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Ada Li

Hong Kong’s ice hockey players have the talent to succeed but lack the platform to showcase their skills to the wider world, and that is something the sport’s top local official plans to change.
Bringing three world championships to the city is just the start of that movement, with Sherman Chan Yan-wing, chairman of the Hong Kong, China Ice Hockey Association, also hoping to convince the government to put a comprehensive development plan for the sport in place.
With the goal of having a professional club team, Chan said last month’s Under-18 Men’s World Championship Division IIIA tournament, and this month’s Women’s Division IIB and Men’s Division IIIB events marked the start of “giving our players more opportunities to compete at a high level”.
There are 1,109 registered players in Hong Kong; unsurprisingly none are professional or full-time given ice hockey has only just reached the third tier of the city’s Sports Institute (HKSI), which provides financial and training support for elite athletes.
“Most of our players are either students or working adults,” Chan said. “There are no full-time athletes because there is no career path – there are no professional ice hockey teams in Hong Kong, so players cannot make this sport their profession,” Chan said.

That has not stopped the city’s teams shining at the world championships, with the under-18s taking silver last month in a tournament where they beat Bulgaria, Israel, Turkey and New Zealand.
The city’s women, meanwhile, were unbeaten in their competition, which runs until Sunday, going into Friday’s late game against Ukraine. The men will face the likes of the Philippines, Mongolia and North Korea in a week-long event starting on April 13.
With Japan, South Korea and mainland China all boasting professional teams and leagues, Chan hopes to drum up some significant local financial support for the sport.
“I very much hope that in the near future, Hong Kong will have a team playing in a professional league, which would raise the overall standard of hockey here and generate greater public enthusiasm,” Chan said.
Last month, Aivaz Omorkanov, the International Ice Hockey Federation’s vice-president for Asia and Oceania, told the South China Morning Post that closer cooperation with mainland China, including joining the domestic pyramid, would rapidly improve standards in Hong Kong.
The city’s under-18s have already made that connection, winning bronze on their debut in last year’s National Championship, which lifted the sport to the Elite C level at the HKSI.
“It [Elite C] gave players the feeling that their hard work will be rewarded. For the association, it is also a motivation,” Chan said. “We also hope we can play in mainland China’s professional league, but it is still difficult without a home base.”
While Hong Kong has multiple ice rinks in the city, all are inside shopping centres and the Discovery Bay venue for the three world championships has required temporary upgrades to make it suitable for international competition.
Using facilities across the border in Shenzhen was not a long-term solution either, Chan said, with jobs, academic work and the simple logistics of transporting players and equipment making it difficult to arrange regular practices.
News of increased government support in February’s budget was a welcome boost, although Chan would like to see longer-term planning for all winter sports.
“We need to formulate a strategy that covers venue facilities, targeted training resources, youth development, hardware support, and even sports science, which has become increasingly important in recent years,” he said.
For the time being, Hong Kong are “chasing” their regional rivals.
“Hong Kong’s ice hockey players are highly skilled and have great potential, but they lack a platform. You can see that we have introduced many international coaches and different resources over the past two years, and everyone has witnessed significant improvements in results,” he said.
“If you look at the traditional Asian powerhouses, they are mainly Japan, China and South Korea. Even Taiwan and Thailand have surpassed us. I hope we can catch up with these Asia-Pacific rivals in the short term.”


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Sherman Chan is focused on a bold future for ice hockey in Hong Kong. Photo: Karma Lo

Hong Kong’s teams are playing in several world championships at Discovery Bay. Photo: Sun Yeung

Sport

Hong Kong

Sherman Chan hopes elevation to third tier of city’s Sports Institute marks start of journey towards professionalism


Sherman Chan hopes elevation to third tier of city’s Sports Institute marks start of journey towards professionalism.


Hong Kong ice hockey boss eyes next step as players take on some of world’s best

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Sherman Chan hopes elevation to third tier of city’s Sports Institute marks start of journey towards professionalism

Sherman Chan hopes elevation to third tier of city’s Sports Institute marks start of journey towards professionalism