Field hockey is an Olympic sport with a large tradition in Macau even though the sense of enthusiasm felt towards it has been decaying for many years. The revamped Macau Hockey Association (AHM) is now celebrating its 40th anniversary and has been trying to alter the trends in order to “reignite the sport in Macau,” the newly elected president Filipe Senna Fernandes told the Times.
With a new board of directors elected in September, the association is trying to attract more athletes and organize new tournaments. “It is very exciting to have a new team on board but it is also very challenging”, explained Senna Fernandes, recalling how hockey was a very popular sport in Macau at the end of the 70s and throughout the 80s and early 90s but is currently experiencing a decline in popularity that he jokingly deems as “a sunset sport period”.
The fact is that field hockey lost a lot of its fans to other sports. The association’s president says that there are several major reasons that led to the sport’s decline in popularity in Macau. He firstly points out the change of location of the hockey pitch. Until the early 2000s, the hockey pitch was located at a central point in the city – the Tap Seac square – together with other popular public sports facilities that were very well-located and “far more convenient and attractive.”
Senna Fernandes recalls that Tap Seac Square at those times was considered a “meeting point” for locals, especially the younger generations. The change to Taipa, at a time when the island was not yet populated, and to a location that is “a little hidden” and surrounded by other much larger sports facilities made it difficult for the fans of the sport to continue to pursue it. It is also connected to the fact that the public transportation between the peninsula and the islands also had a lot of flaws.
The second reason for the decline in popularity as listed by Senna Fernandes is that “the less people think about something, the less people talk about it.” Consequently, field hockey started to become a forgotten relic, as fans started to follow some sports worldwide that have given rise to internationally known sporting idols. The AHM president points out that hockey is essentially a team sport and there are not very many “highlighted individuals,” a factor that may be considered unattractive to the youngsters.
Other difficulties in boosting the popularity of this sport are common to other sports and involve changes to the Macau local society.
“Many people, especially the younger generations, started to work in the casinos and hotels and other related industries…. most of the time, they work different shifts and that has also become a problem for them… even if they still had the will and the passion to continue, it has become very difficult for many of them to reconcile career and sports,” Senna Fernandes says.
Filipe Senna Fernandes
So how can all these factors be managed in order to increase the popularity of this sport? Senna Fernandes says that there are several possibilities, but all of them involve teamwork: “It is impossible for someone to try to do something just by themselves. To bring this sport up again, it must be a collective effort”.
As immediate measures to revamp the sport take place, the AHM president says that there is a need to talk to the current and former players as well as the wider community. “As a short term solution, we can bring back some of the old players but the long term solution has to be introduced by bringing in the younger generation,” he says.
To achieve this, the AHM is working closely with a few schools and organizing a Macau School Hockey Competition on a yearly basis. The Macau Champions League (local league) is also in progress and six teams are competing.
Recently, to celebrate its 40th anniversary, the association organized a 1-day tournament that gathered players and fans alike in a friendly atmosphere. One of the objectives for 2016 is to breathe life into an old competition that motivated many players, the Interport Macau – Hong Kong, the tournament is set to take place in March 2016 and will involve a playoff in three categories, namely, National teams, Veterans and U21’s, as well as “providing opportunities for the players and teams to be involved and tournaments and competitions.” The creation of teams to represent Macau is based on several age categories in regional competitions.
Although hockey was previously embedded in local communities, especially in communities with a high concentration of Macanese, Mr Senna Fernandes intends to expose everyone to the sport. “We are certain that in the expat communities there are also players and talents to use in all our teams and we are aiming to reach them all,” he said.
“What we are trying to do its create opportunities for everybody to play and rely on the fact that the players will also spread the word and their passion, thereby attracting others,” he concluded. RM
‘Field Hockey for All’ promotes inclusive hockey
Organized by the Rotaract Club of Macau and supported by the Macau Hockey Association and Fuhong Society of Macau, the program entitled “Field Hockey for All 2015-2016” is open for enrollment. Sports enthusiasts aged between 16 and 30 years old are encouraged to join.
The program aims to increase public awareness of the inclusion of people in sports with disabilities and to promote a positive image of hockey among the younger generations. According to organizers, it also aims to promote the importance of a work-life balance in Macau.
The program will last for one year and will be undertaken in partnership with the Fuhong Society and their service users, who will receive training classes on the topic of field hockey twice a month. Aside from field hockey skills training, friendly matches will be arranged at the end of the program in cooperation between Macau and Hong Kong-based hockey associations.
The enrollment fee to enter this program is MOP100, which will be donated to the Fuhong Society. According to Geraldine Lam, one of the project coordinators, 30 participants have already enrolled, adding a further 5 Fuhong Society service users. According to the same representative, the organizing committee expects an enrolment of between 40 to 50 participants before the enrolment closes. The opening ceremony will be held on November 14.
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