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Linda Lew

For seven years of Vincci Hui’s life there was blood, sweat and tears as she represented Hong Kong in the triathlon.
The petite and fast former athlete suffered shoulder fractures during training and blackouts in competitions. But she pressed on.
Hui ranked No 2 in Asia at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in her chosen sport, and also won numerous awards as a top athlete in Hong Kong.
But the toll it took on Hui’s health, and her desire to go out on top, pushed the triathlete to retire from the sport at just 19 years old.

It was then she discovered that life after competitive sport brings another set of challenges. After graduating from City University with a degree in policy and administration, Hui, now 26, struggled to find the right career as she changed jobs four times.
“I was slightly depressed because I didn’t know where my passion was,” Hui said at a press conference. “I felt I couldn’t find my own value.”
In her first job after university, Hui worked as a management trainee in a large organisation. Competing on the sports field and working in a corporation are very different, and former elite athletes, who are used to being on top, usually have a hard time adapting, Hui said.
“When I first started working, it was difficult to adjust,” she said. “I had colleagues who studied law or were good in accounting. I realised there were many people in the world who were more talented than me.”
New World Development takes Hong Kong lifestyle to another level
This is a challenge that OnBoard, a new social enterprise, aims to address. Started in January, the programme helps retired athletes find meaningful careers after retiring from competition.
Founders Garrick Lau and Gary Fung are also athletes, and Fung is a member of Hong Kong men’s water polo team. The pair were inspired to launch the initiative by Adrian Cheng, the general manager of real estate company New World Development.
Supported by the developer, OnBoard provides job-matching, training, planning services, and seed funding for those who want to start their own business.
“Athletes usually feel they don’t fit in the business world or that they don’t know it well,” Fung said. “They think they can only become coaches or work in sports teams. But actually, they can do really well in business and have a good future.”
Why a cultural shift is needed to market Hong Kong sports and athletes
Years of training mean sportsmen and women are highly disciplined, resilient and strong-willed, qualities Fung said make successful entrepreneurs, and athletes should be encouraged to pursue their own ventures.
OnBoard helped Hui land her present role as assistant marketing manager for New World Development’s The Forest mall, which specialises in sporting goods stores.
“This job uses my many years of experience as an athlete, my connections in the sporting world, and my own ideas. I can combine all these into [marketing activities for] this shopping centre,” she said.
OnBoard is looking to serve a wide community of retired sportspeople, not just elite athletes, and Lau and Fung are working to recruit more organisations and government agencies to join the programme.


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Education

The Hong Kong start-up helping athletes find purpose after whistle blows for the final time

OnBoard co-founders Garrick Lau (left) and Gary Fung (right), flank two beneficiaries of the scheme Joanne Shum and Vincci Hui. Photo: Edmond So

Vincci Hui Wai-sum from HK competing at the triathlon team relay. 19AUG10

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Hong Kong

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Society

Former Youth Olympian Vincci Hui an early beneficiary of help from OnBoard, a social enterprise supported by New World Development
Triathlete says she felt lost after swapping her trainers and bike for the business world


Former Youth Olympian Vincci Hui, who says she felt lost after swapping triathlon for the world of business, an early beneficiary of help from OnBoard, a social enterprise supported by New World Development.
