At age 20, he has been twice named Mr. Football of Macao. He has represented Macao at international football matches and scored four goals. Meet Leong Ka Hang, a third-year undergraduate from the Department of Communication at UM.
It’s perhaps no exaggeration to say that Ka Hang was born for football. He devotes half of his time to playing football. Currently he serves on three football teams (the Macao Football Team, the Monte Carlo FC Macau, and UM’s Football Team). He trains three to four times a week, two hours each time. When he is not in training, he does strength and conditioning exercises with his friends. He spends the breaks in between classes in UM’s gym room. He does set aside one day every week to rest—in the form of watching football matches and news!
The day we met Ka Hang for the interview, he just finished practicing football. He came running towards us, all beaming and sweaty, and offered a too-firm handshake that made our student reporter flinch. He quickly apologized and explained that it was a force of habit. “If we didn’t do a very firm handshake with our opponent before the match, our coach would give us a dressing-down,” says Ka Hang with a smile. “He would say, ‘Oh come on guys! You think you can catch a quail with those weak hands of yours?!’”
Ka Hang fell in love with football the first time he played it with his brother at the age of 10. An energetic boy by nature, he felt like a fish in the water, exhilarated by the sense of freedom football gave him. That day he fell down from chasing the magic ball more times than he could remember, but he kept climbing up and dusting himself off for another try. Eventually he did catch the ball, but the chase has never stopped ever since. “Nothing can stop me from playing football,” says Ka Hang.
Nothing indeed! Not injuries—once when he was recovering from an injury, he still went to the gym room every day. Not parents’ worries—at one point in middle school his grades were slipping so quickly that he faced the prospect of repeating a year, so he promised his distressed parents that he would do whatever it took to catch up in school just so he wouldn’t have to give up football. And not his camera shyness—his increasing popularity put him in the media spotlight which he wasn’t very used to at first, but he has come around about it. “It’s a good thing that people come to watch you play,” says Ka Hang. “Even the world’s greatest player needs a cheering audience.”
Macao doesn’t lack enthusiastic football fans, but the number of professional football players in Macao could be counted on one hand. For many, even those with real talent, football has remained a hobby and a pastime. Ka Hang thinks this is due to some practical considerations, not the least of which is the difficulty in earning a decent income from playing football.
Luckily for Ka Hang, the support and understanding of his family, friends and coach have made it possible for him to persevere in the pursuit of his dream. “I feel very lucky that I’m doing what I’m really passionate about,” says Ka Hang. “And that’s something you can’t put a price on.”
Asked about his future plans, Ka Hang says, “If possible, I would like to be a professional football player in Hong Kong some day. But I’m not thinking too much about that right now. I’ll just enjoy football and see where it takes me.” Maybe a good lesson to take away from Mr. Football—scoring goals is exciting, whether in football or in life, but enjoying the process is just as important.
