For the past two years, r é n has been a big supporter and sponsor of professional squash player Alex Lau, who’s not only a local champion but also currently ranked 40 in the world, an incredible achievement for an athlete from Hong Kong. Though various tournaments take him abroad for most of the year, Alex nonetheless shares in our spirit of giving back to Hong Kong’s community, and so whenever he’s back in town, he not only gives talks about his sporting journey at various schools and institutions, but also makes time to give r é n’s supported youth squash lessons on court.

“Whenever I’m back in Hong Kong, I make sure to find time to teach r é n’s supported youths squash at least once a week, and it’s a very rewarding experience, hopefully not just for me but also for them,” Alex tells us. “Seeing them go from complete beginners to being able to play recreationally and finding the joy in squash or doing sports in general gives me great pride and drives me to continue helping more people. If I can inspire others, whether it’s to exercise more, push harder to fulfill their potential, or really believe in themselves and their abilities, then that’s the most rewarding thing to me.”

“The biggest lesson I want to teach others is how, as an athlete, we face our failures,” Alex adds. “When you’re studying, maybe you’ll have three or four exams a year, but as a squash player, I’m playing upwards of ten matches a month, every month. There are so many opportunities for us to fail. Nevertheless, we must keep going and find our confidence back for the next match. How we stand back up when we fall and how we find that belief in ourselves are the most important things for an athlete, and that’s what I hope I can teach the r é n’s community.”

On top of giving our youth squash lessons and inspiring them to strengthen themselves both physically and mentally, Alex has also worked with us over the past months to create his own brand and launch his own line of squash rackets, which debuted at our event at the Hong Kong Football Club yesterday.

“Jo and r é n have helped me build my own brand, and now we’ve launched my very first squash racket line,” Alex says. “We’d had the idea for a long time, and finally we managed to put something together. Because I’ve played for the Hong Kong Football Club in league matches for a while now, we decided it would be a great venue for the racket launch, which I was very excited about!”

The launch event took place at the squash courts at the Hong Kong Football Club on April 27, where guests had the chance to purchase Alex’s signature edition squash rackets. They’re also now available on r é n’s website, with part of the proceeds from all sales going towards supporting our initiatives in giving employment and other self-development opportunities to Hong Kong’s disadvantaged and underprivileged youth.