New Stars

 

Watsons Athletic Club
Wong Hiu Yan

Hiu Yan has loved sports since she was a child and noticed that she ran faster than other teammates during running practice. Therefore, during the summer vacation before primary 5, she participated in the primary school summer track and field training course organised by the Watsons Athletic Club. She has devoted herself to sprinting and long jump since then and earned herself the nickname “little motor”.

Focusing on training and family fun

Hiu Yan’s father loved her deeply and would often accompany her when she first started track and field training. He would also be present to watch every competition she was in. Since then, track and field training became their parent-child activity. During her primary school years, Hiu Yan broke many inter-school records and set a new 60-metre sprint record when she was in primary 5. This helped her affirm her power in sprinting and gave her the determination to take her involvement in sprinting to the next level.

Hiu Yan devoted even more time to sprinting after starting secondary school and began to participate in long jump. She feels that she has become more confident because of the competitions and has also met a group of friends and seen how everyone has improved. At the same time, her family has been incredibly supportive and has become closer than ever. Although she had less time to play, she found the hard work worthwhile as it was nothing compared to the happiness she got from track and field.

Giving her all to sports

After being in the Watsons Athletic Club for more than ten years, Hiu Yan has now joined the workforce. Like many college graduates, Hiu Yan has faced changes in work, economy and family, but her enthusiasm for long jump has never diminished. It is not easy to maintain a high level of performance in this sport as run-up speed, bouncing and jumping techniques are all required to achieve ideal results. Therefore, she trains three times a week and finds time to stretch and build her muscles.

She admits that long jump is not a popular sport in Hong Kong and that few athletes specialise in long jump. She hopes that Hong Kong could host more athletics competitions to create a platform for various sports. She thanks the LCSD and the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association for arranging venues for local athletes for training purposes. She looks forward to provision of more resources for coaches to increase the scale of training and promote long jump in the community. Finally, she hopes that COVID-19 will end as soon as possible so that training and competitions can be resumed and local athletes can continue to shine.