In our tenth anniversary year we are interviewing some of the key people who helped launch and grow Hong Kong Scottish. We will be hearing about how the Club first started up and has evolved over the past 10 years – with some interesting stories along the way! This week we are chatting to the head of the netball section, Kate Wood and founder Philie Waldron.
1. Tell us about your role within Hong Kong Scottish!
Kate: I’m the Head of Netball here at Hong Kong Scottish, a role I took over from Philie and Lauren 5 years ago. Aside from convening our netball section I’ve also been helping Sarah establish our mental health and wellness initiatives, partnering with Mind HK and City Mental Health Alliance, driving our status as the first rugby club with a formal mental health programme in Hong Kong.
2. Can you tell us a bit about yourself outside the club?
Kate: I work at HSBC in Wealth and Personal Banking where I also run our mental health employee resource programme. Aside from my job in finance I have recently certified as a personal trainer and am studying pre and post-natal coaching and nutrition. I have a puppy Beau, who is the (unofficial) club mascot!
3. When did the idea of introducing a Netball section to HKS come about?
Philie: The idea came about in 2012; I was sharing an office with Dave Whiteford who at the time managed the Rugby Club. I initiated the idea with Dave to start a social/friendly netball team for Hong Kong Scottish, we thought we could recruit enough friends to have a weekly get together, play netball and keep fit! We didn’t envision that it would grow so quickly and become the successful club section that it is today.
4. Was anyone else involved with the idea?
Philie: Yes! Lauren Macleod, my colleague at the time was involved from the beginning in recruiting players and helping me organise the initial set up. Lauren Zervos was quickly appointed social sec, helping obtain our sponsorship and organising the all-important tours and social events.
5. How did you take the first steps towards making it a reality?
Philie: We held our first training session in August 2012. We rented the courts at Wong Chuk Hang; I bought 6 netballs and a set of bibs that morning and hoped at least 7 people would turn up! We had 16 players in total, enough for a friendly match and few drills. We quickly realised that we needed a coach and I was introduced to Emma Gregory by the HKNA. Emma really was a turning point for HKS in becoming a competitive club and she had us ready with 2 teams to enter into the HKNA league that October. Within 2 months of initiating the idea, we had recruited 30 players, enrolled 2 teams, and had a full HKS kit organised! From there the club grew organically through friends of friends and word of mouth.
6. How many netball teams were initially set up in comparison to the twelve teams we have now?
Kate: Initially we had two teams, HKS Highlanders and HKS Thistles. Year on year this increased with our highest number of senior teams in the 2018 – 2019 season (7 senior teams) and our highest number of total teams in the 2019-2020 season (6 senior and 6 junior teams – 12 in total) making us the second largest netball section in Hong Kong.
7. Other than numbers, how have you seen the netball section progress in the past few years?
Kate: Aside from numbers, seeing our fantastic coach Emma Gregory establish our juniors section has been a huge achievement. Seeing our juniors compete in international competitions and graduate to our seniors section is brilliant and establishes HKS as a true grassroots club.
8. How do you see the netball section progressing in the future?
Kate: In the future we’d love to partner with more charities. In the last year not only have we raised money for Mind HK through our wellness initiatives, but we have also raised HKD10k for the Laureus COVID response fund. Working with charities and giving back to the local sport community is so important for us at Scottish.
9. What has been your absolute favourite HKS event hosted in the past ten years and why?
Kate: Unfortunately due to oath I can’t share but our Bangkok netball tours are legendary. This year we’re having to scale down due to travel restrictions, and we’re going on tour to Kowloon – stay tuned for more details!
10. The netball teams are legendary for their costumes at the Christmas parties – what has been your most spectacular Christmas costume to date
Kate: It’s really hard to pick my favourite…. Will have to let you decide!
