Women in Sports Leadership #2: Gessy Li — netball captain, organizer and umpire — on learning to be a captain[:zh]「女性體育領袖」系列二: 學習當起隊長 — 黎嘉詠 (Gessy Li) — 投球隊隊長、籌劃人和裁判

Last week, we launched our inaugural three-part “Women in Sports Leadership” interview series, where we share one weekly interview with women in sports leadership in Hong Kong, hearing their stories about being a leader in their respective sports. Our aspiration at WISE HK has always been to get more women involved in sports: not just to participate in, but also to organize, to coach and to lead. In these series we will learn about what it means to these women as they go about being generally bad-ass in their roles!

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Gessy started playing netball eight years ago when she entered secondary school and has never stopped since. She has been on the Hong Kong U21 Netball Team since 2015 and was also selected into the Hong Kong Netball Squad. Earlier this year, she captained the Hong Kong U21 Netball Team, who came second runner up in the Asian Youth Netball Championships held in JeonJu. It was the first time in over 20 years that Hong Kong was placed top three. In Hong Kong, she represents Hantang Netball Club in the premier division of the Hong Kong Netball League. She was also the vice-captain of the HKU team, who have been champions in the Joint-University Tournament for the past three years.

Other than being a player, Gessy dedicates her time to the development of Netball in Hong Kong. She was Chairperson of Netball Club, HKUSU, and is currently Secretary for Hantang Netball Club. She also coaches netball at her alma mater, and umpires netball games as well. Her love of sports has led her to try rowing and dodgeball in the past year, but was forced to quit the both due to her tight schedule. When there is time to sneak in a break, Gessy enjoys having some quiet time to herself, as well as spending time with family and friends.

You were the captain of the Youth Netball Team. Can you share a bit about what you did in this role?

I would consider myself the figurehead of the team, the one responsible to make speeches, oaths, do the coin toss for centre pass with our opponent (to see if we can have the first possession in the match). One thing I really love about this team is how everyone had a say, and we all had each other’s backs, so there wasn’t much left for me to do. Except that I have a pet peeve with collars, so I had to make sure that all my teammate’s collars were upright; also to safeguard our team’s image 😀

I tried to make use of this opportunity of being a captain to motivate my team: before, after and during each game. I also tried to reach out to each and every teammate, especially the younger ones, to understand and share with them my experiences as I know it can be quite intimidating to make their first debut. I was also the bridge between our coaches and the team, and was the messenger in between.

Did you have anything that you wanted to learn from being a captain? 

I didn’t have anything in particular that I wanted to learn from being a captain; I took the role with an open mind, and just wanted to embrace any opportunities that would come along.

Did you have any expectations before you were a captain?

I’ve heard in interviews of the Australian Netball Team — the Diamonds — about the capabilities of their team captain, and what they could do to motivate the team. So I hoped to make good use of this role given to me, and to try impact the team in any way I could.

Were you scared or nervous about being a captain? If so, how did you overcome it?

I wasn’t too scared about being a captain, rather I was more worried about how others would see me, and whether or not I would be able to meet their expectations. I was neither the oldest on the team  nor the most experienced, so initially I was worried that the team would be even more scattered because of me. To overcome this, I didn’t go in trying to take charge, but tried to listen and understand the players. Fortunately, everyone was really supportive of my role.

What do you think is different about being a captain versus being a player?

During matches, it was really different from being a player. I was more proactive in doing things because I knew that if I didn’t take the initiative, no one else would. I had to lead warm up, be switched on all the time, come up with short motivational pep talks for my team before games and during quarter breaks, and have a short debrief after games. I can still remember that there was so much going on in my mind during the first game we played. Usually as a player I would only have to worry about myself, my own body condition, and focus on the game … but as captain, my thoughts included my teammates. Is she switched on and focused? How is she feeling? Does she need a pat on her shoulder? I quickly learnt to balance between the team and myself so I won’t be distracted by my own thoughts.

Off the court, I would put down my “title” as captain, so I could just be everybody’s friend, and that was no different from being a player.

What do you most and least enjoy about being a captain?

I can’t think of anything that I didn’t enjoy about being captain. I really enjoyed my whole experience and journey. The thing I enjoyed most was the look in my teammates’ eyes during our huddles, where I saw passion, confidence, and determination.

What have you learned from being a team captain? What are your biggest takeaways?

Communication skills. For a team to be united, you really need to get to know each other, and talk to them. Understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and try to help each other out. Without talking about these things, you’ll just be playing on your own. Even after we talk amongst each other, we also had to let the coach know what we thought, and likewise, we needed to make sure that everyone is on the same page about what the coach wanted for the team. So communication is the key. More importantly, having that trust to be able to communicate honestly with each other made it more effective.

I was really honored to be given this role as team captain. At the same time, I didn’t want to be hung up on the title of “captain”, so to me it was just another role. I didn’t do incredible things to lead my team to victory. I was given this role, I tried my best, and tried to do things that I wouldn’t have done as a player, such as reaching out to my other teammates, to talk about more personal things, such as their troubles and worries. I saw this as an opportunity to help me grow, and it was a memorable lesson.

If other women were interested in being a captain, but are afraid of the commitment or just generally feel that it’s a lot of pressure, what words of advice do you offer to encourage them to try?

If you’re afraid of the commitment, I urge you not to be a captain. Playing sports is all about commitment, dedication of your time, your effort, and if you’re not sure if you can be committed, I have to say it’s a bit hard to take up the responsibility when you’re not even at the trainings, or at the games.

But if what is stopping you is your concern about all the various problems you may face as captain, don’t let that deter you. Just give it your all. There is no ‘best” captain in the world. Because every team needs a different captain. And every captain has their own style. If it’s your first time, that’s even better, because you won’t have the pressure to perform, and the pressure to do things the same way you did last time. But if you still think that there’s a lot of pressure, remember that you’re an athlete, and athletes are trained to deal with pressure.

Also remember this: you are not alone, there is always someone to talk to, even to your team. As captain, you do not need to have the solution to everything, you can be weak at certain times too, and its okay to let your team know that. So I say to you, if you want to be a captain, go for it.

「女性體育領袖」系列二: 學習當起隊長 — 黎嘉詠 (Gessy Li) — 投球隊隊長、籌劃人和裁判
一連三輯的「女性體育領袖」系列運動員專訪，繼上星期出版後，每星期都會與大家介紹一位香港女運動領袖，由她們分享自己的故事和在運動場上的領袖才能。WISE HK的抱負不單只是鼓勵更多的女性參與體育運動，還希望她們能參與運動策劃和教授等等的領導崗位。在這個系列中，我們可以知道在這些女孩眼中，一個普遍認為很難擔當的職位對她們來說又是什麼。

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Gessy 由初中開始接觸投球至今已8年，過程從未間斷。2015年，18歲的她已是香港二十一歲以下青年投球代表隊的成員，現在更於香港投球隊集訓。今年年中，她以隊長的身份帶領青年投球代表隊在韓國全洲的亞洲青年投球錦標賽中摘季，這是香港投球二十多年後再次擠身三甲。 而在本地賽事方面，Gessy為漢唐投球會出戰香港投球超級聯賽，她亦是大專投球三連霸的勁旅-香港大學投球隊的副隊長。

除了球員身份，Gessy亦非常致力於本地投球發展。她曾是香港大學投球學會的主席，現任漢唐投球會的常務秘書。此外，她不單只是一位教練，在母校執教校隊，還是一名裁判呢。Gessy熱愛運動，除了投球，她亦接觸過划艇和閃避球，可惜因為實在太忙碌，所以她沒有繼續發展這兩項運動。在空餘時，這位運動健兒反而享受靜靜地獨處和爭取時間來陪伴家人朋友。

你曾是香港青年投球代表隊的隊長，請你分享一下你如何擔當這個角色。

我當自己是球隊的「頭像」，用來負責為球隊發言、宣誓及與對手於賽前做擲幣決定開賽的控球權等要派代表做的事情，其餘的都沒有特別，因為這支隊伍有一個特點我很喜歡，就是每一個球員都十分主動去給予意見，然後大家和應，所以其實我都不太需要刻意地做些什麼，除了一件事— 我對衣領有一份執著，因此我經常要確保隊員衣領畢直，這對維持球隊形象相當重要。

我嘗試利用自己作為隊長的機會，在比賽前、賽事中和完賽後去鼓勵我的隊伍。我亦嘗試去了解每一位球員，由其是年紀較輕的妹妹，希望能透過分享我的經驗去幫助她們表現。因為畢竟她們都是初次踏上國際舞台，一定會比較緊張。我亦是教練和球員之間的溝通橋樑，負責傳遞雙方的指令或意見。

你希望透過隊長一職去學習到什麼?

我沒有一樣特定的東西希望透過做隊長能夠學習到，相反，我持一個開放態度去接受這個職責，只希望能把握途上每一個它帶給我的機會。

在你未被選為隊長前，你對「隊長」這個角色有什麼期望?

我聽過澳洲國家隊–鑽石投球隊關於「隊長應具備的特質」的訪問，內容講到如何能有效地鼓勵球隊。我希望可以善用大家賦予我的這個身份，嘗試用我的影響力去為球隊各方面作出貢獻。

你會否曾因為背上了「隊長」的名銜而感到緊張或害怕? 如果有，你怎樣克服這些感覺?

對於我而言，當上隊長我並不太緊張或害怕，反而我比較擔心別人怎樣看我和自己能否達到她們的期望。我不是球隊中最年長或最有經驗的球員，所以我初時擔心球隊會因為我而變得更疏散。至於怎樣解決這個問題，我盡量聆聽和理解球員，避免過份地掌管她們。幸運地，她們都很支持我。

你認為當隊長和當球員有什麼不同?

特別在比賽的時候，球員和隊長的身份尤其不同。身為隊長，我會表現得更主動，因為我知道，若果我不以身作則，隊員們很難自動自覺去做。我需要帶熱身、每刻保持狀態，還要預備簡短而富鼓勵性的講話於賽事前後激勵士氣。我還記得在亞錦賽的首場比賽裡我未太習慣隊長的思考模式，思緒有點混亂。因為當我只是一個普通球員時，我無需有太多顧慮，我只需管理好自己，包括我的身體狀態和專注比賽等就可以。可是，作為隊長，我需要為我的隊員去想，究竟她在不在狀態呢? 她的感覺如何? 她需要我拍拍肩膀作鼓勵嗎? 但我也很快地學會了如何去平衡自己和隊員的需要，好讓我不被自己的情緒影響到。

在球場外，兩者便沒有分別了，因為我會放低隊長的身份，和原來一樣跟大家是朋友，融在一起。

試分享你當隊長時最喜歡和最不喜歡的事。

我想不到有什麼事情我是不喜歡的。我真的很享受整個當隊長的旅程和體驗。至於最喜歡的事，我最愛看見隊友們圍在一起喊口號時，眼睛裡燃燒著的每一道熱血、自信，而且堅定不移的眼神。

在當隊長這個經歷裡，你學會了什麼? 當中最大的得著是什麼?

學會了人際溝通技巧。 要令一支隊伍團結，你真的要透過傾談，加深大家的了解、清楚各人的長短處及嘗試幫助別人，否則，你只會猶如在玩個人運動。除了隊員之間互相了解和討論後，我們都需要讓教練知道我們在想什麼，這樣能確保團隊裡的每一個人，都清楚教練的要求，向同一個目標進發。因此，溝通就是那條鑰匙。更重要的是，我們要彼此互信，坦承相對，這樣的溝通會更加有效。

對於被選為隊長，我深感榮幸，但我從不把它當作一個身份，對我來說，這只不過是我在團隊中扮演的角色。我沒有過做過任何壯舉令球隊勝出比賽，既然大家讓我擔當這一角，我就盡力去把它做好。我嘗試去做一些普通球員不會做的事情，例如深入的了解我的隊友、處理她們遇到的問題、聆聽內心的擔憂等。我視這些為一個學習機會，幫助我成長。

如果有女孩子想當隊長，但擔心很大壓力和要承擔很大責任，你會怎樣鼓勵她去嘗試?

如果你擔心你不能承擔或奉獻，我勸你不要做隊長。玩運動的人本來就要有擔當和犧精神，因為你需要付出時間和努力去換取成果。倘若你不肯定你能否獻出以上的東西，例如來不了訓練又打不到比賽，老實說，耍你肩起隊長這個重任，實在有點難度。

但是，如果遏止你嘗試的意慾是隊長身份帶來的一籮問題和擔憂，就不要讓它們影響你，你只要盡你所能就可以了。世界上並沒有「最好」的隊長，因為不同的隊伍需要的領袖都不同，而每位領袖都有自己的性格和領導方式。若果你是首次當隊長，那就更好了，因為你沒有上一次的表現可參考和比較, 所以壓力理應較小。但如果你依然覺得壓力很大，要記住，你是一個運動員，運動訓練就是讓你學習對抗壓力，你應該訓練有素。

最後，你必需緊記，你不是孤單一個，有困難時你可以找別人，甚至是你的隊友傾訴 。作為隊長，你無需獨當一面，獨自解決所有問題。你也可以有軟弱的時候，而且讓隊友知道這個狀況也無傷大雅。因此，我膽敢告訴你，如果你想當隊長，去吧!