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Hong Kong > Hong Kong Guide > Profiles > Jim Daws
 Jim Daws comes from Cambridge, England, and works as a semi-professional footballer. He has been living in Hong Kong, on and off, for about six years.
GeoExpat asked Pete Spurrier to quiz him about Hong Kong and the state of football in the SAR and share some tips for newly arrived expats.
You play football for a living. That’s every boy’s dream. How did you first get into this sport?
I have always played football, ever since I was a young lad, as most boys do. But it started becoming a bit more serious when I got into a local amateur team. That was when I was about 16 years old.
After that, I started getting noticed by the semi-pro teams in the Cambridgeshire area, and got a chance to play for one of them when I was 18. That’s when I started getting paid for playing, which was nice! But it really wasn’t anything like David Beckham might earn!
Describe your average day at the footie club.
For our club there is no average day, because in Hong Kong most of the local teams don’t have a permanent home. So we often have to meet up for friendly matches. Also, most of us train ourselves. Some teams in our division, such as the Hong Kong Football Club and Lucky Mile, have better facilities and also have their own training grounds.
I would love to see the day when we can call a ground our home. I think it would give us a lot more purpose.
So what’s your training routine like?
I like to train three times a week. As I said before, our team doesn’t really have a place to train, so we have to keep ourselves fit! Some of the players will go and train with the First Division teams, but for me that’s a bit far away. So I just keep myself fit by running three times a week and swimming once, and also going to the gym three times a week.
When I was in England, we used to train twice a week at our home stadium. We were able to do this because we had our own ground. Even though the standard of play was maybe not as good as here, we still had a home, and that’s important to a team.
Did you experience any language difficulties with your team-mates?
When I first got here, I didn’t go straight into playing football, as I originally came here for my wife, who was my girlfriend at the time. I started learning some Chinese from her first, so by the time I got into a team it wasn’t too hard to speak some of the language.
It was harder to think in Chinese in a split second, which is needed in football, but now I can say I’m much better and I am always shouting at my players in Chinese!
Tell us about any injuries you have suffered.
If I told you about all the damage I have done, we would be writing a book! I twisted my knee pretty badly while playing at Happy Valley, and that put me out of action for two months. I knew I had done something bad when I heard a click!
Just last week, I came close to breaking my foot in a tackle which was “fifty-fifty” – nobody’s fault – but as it was the last game of the season I continued to play, which was very stupid of me. But the only way you learn is by doing, so next time I know to go off and not play on.
I have broken my nose a few times, but that is mainly because I am 194cm high and most defenders like to put their elbows in my face to lever themselves up on me. The only way you can really avoid injuries, apart from doing enough warming up, is to never play!
What part of Hong Kong do you live in, and why?
I live in the New Territories, in a place called Yuen Long, and the main reason for this is that I live with my wife there.
Aha. So is it true what they say about footballers’ wives?
Well, I have to be careful with the answer I give here, because my wife is a school teacher, so if I say yes she will probably lose her job! She is a Hong Kong woman and these things are very different here. But – yes!
Give us your opinion of the current state of play for amateur soccer players.
I think there needs to be some improvement in this area, in order to develop the talent that is clearly here in the young kids – maybe more football tournaments arranged by schools in different districts. Let’s make it a big event, where the winners can get some really good prizes and maybe even a chance of a trial at some professional team in or outside Hong Kong. I really think we need to try harder in this respect.
But another point is that people here need to support their local teams and encourage their kids to go to training sessions. We all need to pull together. Who knows, someday we may see another Ronaldinho. The skill is there, it just needs watering like a plant, and it will grow.
How do you entertain yourself when you’re not on the pitch?
I do enjoy going to the gym, but that is also to keep fit for the next match. I like to play on my Playstation and Xbox, which I think every man in his mid-twenties should have! I love going to the beach in the summer and of course I like to go to bars and restaurants to meet friends and make new friends, and that’s very easy to do in Hong Kong.
Finally, please share some wisdom with new arrivals to Hong Kong.
For anyone who has never been abroad before, Hong Kong will be a big shock. But you have to come with an open mind and try not to judge people, because life here is 100 miles per hour – it never stops!
I would urge that if you are visiting, don’t get stuck in Lan Kwai Fong or Wan Chai. Go and see the real Hong Kong people and try to interact with them, because for the most part they are very friendly, although maybe in a different way to what you might know. Most of all, enjoy Hong Kong – there is nowhere else like it!
Jim plays for Ornaments, a team in the second division. You can check out upcoming fixtures for all local teams on the Hong Kong Football Association’s website at www.hkfa.com.
Pete Spurrier is a Hong Kong based writer and publisher.
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