Sports Hero

Canaan Sport Association –
Gateball Coach Jim Kei Wai

Has anyone heard of gateball before? This is a sport that is suitable for people of all ages. In this game, players score points by hitting the ball through the goal with a mallet. In this issue, we invited Mr. Jim Kei Wai, a gateball coach at Canaan Sport Association, to talk to us about the process of setting up the gateball sports club and his expectations for the development of gateball.

 

Turning an unpopular sport into a career
More than a decade ago, Mr. Jim Kei Wai participated in a youth trainee employment programme and became a trainee sports coach for the gateball project. In 2005, he officially became a full-time coach. He chose gateball all those years ago because he was fascinated by this unpopular and very flexible sport. He believed that gateball is definitely a sport for people of all ages. The reason being that there is very little physical contact between participants, the risk of collisions is low, and there is no age limit for participation. In this sport, participants are not limited by their stature and compete against each other with their concentration, use of tactics, psychological condition on the spot and ability to respond.

Determination and tireless input
In 2008, Mr. Jim and his teammates established Canaan Gateball Team and competed in the Asian Championships in Changhua, Taiwan, for the first time, achieving excellent results that are unforgettable to him. Two years later, he participated in the LCSD’s Community Sports Club Project and established the Canaan Sport Association to contribute to the development and promotion of gateball in Hong Kong. With the support of his friends and family, he was both an athlete and a coach, and dedicated himself to train coaches and referees to pass the torch to the next generation. He even served as a member of the executive committee of the Hong Kong, China Gateball Association. Despite gaining more duties with each passing year, he still hasn’t lost his fighting spirit and persistence.

Pouring his heart to developing the sport
Canaan Sport Association’s growth, number of players and achievements are obvious to everyone. Mr. Jim pays great attention to the training of youths and the youth team he trains has achieved great success in different competitions, and has even participated in large overseas competitions to compete with players from other areas. He also takes the needs of participants of all ages into account and organises a number of courses, including courses for youths, elderly and parent-child groups, through the sports association to popularise gateball at the community level.

Working together with many parties for promotion
In recent years, the gateball promotions carried out at schools are starting to show results. Unfortunately, there are no school competitions at this time. Mr. Jim hopes that some competitions would be held in the near future. At present, the LCSD provides community sports clubs with appropriate funding to help out with venue hire, promotion and financial support. Mr. Jim hopes that with the proper supervision of the authorities, more outstanding gateball sports clubs would contribute to the development of gateball. He suggested that the government is to provide funding for athletes to compete overseas to attract more people to play this sport. He also suggested that the LCSD and the Gateball Association arrange various courses, such as youth courses, advanced courses and coach training courses, and set up gateball courts in each district so that it would be easier for the public to play gateball.