Author: Esmond Yan, MBA Student

Looking at this photograph will probably always succeed in making me smile. After all, we made it to the semi-finals as a team this year!

HKUST hosted other football teams from INSEAD, CEIBS, HKU, HKCU in this rough but thoroughly enjoyable one-day tournament. Our team was drawn in a group with HKUST Team 2, HKUST Alumni and HKU where our very own Italian stallion Henri Allegra scored 2 goals to take us into the semi-finals.

However, having the smallest team of only 9 players took its toll on us. Henri, Alexander, Gabriel, Andrew, Vincent, Benny, John and Rob – we all just had each other to lean on against some very skilled players. We really were at a disadvantage.

We lost to match the eventual champions, INSEAD. Still, we don’t walk away from this experience disheartened. We’re far from that, actually. The team showed great sportsmanship despite injuries and the rain. There really wasn’t room for defeat anyway, because at the after-party, everyone felt like a winner. We went to Republic, a posh club in Hong Kong’s Lan Kwai Fung district, a generous treat by the host!

After all that hard work and good play, we were sore everywhere by the end of the trip. We still find the experience worth it though. It was great fun to compete and at the same time, we got to network with other MBA students of different nationalities.

The best part was getting to bond with each other and functioning as a team. I really feel like we did win a great prize and we’re walking away with it. This prize, to me, is invaluable. This event led me to meeting some great individuals indeed, and I relished every step of the way.

We definitely scored, if you ask me.