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■棒球在香港的受歡迎程度不及日本及美國。資料圖片
Fai
My younger son is quite athletic. At 10, he plays basketball, soccer, and ping pong, all reasonably well, but his favorite sport is baseball. It takes up most of his weekends, with a practice on Saturday, and a game on Sunday.
Baseball is not a popular sport in Hong Kong. Indeed, if one does not grow up with it, it is difficult to follow it, let alone enjoy it. First of all, the rules are quite complicated, with many fine points that are not easy to explain to the uninitiated. Secondly, with all the equipment one has to buy－a helmet, a cap, a bat, a pitching glove, a pair of batting gloves, a catcher's glove, a pair of cleats, and other protective gear－the game can be quite costly. It is also a slow game most of the time, even though it could explode suddenly into fast and exciting action. If a player allows his attention to drift, which happens quite often with a small child, he may find himself being left behind in the dust. All in all, it is not the favorite sports for young players in Hong Kong.
We were therefore surprised to find that there are in fact many baseball teams in Hong Kong, enough to keep at least a few leagues going from October to February every year. When we go for practice on Saturday in Shek Kip Mei, the playground is invariably filled with baseball teams, with players ranging from 6 or 7 years old to university age. Some are just beginners, others already quite advanced, and yet others are there to play softball, which is very similar to baseball.
Having been to a number of games, I begin to see different coaching styles. It is the job of a coach to teach and inspire the players. There are a lot of techniques to learn－how to hold the bat, how to put the glove down to catch the ball, how to slide to the bases and so on. Just as important is to fire up the players so that with the skills that they learn, they are able to give their best to the game. Both of these coaching duties require an even temper (好脾氣) on the part of the coach.
Many coaches are models of patience. They do not mind going over the basic moves (基本動作) again and again with the young players until they have learnt them. When they make mistakes, the coaches have to show them how they can learn from the mistakes. Sometimes, young players get frightened by the baseball flying towards them at high speed. I remember seeing one young player who broke down to tears when it was his turn to bat. The two players before him were both hit by the ball, one on the left shoulder, and the other on the waist. Baseballs are small and hard, and it is quite painful to get hit by them. Fortunately for him, he has an understanding coach, who spent a long time speaking to him reassuringly until he was calm enough to step up to the plate.
Yet, every now and then, one encounters coaches who seem to think that they are drill sergeants in the army. They bark out their incoherent orders in a high squealing pitch. It is no surprise that their players do not understand them sometimes. Some seem to take a sadistic pleasure in meting out (phr.v.給予) punishments to the players, making them do push-ups or running laps. The worst I have encountered so far is that the coach berated(v.責罵)his players for minutes, until his face was all red, in language that is not appropriate for the ears of the children. Most amazingly, the parents did not seem to mind. Perhaps they believed that was the way to build up the children's character.
I am glad to say that my son's coach belongs to the first type. Incidentally, he used to be in the army, and he still has a military air about him. Yet, he manages to instill discipline without being abusive (adj.口出惡言). In return, all the players respect him. ■kingfaitam@gmail.com
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