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Develops the physical, mental and social capabilities of young people and fosters an attitude of excellence

St. Charles School

02/01/2020

A colourful football journey

It is not easy to achieve good results in the Hong Kong Island Interschool Men’s football competition because the teams are so strong; therefore, starting with women’s football may be a way to break through. St. Charles School in Kennedy Town is one of a few schools with only a women’s football team. Sam Lee Ka-ho and Amanda Choi Sut-ieng are the teachers in charge. They both joined the school in 2018, and frankly expressed that “there is fewer opportunities for girls to play football and it is easier to achieve good results.” That’s why they see this as a starting point to building up a school team. Now entering their second year at the school, Sam and Amanda are participating in the JC School Football Development Scheme, which makes them want to fight for a better result and expose the girls to more possibilities.

  • St. Charles School in Kennedy Town is one of a few schools with only a women’s football team

Experienced coach joins hands with a rookie to learn

The two teacher-coaches from St. Charles School have very different backgrounds. Sam is an old boy of the school. He’s loved football since he was young; has an Coaching Certificate, and has experience coaching a young district team. Amanda, who previously participated in track & field, has no idea about football. Sam said that he had not pursued further coaching qualifications until he joined the school last year and started to set up the men’s and women’s school football team. He found that the girls had good physical coordination; and due to the stiff competition in men’s football on Hong Kong Island, he decided to set up a competitive women’s football team first. He expected that both he and the students could experience more in the scheme. “I didn’t have too many opportunities to play football during my school years,” Sam said. “Now that we’ve joined the scheme, I hope I can equip myself and expand the horizons of these new student players and help them mature.”

  • Sam (Left) and Amanda (Right), the two teacher-coaches from St. Charles School, have very different backgrounds.
  • Sam is an old boy of the school with AFC “C’ license Coaching Certificate.

Leaving her comfort zone to step onto the turf

Amanda, who helps Sam manage the team, used to be the coach of the dodgeball school team. She confessed that she had been very resistant to join football and was actually so afraid to play on turf that she once thought of skipping the scheme’s lessons. “I don’t know football,” she explained. “I think if I cannot perform well in the first session, I will skip the rest. However, my worries were gone after only the first session!”

With help from Christopher O’Brien (OB), Manchester United Soccer Schools Hong Kong Head Coach, and other participants, Amanda overcame her fear and spent a lot of her own time and effort into understanding the sport. Sam was inspired by the scheme: “On a technical level, the scheme is almost the same as other coaching courses. But it also covers mental and social development, and that is what makes it more comprehensive.”
 

  • With help from Christopher O’Brien (OB), Manchester United Soccer Schools Hong Kong Head Coach, Amanda spent a lot of her own time and effort into understanding football.
  • Sam and Amanda expect to fight for a better result and expose the girls to more possibilities through the Scheme.

Old Trafford Stadium on Forbes Street

During a visit to St. Charles School, OB used different props to set up the playground in Forbes Street Temporary Recreation Ground just like the home stadium of Manchester Utd, Old Trafford Stadium – including a changing room, mini field, training zone, etc. Sam expressed amazement at how simply using a mini goal instead of traffic cones as the goalposts, the players trained as if they were in a real stadium. What impressed Sam the most was how OB shakes hands with the girls and gets to know them one-by-one: “In the past, I felt that there should be a distance between male teachers and female students, but OB demonstrated a proper way of communicating to cement the relationship between them. Handshaking and knowing their names looks simple, but it might carry a greater meaning.” The girls also try to remember and call out their teammates’ names, and players from different school years interact with each other and cooperate in the game. These changes really made an impression on Sam and Amanda.

  • Sam was inspired by the demonstration of proper way of communicating with girls students from OB.
  • The players trained as if they were in a real stadium during the visit of MUSS.

Little girls with big dreams

Two young players, Mika Lee and Hannah Fung, gained a lot from participating in OB’s school visit. Hannah said that while the training itself is the same as usual; their warm-up exercises are now football games instead of running and stretching. That means they have more time to play in the game. Mika expressed that Sam was too serious in school and in daily training, while OB’s training is more relaxed and helps them to perform naturally. The two girls are not eager to win prizes, and they think that playing happily and enjoying the game are enough of a reward. However, they do hope to progress; and hope that by joining a local football club and playing in the women’s football league, they may one day even wear the shirts of the Hong Kong Team!

  • Hannah Fung (Right) enjoyed using football games as their warm-up exercises.
  • Mika Lee (Right) said that OB’s training is more relaxed than Sam’s one.

Teacher’s advice: Don’t leave your page blank

After participating in the scheme, the two coaches now apply what they have learnt in their daily classes. Sam said that he will try to use more body language to improve his interaction with students; for example, giving them a pat on the shoulder. Amanda will apply the mini-football approach in her PE classes. Sam believes that it could attract more students to join the football team in the coming year and enhance the team’s cohesiveness.

Amanda, who attended several theoretical and practical sessions, had little football experience until she practised football much more frequently over these last few months. She passes her words of advice to the young players, so that no matter what comes up, they know that they must persevere and not retreat from playing football, and that from every challenge they face, they can gain something from it. “Take myself as an example. I am a blank sheet in terms of football knowledge, and so this experience has enabled me to try many new things. Likewise, the young players are inexperienced – they are also like blank sheets upon which they can make colourful marks after experiencing the scheme activities and OB’s class. That’s a starting point from which to continue writing their own football stories.”

  • Amanda believed that the girls can make colourful marks after experiencing the scheme activities and OB’s class.
  • Sam and Amanda passed their words of advice to the young players to continue writing their own football stories.

The one-year scheme may not achieve a tangible result, but Sam & Amanda hope to be role models and not only help the students improve, but also promote the school and local women’s football as together they leap forward.

Featured Activities

Featured Activities

Sharing happiness with school teachers, coaches and students through various football activities

Participating Schools

Participating Schools

List of schools participating in the programme

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Photo Album

Snapshots of School Coaches