Vong Ka Hou from the Office of Sports Affairs (OSA) is a chief coordinator for the university sports teams. He is also a team manager, coach, athlete, and doctoral student. What is his secret to juggling so many roles?
The Challenge of Starting a New Department From Scratch
When he joined the OSA in early 2014, Vong was the team manager of three sports teams at UM, namely the Men’s Basketball Team, the Women’s Basketball Team, and the Korfball Team. Last year, he took over as the chief coordinator for the 18 university sports teams. Juggling so many roles, he admits that work-related stress is inevitable. ‘Our office is a new department. There is not much prior experience to draw on. So the process of starting the office was indeed not easy,’he says. Vong feels thankful that he works with a team of competent and dedicated colleagues, who contributed ideas and tried their best to achieve the best outcome. Another major source of stress for Vong is how to balance the different needs of the 18 sports teams to make sure they all have sufficient resources to achieve their full potential.
An ‘Absentee’ Husband and Father
Vong is frequently away from home: taking sports teams to various competitions, training the Women’s Basketball Team three nights a week, and studying a PhD programme in physical education and sport training at Beijing Sport University during winter and summer holidays. You might be tempted to conclude from his busy schedule that he is still single, but he is actually happily married with two children. Because of work, he couldn’t spend a lot of quality time with his family, so he is grateful to his wife for always being very understanding. Asked how he would rate his wife on a 100-point scale, he says he would give her 99. ‘Minus 1 point because everyone has room for improvement,’ he says with a barely detectable mischievous smile.
A one-time member of the Macao Basketball Team, Vong is a bona fide lover of basketball. But in order to spend more time with his family, he has given up many opportunities to participate in local basketball leagues. ‘I think we should have different priorities in different stages of life. With my current schedule, I’m already away from home a lot, and so when I weigh my family against the opportunity to participate in basketball matches, I have to let go of the latter ,’ he says.
A Strict Coach Loved by the Athletes
Compared to individual sports, team sports like basketball and korfball rely heavily on team work, coordination, and communication among team members. For this reason, Vong deems it important to foster a sense of belonging among the team members. ‘But that can’ t be achieved overnight. It takes time and commitment,’ he says. Vong is a strict coach. He would scold the athletes if they are not doing well in training, which helps his teams progress quickly. But despite his strictness, he is loved and respected by the athletes, for his professional coaching, his funny personality, his generosity, and above all, his caring. Katherine Chan, captain of the Women’s Basketball Team, is lavish in her praise of Vong. ‘He is strict, but he cares a lot about every athlete, and whenever we need help, he is the one you can count on,’ she says. ‘When not in training, he is a very funny person. He is also very generous but never makes a show of it. For example, every time the team gets together for a gathering, he would give me money in advance to pay the bill. He never says anything about it, but everyone knows.’
Leading Men’s Basketball Team to Participate in CUBA for the First Time
Before joining UM, Vong was the coach of the Macao U16 Men’s Basketball Team for eight years. One of his most unforgettable experiences at UM was the time he led the UM Men’s Basketball Team to participate in the Chinese University Basketball Association (CUBA) league. It was the first time the UM Basketball Team ever participated in a national event, and the or ganiser arranged for the team’s first match to be the opening match, which was broadcast live on national television, so the team was both nervous and excited. Vong also benefited greatly from the match as a coach. ‘The teams participating in the CUBA league were very strong, and from observing their professional skills and the strategies they adopted in the matches, I was able to improve the training of our teams,’ he says.
This March, the team will participate in the CUBA league for the third time. Vong hopes the team will give its best and stay true to its own style. Vong has three wishes for the year 2016. The first is that the 18 university sports teams will be the best they can be. The second is that all the athletes will be able to gain something from the process. The third is that the teams will support each other and grow together. We wish Vong’s wishes come true. But don’t forget to make a wish for yourself, Mr Vong.
