Portraits of National Sports Association

 

Interview with Mr. Ho Chung Ho, President, Volleyball Association of Hong Kong, China

Volleyball is a popular sport in Hong Kong that is loved by many universities and communities. In this issue, we are honoured to have invited the president of the Volleyball Association of Hong Kong, China, Mr. Ho Chung Ho, for an interview.

Establishment and effective management of the Association
The Volleyball Association of Hong Kong, China is a non-profit organisation that is committed to the development of volleyball, beach volleyball and soft volleyball in Hong Kong. The predecessor of the Volleyball Associationof Hong Kong, China, the Hong Kong and Kowloon Volleyball Federation, was established in 1959 and actively promoted the development of volleyball in Hong Kong, producing many outstanding volleyball players during this time.

Multi-pronged approach to finding talent
The Volleyball Association of Hong Kong, China has worked hard for many years and spared no effort in cultivating outstanding athletes and searching for athletes with great potential at various competitions, such as school competitions or opens. Schools and district associations have also successfully recommended a number of outstanding athletes to participate in the youth training of the Association, and these athletes were then selected to become strong support for the Hong Kong volleyball team through a transparent and fair selection system. Mr. Ho recognised the effectiveness of the LCSD’s community sports club programme in the promotion of volleyball to young people in the districts. There are now more than 20 district clubs under the Association. The Association interacts frequently with these member clubs, such as for the joint organisation of various league competitions or training classes, or to provide guidelines for competitions organised by the district clubs and dispatching staff to help, to cooperate for the promotion of volleyball.

Hosting events and public participation
The Volleyball Association of Hong Kong, China hosts various types of local, Asia or international level competitions, including the Hong Kong Volleyball Championships, Hong Kong Beach Volleyball Open, Hong Kong Beach Volleyball Tour and the annual FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix – Hong Kong (that is, the FIVB Volleyball Nations League – Hong Kong). In recent years, the international popularity of the Chinese women’s volleyball team has soared and the brand effect has greatly stimulated public participation in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League hosted in Hong Kong. The Association received great financial benefits from this and allocated more funds to train the Hong Kong team.

Government collaboration for promotion and development
Mr. Ho hoped that the government would give support to the development of volleyball by increasing number of venues. For example, to improve efficiency, inflatable stadiums that can be assembled and disassembled quickly could be introduced so that different clubs could share venues. In the future, Mr. Ho also intends to hold a volleyball youth camp to allow volleyball players from different parts of Asia to participate in, so that they can get to know each other’s culture through exchanges. He also believed that sports can promote harmony in society and hoped that the government would continue to fully support the development of sports in Hong Kong.