After Hong Kong teen Owen Ng Yat-san won a three-on-three basketball competition around two years ago, he decided to give back to the community by helping underprivileged children.
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“We won the match, but the other team were playing in regular shoes, not even proper sports gear,” 15-year-old Ng recalled. “It did not feel right.”
Driven by a belief that sports should be for everyone, the then 13-year-old launched Game On, an initiative that offers basketball, tennis and table tennis sessions to those who lack access to equipment and facilities.
Over the past two years, Ng has given about 2,000 underprivileged children access to sports.
Such endeavours have earned him a nomination as a finalist in the youth category of the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, an annual event jointly organised by the South China Morning Post and property developer Sino Group to honour remarkable individuals whose efforts might otherwise go unnoticed.
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With the help of his younger brother and a few friends, Ng approached local community centres, including St Barnabas’ Society and Home, to offer sports activities to children from low-income families.