangers, and Sham, a midfielder, was on target eight times for Happy Valley.
Sham was picked by national team head coach Lai Sun-cheung for the East Asian Cup finals in Japan last year, while Chan was a member of the Kitchee team who beat Italian giants AC Milan 2-1 in an exhibition match earlier this summer.
Only a year ago Chan was playing park football for Tai Po district in the local Third Division. 'I have to thank my coach for letting me play and the fans for their support,' said Chan, 18, a former student of Sam Yuk Secondary School in Tai Po.
'I will keep on doing my best. There are a number of areas that I need to improve in, like my passing and ability to keep the ball.'
The award allowed Sham to celebrate his 19th birthday in style. 'I want to thank the two assistant coaches, Wong Tak-cheung and Tang Kam-tim [Happy Valley], as they have been training me since I was with the Happy Valley youth team. I wouldn't have had the chance to play in the First Division without them,' said Sham, a former student of CCC Kwei Wah Shan College in North Point. 'I also have to thank my family and friends for their support.'
Table-tennis stars Li Ching and Ko Lai-chak, the Athens Olympics silver-medallists, presented trophies to the two boys at a gala awards ceremony at the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel last week.