bc magazine, hong kong

Happy Hockey
Raising the bar and lowering the cost – that is the mission of Laputa Poon, director of the Hong Kong Amateur Hockey Club (HKAHC) and Hong Kong Academy of Ice Hockey (HKAIH). Established in April 2001, the HKAHC is run by volunteers and aims to promote the sport via league and international friendly matches. The beginnings of ice hockey in our city can be traced back to the days of Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park but now ice hockey events centre mainly on the rinks at Dragon Centre and MegaBox. Hockey is often considered a ‘high-end’ game because of its high entry cost. For the summer league of 10 to 12 games, it costs a player around $1,800 to join, and for the winter league the costs can be as high as to $3,000-$4,000. “Sometime we have students coming to us and saying they can’t play a season because they cannot afford it,” says Poon. To promote the sport, he and his peers agree people should be introduced to hockey from an early age, so he has visited over 100 schools in Hong Kong and persuaded more than 30 to adopt the academy’s programmes, the academy providing essential equipment for free. Barry Beck, former captain of the New York Rangers, is the coach and general manager of the academy and has deigned a training programme catering for students according to their skills and self-esteem.
The Hong Kong Amateur Hockey League now comprises two divisions, premier and regular, with a total of 12 teams. The league tends to hire players as referees and students as scorekeepers to exposed them to as much of the game as possible. Inviting foreign teams to play in Hong Kong is another way to push local players, according to Poon. This April, the Croatian National Team hosted a clinic in the SAR – it was the highest-ranking international-level team (28th in the world according to the International Ice Hockey Federation) to visit Hong Kong. Poon says it was “jaw-dropping” for local players to see the high level of performance in the Croatian team’s training sessions. The highlight of the ice hockey year, though, must be the three-day International Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament. Teams playing are Canada Delta Police, Japan’s Hama Hockey Club and Mitsubishi Corporation, Manila Comets, Macau Ice Sports Federation and Beijing Hokay. Poon says because Beijing Hosa upset Canada’s more fancied Delta Police 3-1 and won the championship last year, the Canadians will do anything to retrieve their honour and the championship this year. The championship game will be broadcast by TVB Pearl on September 21 at 2pm.

What: International Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament
When: September 19-21 Where: Mega Ice (L10, MegaBox) How Much: Free Enquiries: www.hkahc.com

Let’s Fight

Let’s Fight – this time the phrase doesn’t refer to the rock gigs powered by Paul Wong, it’s the motto of the International Muay Thai Charity Cups. Brought to the ring by Pak Lung International Muay Thai Association, this charity event has invited 22 boxers from countries including Australia, Japan, France, Jamaica and Thailand for 11 fights, with proceeds going to the Hong Kong Red Cross for the relief and reconstruction of Sichuan. The three ‘super fights’ to look out for are the 63kg battle between Kevin Lay (Australia) and Sanghirun Lukbanyai (Thailand); the 59kg brawl between Dane Beecham (Australia) and Yukiya Nakamura (Japan) and the 68kg skirmish between Christophe (France) and Saiyuknoi (Thailand).

What: International Muay Thai Charity Cups When: September 16, doors open at 6:30pm and fights start at 7pm Where: Queen Elizabeth Stadium Arena
How Much: $800, $350 and $150 from URBTIX, 2734 9009 Enquiries: 2722 1800

Fat Boy Charity
The 5th Fat Boy 10s this year has an all-star line-up: Andy Warhog, Mick Jagpig, Yves Swine Laurent and more. You can bet there will be a whole lot of grunting when the Pot Bellied Pigs RFC takes over the Angeles for some ’60s Pig Culture at this year’s Fat Boy 10s. Sixteen teams from around the globe will be playing and proceeds will be donated to charity.

What: Fat Boys 10s When: September 6-7 Where: Angeles City Enquiries: anson.bailey@kpmg.com.hk

Fun Pirates

This month the Discovery Bay Pirates Rugby Club (named after the plunderers active in the area in the past) will be putting on Hong Kong’s first beach festival of rugby – and according to organizer Steve Kean, it is more of an all-Hong Kong than just a Discovery Bay event. The festival will be divided into four age groups, each with a Discovery Bay team, the rest of the teams being invited from various areas of Hong Kong. The idea of the beach festival grew out of a similar but smaller get-together in the sandy area of Victoria Park last year. Seeing how well that was received, Kean and his friends from the Hong Kong Rugby Union thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if we had a regular festival in Hong Kong!” The festival is also a push against apathy. “It’s a demonstration to clubs in Hong Kong who say they don’t stage events because of limited space,” Kean points out. “We also face a challenge from the lack of facilities but we can still have a go at it.” And he hopes it will encourage organizers in all kinds of sports to stage events in our city despite the limitations they face.

What: Discovery Bay Pirates Beach Festival of Rugby
When: September 13 Where: Discovery Bay Tai Pak Beach How Much: Free Enquiries: www.dbpirates.com