Hello Superb Ones,
Soccer is a great sport. Being on a team is fun, moving the ball around is fun, scoring is fun, and winning is great fun. It is also a great fitness sport. I thought I was in good shape until I started playing soccer again 10 years ago on a recreation team in Red Deer. Yikes, did I suffer that first game after having not played in 25 years or so. I was gassed after 15 minutes and the game is 90 minutes long. There were no subs that game so I hung in, barely. Eventually I got into soccer shape and played indoor and outdoor soccer in Red Deer for eight years. Only the move to Hong Kong ended that. With coaching and other things going on I simply have no time for rec soccer.
Here in HK soccer thrives. Thousands play the game, there are pitches everywhere, there is even a semi pro league and a national team. There are however some big differences between Hong Kong soccer vrs. Red Deer soccer:
1. You can play soccer outdoors year round in HK.
2. Most of the pitches in HK are either cement, or artificial turf. There are very few grass pitches and the ones that do exist are mainly weeds.
3. Except for my school's team I have yet to see girls play soccer. Very cultural here that girls tend to be more passive and not as athletically inclined as Canadian girls.
4. Soccer pitches are at a premium in HK due to space. I know of one that is on the roof of a parkade.
5. Seasons usually run from October till the end of April. After that some practises happen, and a few games, but they are played at night under the lights when the temperature has cooled a bit from plus 35 to 30.
Since my arrival in HK I have been the coach of my school's boys soccer teams. Currently I coach the U 20 (under 20 years old) boys team. We have done pretty well this season, probably won't win the championship, but its been fun. The boys have been pretty dedicated. We once had practice on a cement pitch while it rained. That was a little crazy and dangerous because the pitch got pretty slick, but it was fun. Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I have played soccer with my boys in December and January in shorts with the weather around 25 above. Sweet.
My team has a few characters on it. There is Joon Wan a Korean who is our big scorer and a big mouth on the team. We have Raf a Filipino who runs like the wind when he does not have the ball, when he has the ball he slows way down. Then we have Samad, who has an Indian father and Chinese mother, who is always late for games and practises, but when he plays he is all over the field, like Gideon a Chinese Canadian who is short, but plays like a pit bull. Then there are the two stars of the team, Ronald and Dom, two Chinese guys who are strong and skilled and run the team on the pitch. Then there is Andrew from India. Not a bad player he is planning to be a soldier. We have two white players. Conrad an American who is not that skilled, but has the heart of a champion and runs like a horse. The other is Shiloh a blond Italian, another big mouth, who is treated like a movie star whenever he is in China. When Joon Wan and him start blabbing watch out, it takes a lot of work to shut them up. Thankfully what they say for the most part is entertaining. So I have quite the interesting team. Very international but we are united by our faith, our knowledge of English, and love for the game of soccer. The "beautiful game," as Pele calls it. Pele by the way is considered the greatest soccer player ever. He is the Wayne Gretzky of soccer.
Well that is it for this week. God bless you all,
Dirk
Soccer is a great sport. Being on a team is fun, moving the ball around is fun, scoring is fun, and winning is great fun. It is also a great fitness sport. I thought I was in good shape until I started playing soccer again 10 years ago on a recreation team in Red Deer. Yikes, did I suffer that first game after having not played in 25 years or so. I was gassed after 15 minutes and the game is 90 minutes long. There were no subs that game so I hung in, barely. Eventually I got into soccer shape and played indoor and outdoor soccer in Red Deer for eight years. Only the move to Hong Kong ended that. With coaching and other things going on I simply have no time for rec soccer.
Here in HK soccer thrives. Thousands play the game, there are pitches everywhere, there is even a semi pro league and a national team. There are however some big differences between Hong Kong soccer vrs. Red Deer soccer:
1. You can play soccer outdoors year round in HK.
2. Most of the pitches in HK are either cement, or artificial turf. There are very few grass pitches and the ones that do exist are mainly weeds.
3. Except for my school's team I have yet to see girls play soccer. Very cultural here that girls tend to be more passive and not as athletically inclined as Canadian girls.
4. Soccer pitches are at a premium in HK due to space. I know of one that is on the roof of a parkade.
5. Seasons usually run from October till the end of April. After that some practises happen, and a few games, but they are played at night under the lights when the temperature has cooled a bit from plus 35 to 30.
Since my arrival in HK I have been the coach of my school's boys soccer teams. Currently I coach the U 20 (under 20 years old) boys team. We have done pretty well this season, probably won't win the championship, but its been fun. The boys have been pretty dedicated. We once had practice on a cement pitch while it rained. That was a little crazy and dangerous because the pitch got pretty slick, but it was fun. Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I have played soccer with my boys in December and January in shorts with the weather around 25 above. Sweet.
Well that is it for this week. God bless you all,
Dirk
