Professional Football - An Interview with Aidan Chong

1. Since when have you been playing football? Why did you start?

I started playing football with my dad when I was six. He got me into football because he brought me to different European games around the world, which I found pretty interesting. So yeah, thanks to him I gradually got into the sport.

2. Did you have any football idols growing up? Who were they?

My biggest football idol was Ronaldo. I know, he’s a lot of kids’ idols these days. I like how he doesn’t only have talent but also works hard, works for everything he does. It’s just pure determination. 

3. What team are you currently playing for? What position? 

I’m currently playing for a team in the Hong Kong Premier League called Kwoon Chong Southern, and I am playing as an attacking mid-fielder.

4. Explain, as simply as possible, the rules of football. 

Each team has eleven players on the field, with one goal keeper. Your goal is, obviously, to score the opposite team’s goal. And, while doing that, there’s a rule called offside, which is that your striker, or whoever is highest on the field towards the opponent’s goal, cannot be behind the opponent’s last man (their defender) or it will be counted as ‘offside.’ This is the main rule of football. 

5. Describe a typical day of training for you. 

Training usually starts at 9:45. I’ll get there by 9:15, then I’ll change. By ten, we start doing our warmup, maybe some stretches and some activation work. Then we’ll start doing gym, and that’ll take around one and a half hours, usually both upper and lower body. After that, we’ll start doing the actual ball training - usually we’ll play possession games, which helps us with our reaction time and general thinking on the field. Then, depending on what my coach is focusing on, we’ll start doing that specific type of ball workout. Training ends at about 1:00 to 1:30. 

6. What sacrifices do you have to make to play at an elite level?

The first main sacrifice for you to play at this level is your free time - time spent with your friends and your family. It’s all limited to small amounts. For example, each week most people have at least Saturday and Sunday for friends and family. For us, that becomes limited to one day - which you have to choose whether to spend with friends or family. That’s probably one of the biggest sacrifices. Second would be school. A lot of times I’m skipping school for training, and I miss a lot of classes. I have to go home and catch up by myself. 

7. Do games stress you out? Do you feel like there’s a lot of pressure on you to do well?  

Yes. Especially when I became a professional. A lot of times when I go back to playing younger age groups, like under 18 or under 22s, a lot of players have that expectation of you already being professional - and therefore you should be the best, you should be the star on the pitch. But sometimes it's hard because I think that expectation gives me a lot of pressure to do really well. And also, when I’m playing for the men’s team there is a lot of pressure there, because I want to stand out, be impressive amongst the older players. 

8. Have you always wanted to be a professional footballer, or was there a specific moment when you decided it was your dream path?

I think when I was young, maybe from 6 to 10 years old, I wanted to be a professional player but after that I didn’t really think about it, I just kept playing. When I got to around 13 to 14 years old, I started getting better and my coaches told me I had the ability to go pro, so I thought ‘Why not? I’ll try it out.’ And here I am. 

9. What has been your greatest achievement in football so far? 

Probably winning my first trophy with the men’s team last year. It was my first season, I was young, I had zero experience with the league. But winning it was a huge achievement because I played a few games for it and I did have a slight contribution to the win, just a little. I was still very proud of it, because some players out here don’t win a trophy too often, and for me to win it in my first year - well, I’m just really happy that we did.

10. What about your lowest point? 

It was probably last year as well. Before winning the trophy, I started my first game and I was on the squad list. I didn’t do that well, so after the first half I got subbed off - and usually getting subbed off after the first half means you’re not playing well, you’re not doing great, you’re not really contributing anything. That was probably my lowest point because I thought I wasn’t good enough, that I wouldn’t be able to sit back up and play again. 

11. Where do you see your football career going? 

My dream is to play in the top leagues in Europe. But I see myself probably going to the US and playing maybe college football or university football, and seeing how that goes, seeing if I can make it pro in the US.

12. What injuries have you suffered in the past? How did you recover?

In the past, I haven’t had any huge injuries - but the biggest one was probably my ankle injury. It was during training where I had a 50-50 tackle - and I had to go for it - against a huge Brazilian guy. Obviously, I lost the 50-50. It kind of snapped a bit of my ligament in my ankle - it was ongoing for 8 months and I didn’t rest, didn’t do anything for it. You can’t rest, once you rest you’re out for another month and you’ll need to start from scratch, get your rhythm back and everything. So I kept going until summer. But it was really painful, every game I had to wrap my leg and do a lot of warmup, so it was pretty bad for me.

13. What is something about football that you think everyone should know?

I think people mainly see football as a sport - but it’s not just 11 players kicking a ball around. You make good connections when you’re playing: I met some of my closest friends through football. So I think it isn’t just a ‘sport’ - football is something you can build connections with, not just with friends but also with your family. 

14. Do you see yourself as more than your identity as a football player? 

I mean, people say my name or hear it, and probably think about football, but I like to do what normal 16-17 year old kids do: I like to have fun with my friends, I like going to festivals and I like to travel around the world. 

15. Do you love football? Why? 

Yeah, I love football. Why? It’s hard, but I’ve had it for my whole life, and it’s helped me build a lot of strong connections, especially with my family. Seeing them support me and come to my games - that already makes me really happy. And being able to build strong friendships is another big thing that football gave me: if I didn’t play I wouldn’t have been able to meet these friends. Finally, when I’m not doing so well in school or personally, I’ll just go and play football, and I’ll just be completely fine. It’s like going to therapy. Yes, I love it, because football will always be there for me.