"Beef Ball, Beef Ball,..." the chants of joy continued to echo in the Mong Kok Stadium stands. However, "Beef Ball" is not the nickname of Eastern Club, it is the name that fans gave to female coach Chan Yuen Ting.
"My nickname is Beef Ball. Every time I hear the NHM shout it, I am truly happy. That is a blessing for me, a female coach," Chan Yuen Ting shared.
The name Chan Yuen Ting began to attract attention from Hong Kongers in December 2015 when for the first time in history, Eastern had a female coach.
Chan Yuen Ting replaces Mr. Yeung Ching Kwong, who was fired earlier. After 4 months in charge, this young female coach and her team won the Hong Kong Premier League championship and won a ticket to the most prestigious club-level arena in Asia, the AFC Champions League.
"Miracle", "big name", " recording the history of the book" are the beautiful words that the Hong Kong press has given to this 27-year-old coach because she has brought Hong Kong football a new honor.
Before Chan, not only in Hong Kong but also throughout Asia, no female coach had the honor to participate in the AFC Champions League.
"When I first came here to take office, NHM was extremely surprised. They are skeptical about whether this is a trick to attract the club's attention.
The doubts about the success of a woman leading a men's football team surrounded me day and night," Chan Yuen Ting recalled.
Glory on the pitch always has to pay with drops of sweat on the training ground. To be successful, not only the players, but also their coaches must strive day by day.
During the training sessions on the field in the scorching sunny weather, the skin of this coach also gradually turned dark black. Even long hair is no longer there, giving it a neatly short hairstyle to suit the work.
Maybe for many people, it was a great sacrifice of Chan Yuen Ting, but for this 27-year-old coach and her mother, it was a joy every day because they could enjoy and live with football. That has been Chan Yuen Ting's dream since she was a child.
"At this age, every girl likes to shop, get beauty, date or do things like that. But for Chan, it's not, it just focuses on football and spends the whole day talking about it," Chan's mother shared.
( Continue)
Part 2: When Chan Yuen Ting becomes a symbol of pride.
