AS Watson Group recognizes sporting talent by introducing NFT certificates

The AS Watson Group Hong Kong Student Sports Awards (HKSSA) has created an NFT certificate for each student athlete, to encourage young people to pursue their dreams. To customize the NFT STARCERT certificates, professional photographers were arranged to take photos for each award winner, so that they can have the opportunity to showcase their sporting talent and turn the photo into an NFT STARCERT certificate.

With the theme of “YOU ARE STAR”, HKSSA believes that every student athlete is amazing, shines brightly in both Hong Kong and international sports arenas and passes on HKSSA’s YES I CAN spirit to the next generation. Not only did the project give the award winners an unforgettable shooting experience, the NFT STARCERT certificate is also permanently stored so that the students can remember the wonderful moments when they won the award. In addition, HKSSA has also selected some outstanding students and invited local artists to draw and design special edition NFT STARCERT certificates for them, recognizing their efforts while supporting local artists.

HKSSA has also invited local sports stars to participate in the program, encouraging students to continue to pursue their dreams. Daniel Chan, Tokyo Paralympic bronze medalist in wheelchair badminton supported table tennis student-athlete Cheng Chung’s special edition certificate, “HKSSA encouraged the students YOU ARE STAR and to unleash their full potential, which I strongly support. That is why I participated immediately when I was told about the NFT initiative. It can recognize and encourage student athletes, especially students with disabilities to overcome obstacles and shine as a sports star,” Chan said.

The HKSSA is the sports award to recognize athletes from all primary, secondary and special schools across Hong Kong. Each school can praise one elite sports talent each year. By rewarding these students for their outstanding achievements, HKSSA is dedicated to promoting sports in schools and nurturing the next generation of sports stars.

HKSSA has received overwhelming support from local schools over the past 17 years. This year approximately 80% of schools are participating in the program representing a total of 850 student awards, bringing the total number of student awards to over 14,000 since launch. HKSSA organizes different activities every year to encourage the awardees to dream big and pursue their dreams.

Malina Ngai, JP, Managing Director of AS Watson (Asia and Europe) and Honorary Advisor from the HKSSA said: “Due to the pandemic, inter-school competitions have been suspended for almost three years and student athletes have lost the opportunity to participate in training and competition, making it difficult for them to pursue their dreams. To encourage all student athletes to persevere in their dreams in the midst of adversity, this year we have decided to commend our awardees in a unique way, encouraging them to stay positive, keep practicing, equip themselves and prepare for the resumption of inter- school competitions.”

Ngai continues, “HKSSA is dedicated to promoting sports culture and sports development in Hong Kong. 100% of the creation revenue from NFT STARCERT will be donated to the Elite Athlete Charitable Trust and the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee to support local athletes. We hope to create a decentralized mutual aid group and let the public recognize the student athletes and support local sports development in the form of NFT. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to give more support and recognition than ever to the student athletes and let them know that their efforts would not be in vain. We hope they will continue to work hard and gear up for the next interscholastic competition. All the hard work will pay off.”

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