Hello Superb Ones,
Pele, the greatest soccer player in the world, once said soccer was the, "beautiful game." I agree it is a great game. It is also the greatest international game as this blog posting will attest to later. I played for quite a few years in Red Deer and I enjoyed playing on a team, moving the ball around, watching my teammates score goals, cause I certainly could not, and winning. Here in HK I don't play anymore, but I pretty well coach year round at my school CAIS. In the fall I coach 12-14 year old boys and in the spring I coach 16-18 year old boys. Some noteworthy differences between HK soccer and Red Deer soccer are as follows:
1. Soccer is played outdoors year round and is very popular among men. I have yet to see HK woman play.
2. Hong Kong attracts some big name teams to play exhibition games. Chelsea came last year.
3. Pitches here are either cement or artificial turf. There are very few grass pitches. At least this is better than Guatemala where they played on volcanic rock, or even Red Deer, hard packed, gopher holed, prarie land.
4. Games are played late into the night under lights.
My boys team U20 (under 20 years old) are an interesting group. There is big mouth Joon Wan from Korea, who is very tricky with the ball, Andrew from India who runs like the wind and checks opponents like a hockey player, Ronald and Dom from China who are very talented and strong, Jun from Japan who does not like rain and puts a plastic bag over his head when he has to practise in the rain, this gets plenty of laughs. Conrad from the USA who is big and strong and what he lacks in skill he makes up for it with heart, Gideon the Chinese Canadian who is everywhere on the pitch like a mosquito, Raf is a filipino who can run like a sprinter without the ball, but when he gets the ball he slows way down. Then there is Samad who is half Chinese/Indian who runs like the wind and has great talent, but is always late to practise and games, ugh, and then there is the goalie, a blond Italian with a mouth as big as Joon Wan. When those two start blabbing it is hard to stop. At least for the most part it is entertaining. Despite these international differences they are united by English, their faith, and love for soccer. We have also done pretty well this season so that is great. Truly soccer is the beautiful game.
Love adios and peng on!
Dirk
Pele, the greatest soccer player in the world, once said soccer was the, "beautiful game." I agree it is a great game. It is also the greatest international game as this blog posting will attest to later. I played for quite a few years in Red Deer and I enjoyed playing on a team, moving the ball around, watching my teammates score goals, cause I certainly could not, and winning. Here in HK I don't play anymore, but I pretty well coach year round at my school CAIS. In the fall I coach 12-14 year old boys and in the spring I coach 16-18 year old boys. Some noteworthy differences between HK soccer and Red Deer soccer are as follows:
1. Soccer is played outdoors year round and is very popular among men. I have yet to see HK woman play.
2. Hong Kong attracts some big name teams to play exhibition games. Chelsea came last year.
3. Pitches here are either cement or artificial turf. There are very few grass pitches. At least this is better than Guatemala where they played on volcanic rock, or even Red Deer, hard packed, gopher holed, prarie land.
4. Games are played late into the night under lights.
My boys team U20 (under 20 years old) are an interesting group. There is big mouth Joon Wan from Korea, who is very tricky with the ball, Andrew from India who runs like the wind and checks opponents like a hockey player, Ronald and Dom from China who are very talented and strong, Jun from Japan who does not like rain and puts a plastic bag over his head when he has to practise in the rain, this gets plenty of laughs. Conrad from the USA who is big and strong and what he lacks in skill he makes up for it with heart, Gideon the Chinese Canadian who is everywhere on the pitch like a mosquito, Raf is a filipino who can run like a sprinter without the ball, but when he gets the ball he slows way down. Then there is Samad who is half Chinese/Indian who runs like the wind and has great talent, but is always late to practise and games, ugh, and then there is the goalie, a blond Italian with a mouth as big as Joon Wan. When those two start blabbing it is hard to stop. At least for the most part it is entertaining. Despite these international differences they are united by English, their faith, and love for soccer. We have also done pretty well this season so that is great. Truly soccer is the beautiful game.
Love adios and peng on!
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