Ta Ku Ling Ling Ying Public School
17/06/2018
Break the boundaries Explore world-class football training
Ta Ku Ling, a place most often referred to in weather reports, is located in Hong Kong’s northernmost area, and this is where Ta Ku Ling Ling Ying Public School is found. With 60 years of history, the school is just on the other side of the river from Shenzhen, and 70% of its students are cross-boundary students who often rush for buses to go back to the Mainland after school. Even so, the energetic teachers and students have never given up on the development of sports at school, especially football. This year, Johnny Lai, Ling Yan, Joe Shek and Chan Yik-lun, leaders of the school’s football team, joined the HKJC School Football Development Scheme, hoping to break the boundaries with their students and realise their potential through the Scheme’s world-class training approach.
Breaking geographic boundaries and using time wisely to practise
For the convenience of its students, Ta Ku Ling Ling Ying Public School offers daily scheduled school bus services between the school and the Northern District hub. It is therefore rare to see students playing ball games or exercising on the playground after school. Also, because of the confined travelling hours, sports teams’ trainings can only be held during recesses or lunchtime, for more or less one hour only each time. However, neither the location nor the time has stopped the development of sports. In additional to popular sports such as football, basketball and volleyball, the school has also introduced some less popular ones, such as golf. Johnny, a teacher and also the Physical Education Officer of the school, revealed that because the school thinks highly of developing students in multiple disciplines, it often accommodates students’ requests for the sports they desire to learn. They hope students can use every minute wisely at school and be exposed to different kinds of sport activities.
Don’t worry about the result – value personal experience instead
Encouraging students to participate and get in the habit of playing sports is the objective of the school’s Physical Education Department. Through participating in the HKJC Scheme, teachers and students realise that the “Have Fun” philosophy promoted by the Manchester United Soccer School happens to agree completely with their own school’s guiding principles in sports development. According to Johnny, the training hours of the school’s sports teams are usually very limited – there have been times when they played in a competition after having been trained for one month only. Although the results were not up to their expectation, students came to learn about how to enjoy the game; to experience success and failure, and to give their all in achieving their goals. This positive spirit has set a solid foundation for their future development in sports.
Teachers and students make courageous attempts as girls get a first taste of football
The geographical location of Ling Ying School never stops its determined teachers and students. At the school visit day of the HKJC School Football Development Scheme, a group of girls who had never played football volunteered to participate in the training. This started a “girls’ football wave” at school and eventually inspired the formation of the school’s girls football team. Ling, a teacher who had never played football until she studied at university, expressed that she has learned a lot from the Scheme in terms of football knowledge. She also agreed with the statement that “girls can also play football” and decided to set up and lead a girls’ team. Having been at the school for only two years, she taught the girls from her personal experience that “it’s never too late”. She explained that to take the first step towards success, they should disregard their differences in ability and just be courageous enough to try.
Girl power! Football is not just for boys
Sarah Nicole Burge, a Primary Four student who has played football for just one year, is the captain of the newly formed girls’ team. She realises that there is room for improvement in her technical skills; but more than that, she was happy to share that the instruction given by Christopher O’Brien (OB), Head Coach of the Manchester United Soccer School Hong Kong, had increased the team’s overall interest in football. “OB provided us with training suitable for our standard. At times, when we could not achieve the training target, OB still showed his support, and this has become our motivation to keep going”. The new school team has not participated in any interschool tournaments yet, but Sarah said that she and her teammates will keep on practicing to equip themselves for their first challenge.
The eight-month Scheme has come to an end, but it marks a new debut for the boys and girls football teams at Ling Ying School. Both Johnny and Ling and other coaches will put what they have learnt into practice and pass on the knowledge they have gained. They will not only focus on the results in accordance with the school’s belief, but instead allow students to relax and enjoy the fun of football. It would be hard to change the physical environment, but the teachers and students are determined to overcome this challenge hand-in-hand. Together, they will continue to pursue the true meaning of sports.