In the late afternoon of Monday, a new milestone was reached in the Racing Academies Football Development Program launched by The Hong Kong Jockey Club in partnership with Manchester United, as Manchester United legend Mikael Silvestre visited the Buddhist Wong Fung Ling Secondary School, where he, together with a team of four professional coaches from Manchester United's youth academy, interacted with a group of enthusiastic secondary school students.
The program aims to connect kindergarten and tertiary education through an inspirational and motivational training model, tapping into the potential of teachers and varsity coaches to improve the overall physical, mental and social skills of young athletes. On a daily basis, Manchester United Hall of Famer Schwista, Head of Sports Development at the Youth Academy Alex Ouzounoglou, Physiotherapist Sam Dawson, Chief Sports Psychologist Daniel Ransom and Coach Neil Scott will be involved in the program.
At the beginning of the event, the students warmed up under the guidance of the Manchester United Youth Academy team, followed by reaction, sprinting, disking and footwork exercises, in which Schwistar himself took part and competed with the students. The 4-on-4 mini-match immediately followed, with Schwistar himself taking to the field, sparking cheers from the audience. At the end of the event, Schweizer presented a Manchester United home jersey to the principal and took a photo with all the students, which was a heartwarming scene.
After the February Greetings event, Schwistar visited Hong Kong again and gave an interview to the media. He shared with the students what he has learned from becoming a professional footballer: if you want to reach a higher level in soccer, you first have to learn to take care of yourself while growing up and stay healthy so that you can dedicate yourself to training every day. Although Manchester United finished eighth in the Premier League this season, Schweizer admits that the team has many problems, but he is optimistic about the team's performance in the next season, and believes that the Red Devils are expected to rebound: we don't have to participate in European competitions next season, which will allow the team to focus more on the league, and the coach will have more time to improve the tactical system.
