Interview with Jaimes McKee - Top Hong Kong International Striker
Christopher KL Lau
To represent your national team takes skill, discipline and an incredible work ethic; Hong Kong and Sun Pegasus' Jaimes McKee is a testament to all these core values. McKee, a mainstay of both the Hong Kong national team and Sun Pegasus, is a prime example of how sport can be the fairest meritocracy where talent can be recognized and acknowledged.
McKee was first noticed as a youngster and often caught the eye with his quick feet and huge haul of goals; it often takes something special to be the best amongst not only your peers but also older players whose respect is often not always forthcoming and sometime begrudging.
It is safe to say now that McKee has earned the admiration of his peers and is now instantly recognizable by those who follow the league closely with this speedy wing play and his goals tally. McKee seems to emulate the style of his childhood hero Michael Owen (in his prime) with his bursts of speed with the ball seemingly stuck to his feet.
McKee made great waves for HKFC and it was from here that his career began to slowly take off. All great journeys start from simple surroundings and it was while he was studying sports science and playing football at the University of Hong Kong that he was spotted and thus began an incredible whirlwind journey that has seen him play for Kitchee and Sun Pegasus.
McKee is also an incredibly humble person which is witness to his character especially in a sport where unflattering egos can dominate. His willingness to meet in a local branch of a MongKok Starbucks to have a chat and to have some photos taken on a random concrete pitch are testament to his incredibly down to earth nature. This friendly personality has made him popular with Hong Kong's legions of football fans who see him as someone they can all relate to, an everyman who simply loves to play the game.
McKee is proud and honored to play for Hong Kong and describes in the interview below, the nervous anticipation he endured when he earned his first cap against Malaysia. McKee is a a new breed of international player who may not have been born in Hong Kong but were raised here and privileged to call Hong Kong home as well as represent the city's football mad population.
McKee is a mainstay of Hong Kong football so expect him to be scoring goals long into the foreseeable future.
In an exclusive interview, McKee, shares his experiences and his views on the new Hong Kong Premier League and more
What are your personal aims for this season?
The first aim is to get fit again and get back playing (McKee has recovered and playing again) and we obviously we have a good squad of players this year so I want to make sure that I am playing as much as I can and break into the first eleven again. I have been injured and some players have done quite well to become established a little bit so I want to get back and show I can be starting and contribute to the team.
How did you become professional and when did you truly know when you made it?
Possibly a little bit tough to say as it seems a long time ago now but in my first season, I played with Hong Kong Football Club and in my first season there in the Hong Kong first division, I scored eight goals and that's when I realized I could score goals playing at the top level in Hong Kong and that definitely gave me a confidence boost.
At the time, teams were interested in me signing for them; Sun Hei were the first team to get in touch with me and then Kitchee. I ended up training with Kitchee and signing with them at the end of that year but I never really for Kitchee, I played on and off, I had some spells in the team and some spells out of the team and I don't think it was until I went back and started playing for Tin Shui Wai Pegasus after I took a year out to go to university that I started to be settled and started for the team and started scoring goals regularly - not sure how long ago that was. Playing for Tin Sui Wai was when I started really playing regularly.
Were you also at university?
Yeah (I was studying) at the University of Hong Kong. One year I played for Kitchee and the University and then took a year out in my third year, I played for HKFC as they made it to the first division again and then my coach at Hong Kong University was the coach at Tin Shui Wai Pegasus and he wanted me to come and play for them so that's how how I got involved with TSW Pegasus. I have been there for the last four years.
Sun Pegasus are off to a flying start this season. What does this all come down too?
It has been a really good start and from pre-season I don't think we have lost a match yet. The hardest thing this season is that we have so many new players and a new coach so I think team spirit is really important. The coach has managed to create a good team spirit and it is obviously difficult as you can't play all the players all the time. So he is obviously trying to keep all the players who aren't playing happy and I think he has been doing a good job with that. Just coming together as a team and the team spirit's been high and that's been a big factor in doing so well and obviously we have a lot of good players this year and we have some good players from last season and managed to keep hold of players who did well last season.
This is the inaugural Premier League in Hong Kong, how do you think this will help the professional development of the game in Hong Kong?
For starters, the most important thing is getting more fans to the game. Getting more spectators will have a trickle down effect, more spectators means more money, more investment in youth, more sponsorship, it has been good getting BOC Chinalife as sponsors and they increased the prize money which gives more teams incentive to do well and every team this year gets a portion of the prize money so every team can play hard right until the last game of the season to try and get the best place they can. What I think is really good is how each team to now be part of this premier league, they have to have a good youth system so that means better coaching and management for the youth players so hopefully grass roots level will improve and that will show into the first division and the players will get stronger and it would be good if the Hong Kong national team also put in some good performances so youngsters have something to aspire to. They see Hong Kong play against Argentina and they have something to aspire to in the future with the chance to play against teams like that.
The Hong Kong Premier League has nine teams in total. Do you think this lack of teams will make the league mundane?
I think more importantly is the quality of teams. I think even though there are fewer teams this year, we probably have four teams which have invested quite a bit of money to make sure they have strong squads and because the number of teams has been reduced, each team has got stronger as players from teams which disbanded have joined other teams so the nine teams squads should all be stronger so hopefully the games will be more competitive. Yeah, I think we are going to have some really big games against Eastern, South China and Kitchee and those games should all be exciting to watch. Maybe in the past, there have only been two real big teams challenging, Kitchee and South China and now it is nice there are four teams and so there should be more competitive games for people to come down and watch.
When you first put on the Hong Kong shirt, what types of feelings and emotions did you have?
I think there was a lot of nervous energy but also excitement. I remember being quite nervous in the lead up to the game, we were playing in Malaysia and I was obviously really proud to be representing Hong Kong and I was really happy to be picked and wanted to play well and put on a good performance and in that aspect I was really nervous. We played Malaysia and drew 1-1 and I was happy with the way I played and I think it went really well and it was a great experience and quite a few fans had come out to support Malaysia and Malaysia were a tough opposition especially as we were playing them away. It was really good.
How do you communicate with your teammates?
I try and learn Cantonese as much as I can. It has taken me a while to learn a few things but I try and learn all the time and so I will ask them questions all the time in Cantonese and it is a good way to start a conversation but everyone speaks good English in the Hong Kong team and they enjoy practicing English and so when I speak to them in Cantonese, they will reply to me in English.
What has been the best career performance and goal for you so far?
The one that comes to my mind is in my first season in the first division and for HKFC and we were playing South China at the time, we were big underdogs and South China had invested a lot of money that year and we ended up winning 3-2 which is great in itself. I scored two goals in that game and both were good goals and the second was really memorable. I got the ball in my own half, I turned one guy and beat another guy and ended up sprinting towards the goal and ended up toe poking it past the keeper and that was a great goal and experience. Actually I have scored quite a few good goals against South China; I scored a good one last year, it was volley, just inside the box and again playing for HKFC, I scored a left footer, the sweetest left foot shot I have ever hit; one bounce and I smashed it with my left foot. South China are quite a good team for me to play against.
Which player when you were younger did you model yourself on?
It would have to be Michael Owen just because he was so quick, He used his pace really well and was such a good finisher. I remember watching him and wanting to play that style of football and that's definitely who I modeled my game on. He would make some great runs just behind the defenders and he was so clinical with his finishing and he was really who I modeled my game on.
Thank you
Read more about Jaimes McKee and the Hong Kong national team.
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