Reported by King Woo, Brison Li and Jo Ng
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“I met most of my friends from street basketball court. I always practice with them. I would play basketball in the street court when there is no regular practice, sometimes alone.” Marcus, Chan Ka Lok said. Marcus is an amateur basketball player and has played basketball for 10 years in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong people love playing basketball. According to Hong Kong welfare department, the government has built up 200 basketball courts in order to support the sport need for Hong Kong citizens.
But before 2016, basketball was only the leisure time sport for them, because Hong Kong doesn’t have a professional basketball team and professional league which also means people who loves basketball and tries to be a professional player has no clear goal and training program for them.
A lot of people are very talented and good at basketball, but maybe because they do not have enough support from their families and the government, they are forced to give up and go to work. Even the Hong Kong team is mostly amateur players, even the head coach. An Qingjian is also a civil servant working in the General Administration of Customs.
The problem of Hong Kong basketball development is rising and can be seen in different international basketball competition.
“We are not professional player, we have to work before our training ”
According to the video post-match interview of Hong Kong team member Zhaohua Liang, he said: “ In order to match the players' working hours, we always get train at night, After 10 o’clock, we will spend an hour or two to go home. We only can sleep few hours at night and get up early in the morning for our work.”
The limited training time, and limited energy, have led to a small space for Hong Kong players to make progress.
“We don't earn any money for playing basketball.”
“we can only overcome it. There are not enough training venues, so we often look for local training everywhere. The training is funded by the government, but there is no salary. The government only provides basic fees. They just like to play, because there is nothing in salary or sponsorship, just simply like it. Basically, you need to take your own vacation to play.” An Qingjian, the coach of Hong Kong Hong Kong Men's Basketball, said.
Due to the lack of resources, Hong Kong team doesn’t have a good training place and all of the players don’t have any salary for their training. The enthusiasm for basketball is not measured by money, but without income guarantee, it will lead a lot of talent loss and disappointment for Hong Kong basketball professionalism from good players.
According to the HKBA, there were 13 player in 2017 Hong Kong Men’s basketball team, there are only one professional player. The rest of 12 members of the Hong Kong team have different identities outside of the court. For example, No. 3 player Liang Min Xiong is an amateur basketball coach, and his teammates are teachers, and some are businessmen, student staff or government civil servants.
The difficulties of basketball development has gradually changed these years. At the end of 2017, the Hong Kong eastern team first went to the Southeast Asian Professional Basketball League (ABL). They performed strong in the regular season. Also In the playoffs, they also defeated the Vietnam Saigon Heat and won the championship.
"Hong Kong does not have a professional league. It will be difficult to develop. Taiwan has a league and players have to play in CBA. I hope Hong Kong players have a chance to play CBA and SBL. It is difficult to change, but only by government support, and the current support is not enough." An QingJian said after the match between Hong Kong Men’s basketball team and Mainland China Red team.
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