Hongkongers lace up for annual football tournament as part of charity drive amid World Cup frenzy
- Total of 27 teams compete in series of matches at Happy Valley Recreation Ground
- Co-organised by Hong Kong Football Club and Operation Santa Claus, annual event has been held since 1998
As football fans around the world were swept up in World Cup frenzy, a group of children and adults in Hong Kong laced up their boots for a sports tournament that involved pitching in for charity.
About 200 players took part in a five-a-side football tournament co-organised by the Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC) and Operation Santa Claus (OSC) at the Happy Valley Recreation Ground on November 27.
The annual event is among the fundraising activities of OSC, an annual charity drive run by the Post and public broadcaster RTHK since 1988.
Marking its 35th anniversary this year, OSC has raised HK$353 million (US$45 million) to support the Hong Kong community through 323 charitable projects since its launch. Fifteen projects are being funded in 2022.
The football tournament has been held since 1998.
“It’s one of the highlights of the Operation Santa Claus fundraising period,” said Jim Gould, RTHK’s head of the English programme service.
“The objective is to create a good, fun experience for all the teams, for everybody taking part, and to allow everybody to contribute and take part in a happy, healthy activity,” he added.
“And it’s always enjoyable for the players, the teams, and for their supporters, their families, mums and dads,” he said. “I’m very grateful to everybody who took part.”
Long involved in the tournament, HKFC fielded teams and generated cash contributions for OSC, in addition to taking part in the organisation of the tournament.
“We are very fortunate to be able to cooperate with SCMP and RTHK and help organise this event,” Mark Grainger, the club’s football section chairman, said.
“With the profile of OSC – it’s been in Hong Kong for so long, everybody knows about it – I think it’s a very positive message to the community, especially to the club, to understand that we through football were able to support OSC. And it’s nice to be part of it,” he said.
“It’s just fabulous for the kids participating,” Grainger added.
A total of 27 teams competed in the Junior U10 Boys Tournament, Junior U12 Boys Tournament, Junior U12 Girls Tournament and the Adult Tournament. HKFC was among the winners in each category.
“We played very well. It was a bit nerve-racking at the end, but we’ve got the best goalkeeper,” said Athena Grabowski, 11, of the HKFC team that won in the U12 Girls competition.
“I think it’s really fun doing what you love and doing it for charity as well,” she added.
Grabowski’s teammate Lola Miller, also 11, could barely contain her excitement.
“I feel happy playing football and I get to play with my friends,” she said.
In the adult tournament, the Cup honours went to the teams representing Savills Property Management and financial giant UBS.
“We’ve supported this event for the last 10 years,” said Ian Yip Wing-hoi, Savills acting senior director, who leads the company’s football team.
“Environmental, social, and corporate governance is part of our company culture and we are dedicated to fulfilling our CSR responsibilities. We’re very happy to support this charity event,” he said.
“Staff wellness is also part of our ESG objectives. The company sponsors the football team. We actually play every week, and we also trained specifically for this tournament.”
UBS also said it was deeply committed to the event.
“OSC is a big thing for UBS. Every December or late November, we will have a lot of fundraising activities for OSC,” said David Pun Hiu-lok, the company’s executive director. “We have joined this football tournament for many years.”
He added the team was well-prepared for the match.
“We held some internal games to select the best players in UBS. Best not just in terms of skill, but also for their spirit, and for having a heart that wants to do something good for society,” Pun said.
“We have observed a lot of world-class games at the World Cup,” he said, adding his team members had stayed up until 6am the night before their match to watch the global tournament.
Chubb Insurance, another participant, found the event worthwhile in more ways than one.
“We find it very meaningful, and at the same time we can do some exercise as well. One important thing is to build the team spirit,” said Charles Lui Ka-kui, head of financial lines at Chubb.
