China’s women’s volleyball team answer questions and inspired students at Ma On Shan as part of their meet-and-greet tour
While the the China volleyball women's team were in Hong Kong, captain Hui Ruoqi (right) showed some local secondary school students her impressive serve.China’s women’s volleyball coach Lang Ping asked local secondary school students to uphold the “spirit” the national team displayed at the Rio Games – teamwork, perseverance and daring to win despite adversity.
The 12 “golden girls” of the volleyball team and their coach took part in a meet-and-greet tour at Ma On Shan Sports Centre on Sunday. They conducted a sharing session and then played ball with students at the venue.
During the sharing session, Lang said her team members were very young and inexperienced, but they had taken away a lot from the Olympics.
“Bear in mind you are playing as a team,” said Lang, adding that their training was tougher and longer than anyone can imagine. “The power of teamwork is greater than that of personal strengths. The unity of players can help resolve many problems during matches, and this is what we call ‘volleyball spirit’.”
China’s women’s volleyball captain Hui Ruoqi echoed Lang’s sentiment, and shared how she bounced back from heart surgery and trained even harder than before. “When I have a clear goal, I will move forward and fight for it. I know that my coaches and my team will always support me, and I won’t let them down,” she says.
Hong Kong Volleyball Girls’ Youth Team blocker Yick Wing-sum, 15, from Ying Wa Girls’ College, told Young Post that playing with the “golden girls” was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “At first, I was a bit nervous because they were very tall, and physically stronger than us,” said Wing-sum. “But I became calmer as they showed me a lot of useful techniques, including serving, blocking and spiking. I’m also inspired by Hui’s story of how she overcame her physical and mental challenges.”
Youth Team outside hitter Chan Ming-wai, 18, from STFA Cheng Yu Tung Secondary School received the opportunity to play on the same team as Zhu Ting, who was recently crowned the most valuable player in the Rio Olympics women’s volleyball tournament. “The meet-and-greet tour was great as it helped us understand how [the team] played and their attitudes toward professional sport.”