Operation Santa Claus: squash players prove to be top guns at raising money for Hong Kong charities
- Wing Ding Squash Charity Tournament, which marked its 25th year, raised more than HK$447,000 for Operation Santa Claus
- This year, 182 player ranging in age from eight to 81 joined in the fun
What do dinosaurs, Hawaiian hula skirt dancers and Top Gun pilots have in common?
They – well, players dressed like them – battled it out on the squash courts of the Hong Kong Football Club in Happy Valley on November 18 to raise money for Operation Santa Claus (OSC).
Now into its 25th year, the Wing Ding Squash Charity Tournament raised more than HK$447,000 (US$57,200) for OSC, an annual fundraising campaign organised by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK to help local charities. Last year, the tournament raised HK$413,000.
“I think it [OSC] makes it very easy; 100 per cent of what we raise goes to Operation Santa Claus and we know the 15 charities [projects] they fund are worthy causes,” said Stephen Gollop, chairman of the Football Club’s squash section charity subcommittee, the tournament organiser.
It was founded in 1998 in memory of Yuen Kam-wing, a physically impaired and much-loved staff member at the Hong Kong Squash Centre who died that year. It ran without a charity partnership until it joined forces with OSC in 2004.
The “Ding” in the name comes from the sound the ball makes when it hits the metal strip at the bottom of the court.
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This year, 14 teams with 13 members each – a total of 182 players ranging in age from eight years to 81 – took part. They had to wear fancy outfits in the colour assigned in a draw.
The funds were raised from participation fees, donations and six corporate sponsors – Burke & Company, HelpBnk, Hill Dickinson, Pelican Financial Limited, St James’s Place Foundation and Time for Tea.
“It’s just to put something back into the community. Squash in Hong Kong is huge and it just felt like the right thing to do,” said Gollop, a partner in investment firm St James’s Place and a player on its team.
Charles Li Tak-kwong, CEO of consultancy Pelican Financial, said he had taken part in the event for at least a decade and this year was especially meaningful because squash was recently added to the Olympics.
Dressed as Tom Cruise from Top Gun, Li and his wife Karen Scheinecker, who was in a similar outfit as Charlie Blackwood, the role played by Kelly McGillis in the movie, looked like they were about to get into a fighter jet, but they in fact were running from court to court competing in non-stop squash.
They admitted it got hot playing in full body suits, but they sounded like they had already won even before the tournament was over.
“Our team is the biggest fundraiser this year,” Li proudly said.
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Gracing the courts was Nathan Lake, a US-based professional player ranked 30th in the world. He was in the city for the Hong Kong Squash Open, one of the biggest events in the sport, which was happening the following week.
He was in a costume too – a giant gingerbread.
Other teams were dressed up as beer cans, black widows, clowns, judo players, prisoners and surgeons.
Donning a surgeon’s outfit, Julian Tanner, a convenor for corporate sponsor HelpBnk, a platform for NGOs to help each other, said playing squash, a game he loves, was a good way to raise funds for OSC.
“It’s a great organisation that does so much for Hong Kong’s community and you know the money is going to a good cause,” Tanner said.
Damien Laracy, managing partner of the law firm Hill Dickinson, was dressed in a judo outfit and competed in a team with his son.
David Brettell, a partner and player for law firm Burke & Company, said: “A lot of people are not well off. It’s good to give back in this way.”
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Wearing a colourful clown’s wig and watching the fun, one of the oldest and longest time players Adrian Peirse said: “The way Operation Santa Claus consolidates the charity climate at this time of year is very good.”
Included in the money raised was about HK$36,000 in donations from the sale of special 25th anniversary Wing Ding shirts made at a discount by Phentex, a Hong Kong sports brand.
Since 1988, Operation Santa Claus has raised HK$369 million to support the Hong Kong community through 338 charitable projects. There are 15 charitable projects of worthy causes being funded by OSC this year.
