New Stars

The release of a baseball-themed movie in 2016 set off a baseball fever in Hong Kong. Baseball is a sport that is all about teamwork, and the young Ian So was attracted to this sport because it has helped him improve not only his physical fitness but also his judgement.

 

 

 

From curiosity to passion
When he was six or seven years old, Ian read Japanese comics about baseball and became curious in this sport because it looked fun, so he asked his parents to let him join a baseball class. At that time, his parents did not know much about baseball. After searching the website of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, they signed Ian up for a baseball training class at Tai Hang Tung, embarking him on a baseball journey. After a few years of practice, Ian’s coach at the time recommended that he join the Sham Shui Po Baseball Club to receive formal training and take part in competitions.

Although Ian had a lot of homework at that time and was about to start Form 1 of secondary school, his enthusiasm for baseball remained undiminished. He insisted on attending the training of the baseball club every week and increased his drills and training under his coach’s arrangement to prepare for competitions. Ian is a catcher responsible for co-ordinating the team’s defence to prevent the opponent from scoring, so he has a great responsibility. When asked how he kept himself relaxed, Ian revealed his childlike innocence in saying that he liked to play computer games and the violin because they helped him forget about the pressure.
 
Learning self-discipline and to take things seriously
The talented Ian does well academically and is very self-disciplined as he is able to allocate his time well to balance his studies, baseball and family without neglecting any of them. He attributes this mature attitude to his baseball training. He recalled that he was once a spoiled child. It was not until he started playing baseball that he began to take things seriously, became more focused, and learned humility from competing against others. He now tries his best to spend his spare time with his parents as a filial son, and puts aside his beloved computer games to focus on his studies during examination time.

Setting goals and achieving dreams
Ian hopes to become a professional baseball player and aims to join the Hong Kong team so that he can win glory for Hong Kong. Seeing that baseball is not very popular in Hong Kong, he is looking forward to more league competitions being held in Hong Kong to attract the public to the sport. In addition to the Community Sports Club Programme funding, he hopes that more formal baseball stadiums will be built to provide affordable venues for baseball players to train in. He is not discouraged although the Japanese team is one of the best in Asia and leads way ahead. He is convinced that as long as local players continue to work hard and strive for opportunities to compete against teams of similar strength, they will gain more experience and eventually achieve good results.