Sports & Culture
A football hope
“My favourite position is to play as a striker. I like the buzz of charging down on goal after I receive the ball from a defender. I love the fun of team play,” Asher Lo, 9, said, beaming with the same excitement that he shows every time football pops into a conversation. Ever since his parents signed him up to children’s football training under the Jockey Club Community Football for Hope project, Asher has looked forward to taking to the pitch every week. Besides developing his football skills, he has learned how to work with his teammates – and take victory and defeat in the same stride.
The Jockey Club Community Football for Hope project believes in the transformative power of football. Over the past 10 years, the project has enjoyed a movie-like journey. It all started with a dream that street sleepers who were normally on their own could form a football team and compete overseas. In 2005, the dream came true when Hong Kong took part in the Homeless World Cup for the first time. After, supporters from different walks of life set up an organising committee that trains and selects members of socially deprived groups to participate in the annual Homeless World Cup. In 2013, a non-profit group, Street Football Hong Kong, was founded. Three years later, the group received funding support from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to launch the Jockey Club Community Football for Hope project.