Community & Charities
Sports and Recreation
JC Youth Football Leadership Scheme 2017 launches with an orientation camp to let students learn more about themselves
03/04/2017
The latest phase of the JC Youth Football Leadership Scheme was launched with the participation of 44 young leaders from all districts of Hong Kong. To kick-off the programme, all of the students took part in a two-day, one-night orientation camp to learn more about themselves, which is the first step to becoming an effective leader.
Personality Dimensions – Self-awareness and respect for others
In the Personality Dimensions Workshop, the first order of business was to complete a detailed questionnaire to gain a deeper understanding of one’s own personality and how one approaches different situations. According to their results, the young leaders were then divided into four personality categories, with each category representing unique strengths and weaknesses. Through the workshop activities, the students were able to better understand their characters and temperament so that they could amplify their strengths and work on improving their shortcomings prior to undertaking a series of training programmes in the coming four months.
Understanding one’s own character was just the first step. The more important lesson was learning how to cooperate and interact with people that have different personalities, so that they could complement each other and foster team spirit. To achieve this, the groups were then mixed and each was given a mission to complete as a team. In doing so, they learnt how to embrace different opinions and to accept others’ ways of communicating, as well as find solutions to problems. Not all of the missions were completed successfully, but the ultimate takeaway of the exercise was to understand that mutual respect is the foundation of team spirit.
Football training - Believe in yourself and never give up
After learning about their different personalities and how to create team spirit, the students joined Christopher O’Brien (OB), the Head of Manchester United Soccer School in Hong Kong, for football training. Football is a tool that the student leaders will use to reach out to the community and organise activities, and they were inspired by OB’s teaching approach, which will be a great asset to them as they engage with and serve members of the community.
OB stressed that “respecting others, believing in yourself and never giving up” are the essential qualities of a leader. One of the students, Lo Wing Ho, shared that he discovered more about himself in the Personality Dimensions Workshop, and also learnt how to communicate, cooperate and build team spirit with people who have different personalities. OB’s football training inspired Ho to courageously try new things. Ho’s football knowledge was limited, yet he managed to accomplish the tasks OB set out for them with determination and a never-give-up attitude. He wholeheartedly believes that with a positive attitude and passion, one can overcome shortcomings and achieve excellence.
The camp came to a close with all of the students having gained not only a new perspective of themselves, but also a new understanding of how to work well with others. They are ready for a series of leadership training programmes in the coming four months and continuing their individual journeys of becoming young leaders!
