So Hoi Lam: The scar left by three cuts and seven screws, remind yourself not to let yesterday’s tears flow in vain

After Kitchee established a semi-professional women’s football team, it won the league and the FA Cup last season. The team’s main player So Hoi Lam is one of the heroes, but the Hong Kong team player does not have much time to indulge in victory. In order to make up for the regrets five years ago, she is fully preparing for the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.

Skip a grade

So, who was born in rural Shatin, used to play kickball with the boys from the same village when he was a child. He was shot and broke his hand while guarding the dragon gate, but he often went out to play kickball secretly regardless of his parents’ objections. When she was in primary five, a new physical education teacher saw So playing football with boys every day, so he established the school’s first girls’ football team, giving So her first chance to compete.

蘇鎧霖今年4月在塔吉克出戰巴黎奧運外圍賽 @hkfa

During the summer vacation of Primary 6, So’s teacher signed up for So to participate in the selection of the Hong Kong national team: “At that time, I just remember that my parents took me to Kowloon Tsai to play a game. I didn’t even know what the game was. Later, when I was selected, the prophet turned out to be a member of the U16 team. Selection. I was only 12 or 13 years old, but because the echelons back then were not as narrow as U8 now, the smallest one was U16. After two months of training, I went to play in the Women’s Asian Youth Cup qualifiers.” U16 was led by Ng Wing back then. Kam is coached by Yiu Ka Wai. Yiu also invited So to Chelsea Football School (Hong Kong) to receive systematic and formal football training. He has been playing for a long time in the car school echelon and the adult team competing under the name of HVAA.

Due to the skipping competition that year, she played more than one U16 game for the Hong Kong team, and was also selected for the Hong Kong team U19 when she was 16 years old. However, she had to leave the echelon after experiencing the U19: “At that time, I was worried that I would not be able to make it to the adult team, and it happened that Rambo had just When he became the coach of the national team, he held a general selection and was finally selected. Since then, he has been striving for the goal of participating in the 2018 Asian Games.”

Since Hong Kong women’s football has fewer games, even though words such as professionalization did not appear back then, the games were still very intense. So competed in the Group A competition as the main player of HVAA. Since there were sufficient training and competitions, she felt that she was in good condition and was looking forward to the arrival of the Asian Games.

“During a one-on-one goal against Citizen in a league game, I was knocked down by the opponent’s goalkeeper and injured. I thought it was just a matter of grabbing firewood and didn’t care, so I didn’t go to the emergency room immediately. When I went to the public hospital for a checkup after two weeks, the doctor said it was sideways. I had a broken tibia and needed an operation. I shouted out at that moment… I have been afraid of going to the hospital since I was a child. After knowing that I was going to have an operation, I screamed almost every day, even when I was pushed into the operating room. In addition to being scared, I also screamed I feel so disappointed knowing that I can’t go to the Asian Games.”

愉園時期的蘇鎧霖 @馬菲爾

Broken foot

Fractures are a nightmare for all football players. So’s tibia was fitted with steel plates and fixed with seven screws. One of them was removed two months later. After half a year’s rest, he resumed training and competition despite the pain caused by the screws: “Yes. When you touch it with your hands, you will feel that it is sharp. After the surgery, the rest of the screws will be taken out. Every time after the operation, the condition deteriorates, and it takes a lot of time to re-exercise. The whole process is very difficult. “

At that time, the HVAA was not a semi-professional operation, the travel expenses were not high, and there was no protection for player injuries. Even though he was injured in the game and ruined his first Asian Games dream, Su Kailin is still very affectionate for this team. However, in addition to facing the recovery process from injuries, there are also many challenges within the team.

“I was very happy in the first year of Yuyuan, but then I started to get a little bit uncomfortable with my teammates. Because my condition was not fully restored, I was sometimes looked down upon in the team. I even had no self-confidence when I was in trouble, and I was afraid of being scolded by my teammates. I heard someone He said, just go to the left, but it seems like someone is missing from the right… I feel increasingly unhappy and unable to find my place.”

The HVAA men’s team gave up playing in the Hong Kong Super League in 2021, and another wage arrears incident broke out; the Chelsea women’s team also withdrew from the operation of the HVAA at the end of the season, but coach Pau Ka Yiu continued to retain the women’s Division A seat in the name of Yuyuan. At the same time, Kitchee, the top men’s class leader, also started to develop semi-professional women’s football: “I lost myself a little in Yuyuan and was not very happy playing football. I already had plans to leave at the end of the season. But at that time, Pau Sir stayed and worked hard to find sponsors. The team also wants to target the Asian Chapters League. I have feelings for the HVAA and some of my good friends on the team, so I chose to stay.”

“But after the season started, I found that everything was different. Later, Kitchee invited me to join again, and I decided to transfer. Pau Sir was very angry when he found out, and he felt very sorry, because even after the serious injury, Pau Sir always gave him a lot. Opportunities, starting from the backup and gradually returning to the main lineup, I hope that after Kitchee develops, he can make some changes and repay his cultivation with his performance.”

半職業的傑志女足，擁有私人訓練場地，令球員表現提升不少 @OneTwo.hk

Semi-professional

When Kitchee began to promote semi-professional women’s football, many teams and football schools also became more and more complete in their echelons. The Hong Kong team’s echelon also started long-term training from U13. So felt that the back wave was coming, and he was eager to transfer and seek challenges: “There were a lot of problems and issues when changing teams. Some people heard that Kitchee was doing semi-professional work and thought I went there for the money. After all, transfers are not common in women’s football, and many people took it for granted. I played for the same team most of the time. The transfer made people think that I didn’t think about my origins. But I know that I came from Chelsea’s youth training, and I have always been grateful to Chelsea for their careful cultivation. Now I wear the No. 27 jersey just to be wary of myself. Keep my original intention, because No. 27 is the number I played in the youth team. I really want to get back to who I was back then, and then surpass her even more. Now I have done it! I will continue to work hard to improve and repay every coach who has trained me. “

“The semi-professional facilities at Kitchee are much more complete. For example, minor injuries can be dealt with by the on-site physical therapist to speed up the recovery process; there are three training sessions a week, and game days are added to play four days a week, and on game days Everyone will first go back to Shimen to have a meal together to get enough calories. After the meeting, they will take the bus to the stadium for the game. These have strengthened the sense of belonging to the team. After playing this year, I feel that I feel like a family with my teammates, and I am very happy to have the support of my teammates. trust.”

Even though Kitchee has more resources, it still cannot form a full-professional team. So, who just graduated from college, has to teach Bo to make a living in addition to practicing Bo. Her Hong Kong teammate and goalkeeper Ng Cheuk Wai “Mi” played for two teams in the Taiwan League, and then went to Japan to develop. Witnessing her teammates’ growth and success inspired her to also aim to go abroad, but before that, We must first play the Asian Games that we missed five years ago.

“I want to send out my CV and short film as soon as I graduate, but there are not many major competitions for women’s football, and this year’s Asian Games has been postponed for a year, so I don’t have many games to play in my life, so I really want to make up for my previous regrets, and I also want to I will try to compete in the Asian Indoor Games Five-a-side Tournament in November. In the long run, I definitely want to challenge myself in other countries and increase myself. I also want to understand the gap between the level of football in other countries and that in Hong Kong, and to experience the football culture in different places.”