Stewards Pooi Tun Secondary School

18/12/2018

New coach helps students grow and set goals (18/12/2018)

Mentors guide students to discover their goals (Updated on 27/03/2019)

Teachers and students ready to set sail on new life adventures (Updated on 14/06/2019)

New coach helps students grow and set goals (18/12/2018)

Stewards Pooi Tun Secondary School is determined to develop students’ lifelong interests and inspire their potential through diversified activities. Tommy Ng, a teacher who joined the school five years ago, is a believer of this approach. He started football at an early age and developed a lifelong interest, which explains why he chose to be a football coach albeit the tremendous amount of work. Inspired by football since childhood to be perseverant and never give up, Tommy, after witnessing many students getting lost in life, decided to participate in this year’s JC School Football Development Scheme in the hope of helping students find their right direction.

When Tommy took over the football team, he realised that the players lacked motivation and a goal to strive for. Their academic results also needed to be strengthened. As a coach with little experience, he was lost and had questions: “Is football a redundant interest class? How can I assist my team?” However, the spirit of endurance and overcoming difficulties that he obtained from young age during football training taught him to continue exploring options regardless of failures. Eventually, he came to realise that a football team should cultivate sense of responsibility, strengthen determination, nuture good values, and release the players’ potential.

With this mission, Tommy decided to equip himself and make a breakthrough. Last year, he and the team participated in the Outreach Coaching Programme to sharpen their skills and strategies in football. This has improved both Tommy’s teaching skills and the team’s technical capability. Tommy hoped that through participating in the JC School Football Development Scheme, he and the team could learn together and bring their skills in different aspects to the next level, both on and off the pitch. He opined:“A coach not only develops students to become football players, but also assists them to grow in all aspects.” Tommy believes that the Scheme’s emphasis on encouragement and support will help the students regain self-confidence on the field, and amplify it to their studies and social skills, which will further inspire them to set their goals.

Without professional coaching qualifications and relying only on his fervent desire to teach and learn, can Tommy apply the knowledge gained from the Scheme, coupled with his experience, to progress together with his students?

Mentors guide students to discover their goals (Updated on 27/03/2019)

After joining the Scheme, Tommy learnt a great deal from Manchester United Soccer Schools Hong Kong Head Coach, Christopher O’Brien. He then inspired the Pooi Tun football team to reflect on their performance. Fong Hei-long, a Form 1 student and freshman player, admitted that he and the team were rather slack at trainings, as they lacked direction and goals: “Except during trainings for matches, most of the time we were rather casual and loose at regular trainings. We thought what we had to do is just show up and complete the tasks, and we attended the trainings only because we had to.”

Hei-long expressed that it is the seriousness and respect for values which OB advocates that have changed the players, and the fact that Tommy was influenced by OB meant that he had made some positive changes too: “OB puts respect between coaches and players higher than anything. He sent us words of encouragement during the training, an act which had also inspired Coach Ng (Tommy) to do the same and listen to us. He has not forgotten to remind us to be serious at training, but we surely have a much better training atmosphere now.”

Tommy’s guidance and support have inspired the students to pick up the right learning attitude and sense of responsibility: “Coach Ng taught us the right attitude and behaviour both on and off the pitch, and reminded us to assume our responsibility as both players and students, including being on time for training and for class. We ought to complete tasks with a proper manner and try our best.” Under the guidance of two coaches, Hei-long, who currently plays on the Wong Tai Sin U13 team, expressed that he has found his direction and set up his goal – to be selected by the Hong Kong Youth Team. He understands there is still a long way to go, but he will never give up; and if he fails, he will have no regrets since he will have already given his best.

Teachers and students ready to set sail on new life adventures (Updated on 14/06/2019)

The training provided under the HKJC School Football Development Scheme has positively impacted Tommy, Hei-long and the whole Stewards Pooi Tun Secondary School (PTSS) football team. Most young players are now willing to put in more effort and have a more positive attitude when attending C-Grade competitions and skill trainings. According to Tommy, this is in marked contrast to what their performance was at the beginning of the school year, and he is encouraged by the change.

In just a few months, the Scheme’s new youth football concept has become deeply rooted at the school. Tommy was pleased not just to see improvements in the students’ football skills, but also to see how they have discovered valuable life lessons: “A district football team or a football club might be able to train up their skills and tactics, but what the school brings them is brotherhood and the spirit of creating and achieving a target together.”

While the students have undergone some changes, so too has Tommy. The professional training approach has helped Tommy, who is relatively less experienced, to solidify his coaching skills, and has inspired him to design a specific training approach that is suitable for the PTSS team: “Students’ development is always my priority. I will make good use of the resources provided by the Scheme and will establish training goals and details according to students’ interests, passion for football, and their inter-personal skills.”

If the game of life is like football, then the PTSS teachers and students are still in the first half of the game, with infinite possibilities waiting for them ahead. Tommy hopes to make good use of the experience brought by the Scheme to help students lay a good foundation in the long run and meet their future needs: “I hope that their passion and hard work for football can be their inspiration in life. In future, whether for their families or careers, they will recall and live by the positive attitudes they learnt from football at school, and this will help them to overcome the inevitable challenges they will face in life.”