Public gets hands-on with drone football at West Kowloon Station

The Hong Kong Drone Sports Association hosted an interactive drone football experience event at the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station on Monday, introducing the public to this emerging sport recently included as a mass participation event in the National Games.

Two teams demonstrated the game by operating drone footballs in a friendly match, attracting the attention of passengers and passersby.

Association chairman, Andy Chau Wai-kit, said this inaugural event aimed to raise public awareness of the sport.

He noted that drone sports have gained significant popularity in mainland China, which has hosted several large-scale competitions. Chow expressed his hope that Hong Kong would keep pace with the mainland's development in this innovative sporting field.

Drone football is played within an inflatable cage. The drones are enclosed in spherical protective shells, resembling footballs, and are controlled by operators stationed on opposite sides of the arena.

Matches are played in a best-of-three format, with each round lasting three minutes. Each team fields three drone footballs, and the side that scores by flying their drones into the opponent's goal the most times wins.

A player with the Eastern District team, surnamed Lau, described drone football as an emerging electronic sport that enhances hand-eye coordination and teamwork.

Although training can be demanding, Lau expressed great enjoyment and a strong sense of achievement from participating in competitions.

Looking ahead, Chau revealed plans to organize similar public experience events at shopping malls, the airport, and other public venues to further promote drone football in the city.

Marco Lam (marco.lam@singtaonewscorp.com)