Put sports and school on the same pedestal
These past 10 days, my eyes have been glued to the Olympic Games, determined not to miss a single event where Hong Kong stands a good chance of winning a medal.
Choking back emotion while watching the interviews after the women’s team table tennis competition and the women’s kata final event, I could hear my late father’s voice so very loud and clear. When I was around eight years old, my dad funded financed a five-a-side soccer team for children in our neighbourhood. We would invite different teams for matches after school at the Southorn soccer pitch on Hennessy Road. My father used to say: “Son, with sports, arts and music you will go far … with great health you can do almost anything you want in life.”
At the tender age of eight, I figured out the broader meaning of his words and the relationship between health and sport, and between sport and life. The year the minnow soccer team was formed was 1955, merely 10 years after the end of World War II. Badly affected by the war, all families living in the poorer neighbourhoods were hard hit. However, with exceptional spirit, camaraderie and precocious athletic ability, we competed with zeal and gusto in fabulous style.
At the charity that I founded 10 years ago, which is going from strength to strength, involving two high schools and 17 tertiary institutions, this unusual wisdom of my father’s has been dispensed from time to time, bringing a new horizon to the academic community, parents and students alike.
Hong Kong is still on the hunt for more glory at the games. After bagging five medals, however, we have duly arrived at a deflection point where sport and school should be put on the same pedestal in equal measure of importance. Competitive sports build young people’s character by preparing them for a long, healthy and fulfilling life.
Philip S.K. Leung, Pok Fu Lam
Published: 6:50am, 7 Aug, 2021