Islamic Dharwood Pau Memorial Primary School

07/06/2018

Crossing ethnic boundaries with football to build a more inclusive society

Located in Tsz Wan Shan, the Islamic Dharwood Pau Memorial Primary School has an ethnic minority student population of 90%. Some of them are passionate football fans; however it has been almost impossible for the school to develop football due to its limited resources. This motivated Jeff Wong, a teacher and coach of the school’s football team, to join the HKJC School Football Development Scheme. Riding on the knowledge and resources provided by the Scheme, he hopes to bring more football training opportunities to his students, while at the same time working hard to improve himself. He hopes his students’ physical and psychological well being, as well as their other capabilities, can be developed. By doing so, they can crossing ethnic boundaries with football to build a more inclusive society .

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  Jeff Wong, a teacher from the Islamic Dharwood Pau Memorial Primary School, hopes his students’ physical and psychological well being, as well as their other capabilities, can be developed through football.

Volunteering to promote football

Jeff is a passionate football fan. Years ago, when the school could not afford to hire a football coach, he decided to sacrifice his personal time and volunteered to become both coach and leader of the team. Over the past six years, Jeff has discovered a few football talents. Given the small student population and limited space, he chose to focus on developing futsal, but the result was disappointing, especially at the inter-school tournaments. During that time, Jeff came across this year’s School Football Development Scheme by chance. As a less-experienced and qualified coach, he believed the Scheme could offer him the chance to learn about world-class training which he could then apply to the team.

World-class training widens a novice coach’s perspective

Jeff explained that while the team has good skills and ability, they lack structured training; therefore it was hard to see a breakthrough. After joining the Scheme, Jeff attended theory and practice classes taught by Christopher O’Brien, Head Coach of Manchester United Soccer School, and had three school visits by OB. Jeff was impressed with the Scheme’s attention to detail in the equipment that they used and in their training approach and teaching philosophy. This inspired him to maximise the training result using what limited equipment and space they had. OB also taught Jeff how to instruct the team, and they started to show tremendous improvement in their discipline and attention. “They never used to listen to me at training,” Jeff explained, “but now they do just as I tell them!” He is delighted to hear other teachers complimenting the team, saying that they have become more obedient and proactive. This has taught him that football is not only about skills, but also the all-rounded development of the individual.

OB’s extraordinary charisma attracts attention

The “Have Fun” philosophy promoted by OB reminded Jeff that children enjoy it the most when they’re on the pitch playing football. It is a philosophy that no one on the team would disagree with. Hazem Hamdi Hosni Hemadan Hamama and Aqeel Ahmed, two 12-year-old students from Egypt and Pakistan respectively, said that it was OB’s extraordinary charisma that made them stay focused during the training. It was an unforgettable experience that no matter how good or bad their performance was, OB was always there to encourage and support them, and this motivated them to improve. Hazem, who came to Hong Kong several years ago because of his parents’ jobs, revealed that the Manchester United Soccer School’s training approach has not only improved his football skills, but also his social skills. Through football, he has become more confident, communicating more easily with others and making new friends. Even though he will return to Egypt this summer, the experience of playing football in Hong Kong will stay with him for the rest of his life.

A proud breakthrough

With the changes brought by the School Football Development Scheme and the team’s perseverance, the Dharwood Pau Memorial Primary School was able to change its destiny, becoming third runner-up in the Jockey Club Futsal Cup (School Division). This was Jeff’s first honour since he became the team’s leader. While he thinks it was a joyful moment, it was more important to realise that the prize can motivate the students to improve – not simply strive to become better players, but better teenagers overall, as football enables them to have a healthy development in their attitudes and minds.

Jeff spends a great deal of time with his students and thinks ethnic minorities are no different from other local children – they are equally positive, outgoing and capable of doing a lot of things. He strongly believes that through football, they can learn good morals, develop their minds and attitudes, cross ethnic boundaries and connect with the community.