Fu Cup is not unfamiliar at all to Chung Chi-ers. Founded by the late former College Head Prof. Fu Yuen Ko Philip (1933-2015) in 1978, Fu Cup is Chung Chi’s traditional sports gala with its student residents as participants. Fu Cup aims to enhance students’ sense of belonging to their hostels and the College, as well as strengthen the bond among Chung Chi hostels. Having been suspended for three years due to the coronavirus pandemic, Fu Cup was resumed in February this year, and Madam S. H. Ho Hall (Ho Hall) won its first ever Fu Cup Overall Championship. Ho Hall achieved brilliant performance by being the champion of five competitions, namely football; badminton; stone, paper & scissors; card games; and tug-of-war. We invited Mr. Lau Tsan Yu Steve (Economics/3), Captain of Ho Hall Football Team; Ms. Li Pui Ka Bella (Early Childhood Education/1), Chairperson of Ho Hall Residents’ Association (RA); and Ms. Pui Wai Nga Cyrus (Energy and Environmental Engineering/5), former Sports Officer of Ho Hall RA, to share with us the anecdotes about their preparation and training for Fu Cup.
Madam S. H. Ho Hall (Ho Hall) won the 44th Fu Cup Overall Championship, having achieved brilliant performance by being the champion of football; badminton; stone, paper & scissors; card games; and tug-of-war; as well as the first runner-up and second runner-up of basketball (boys) and rope skipping respectively. Student residents of Ho Hall, (from left to right) Ms. Li Pui Ka Bella, Ms. Pui Wai Nga Cyrus, and Mr. Lau Tsan Yu Steve, shared the preparation and training anecdotes.
Q: What motivated you to be dedicated to Fu Cup? How did you prepare for the competitions?
Fu Cup is Chung Chi’s significant sports gala that student residents must join. Some seniors always mention that Fu Cup is an ever boisterous and overwhelming sports event. As some of our hallmates love sports, which further motivated us to take part in the post-pandemic Fu Cup to leave us a sweet memory in university life. Concerning the preparation, we organised the Fun Day in October and November last year, enabling hallmates to try various sports like tug-of-war; then we held regular training sessions for teammates to get to know one another and receive training together. In last December and January, training camps were held at Cheung Chau for participants to have intensive training in basketball, volleyball, and shuttlecock while regular training kept going on. Each competition was led by a captain and a vice-captain. Some even had a coach who would give advice and instructions to participants.
Ho Hall chose basketball (boys) as their trump and ended up having the scores doubled from 50 to 100.
Q: Did you spend a lot of time in training and preparation? Did it affect your studies?
The influence was not too serious from the participants’ perspective. We would ask our teammates in advance when they could receive training, ensuring we were all available and our class schedules would not be affected. On the contrary, the preparation took a lot of time and energy. The Fun Day, regular training, and training camps as just mentioned were organised by the Residents’ Association. As we had to accommodate the schedules of captains, coaches, and participants, it was rather difficult to arrange the timetable for these training programmes. What’s more, making reservations of sports venues for training was another time- and energy-consuming task. Since the sports venues of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) are always fully occupied, even if we could make online reservations, we had to check instantly what venues had been booked. For example, four badminton courts had to be reserved for basketball training, but we could hardly check online whether desirable venues were available in one go. Therefore, we would rather make reservations in person. Due to long queues, we always lined up outside the venues in the early morning or even at midnight, and slept outdoors overnight occasionally. We were extremely exhausted afterwards and could only catch up with our studies after taking a good rest.
Dr. Li Chun Hong (1st left), Hostel Warden of Ho Hall, joined the Basketball (Boys) competition of Fu Cup this year, showing support with his wholehearted participation.
Q: What made Ho Hall outstanding in Fu Cup?
Many of the hallmates are good at sports, for example, our football players belong to the University football team, and badminton players are also members of the Hong Kong Badminton Association. What’s more, we are so thankful for our warden Dr. Li Chun Hong, former residents as well as hostel staff who were willing to guide our participants and give them some tips on the competitions. Fu Cup offers a jackpot scheme in which each hostel can choose a competition as its trump, and its score will be doubled. For example, we chose basketball (boys) as our trump and ended up having our scores doubled from 50 to 100. That’s why making smart choices is also a winning factor. Of course, the unity and commitment of our hallmates are of utmost importance. Most of them were willing to take part in all the regular training programmes even though they did not join all competitions. We were utterly impressed. Although the post-pandemic Fu Cup appeared to be less overwhelming compared to the pre-pandemic competitions, we still hope more Ho Hall’s hallmates can actively join this Chung Chi’s traditional sports gala, which will definitely enhance their sense of belonging to Ho Hall and the College.
