First Division clubs have harvested the first crop of young players from the government-run Professional Football Training Scheme.
The project, part of the government's job-creation programme, gives talented young players who have left school a chance to hone their skills and push for a professional contract with one of Hong Kong's
top-flight clubs.
Thirty young players have signed up with First Division clubs for the new 2004/2005 season. They were selected after a series of trials during the summer holidays.
Most of the boys were members of the 'Ling Bhat 08' development team, an amateur squad comprising 17- and 18-year-old schoolboys which was disbanded in June.
'The selection process was conducted using a draft system as they do in the United States for the NBA or NFL,' said Hong Kong Football Association General-Secretary Martin Lam Chun-ping.
'There were a series of training sessions and exhibition matches over the summer which gave club staff a chance to see which players they liked,' said Lam.