A year ago, Sally Tang had a memory of a lifetime at a World Lacrosse championship. She was in San Diego watching her boyfriend, Wilson Wong, compete for Hong Kong, China in the men’s world championship when he surprised her by dropping to a knee and proposing to her.
Now, she’s looking to make another special memory as she competes with Hong Kong, China at the World Lacrosse Box Championships.
Wong recalls the first time they met in 2016 at a Hong Kong Lacrosse open practice.
“At that time, I didn’t know who she was,” Wong said. “The two teams were mixed so we were playing against one another. Two times at that practice I hit her down, so I guess we had some kind of destiny.”
The pair rekindled a year later at the 2017 Hong Kong Lacrosse Open.
“He was a goalie, and I was watching him play thinking ‘oh wow he plays really well,’” Tang recalled. “After the event I was the one who messaged him on Instagram. We talked there and then we met for real, and the rest is history.”
At the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in San Diego, Wong thought it would be the perfect place to propose to add lacrosse into their proposal.
“I was just going to go to somewhere beautiful in San Diego, but some of my teammates were like ‘no, her idol, Lyle Thompson, is here, why don’t we just ask him to help out,’” Wang said.
A coach on team Hong Kong had a connection to a member of the Haudenosaunee team and reached out asking for a favor. Wang didn’t know how to pull it off, but he knew the best-case scenario would be if Hong Kong played Haudenosaunee in a placement game, and that is exactly what happened.
“The team knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play against the Haudenosaunee, so they wanted to make that the moment,” said Tang.
After the match, Wong brought Tang onto the field to take photos with Thompson. As Tang and Thompson were taking a picture together, Wong was down on one knee behind her waiting for her to turn around.
“I had no idea it was going to happen,” Tang shared. “I’m a big fan of Lyle Thompson, and all I thought about was meeting Lyle Thompson and taking pictures with him. I was distracted and then I turned around and Wilson was behind me.”
A year later, Wong is now getting the opportunity to watch Tang play.
“I watched him play box at the 2019 world championship, and now it’s reversed and so amazing,” Tang shared.
Tang is the first-ever captain of the Hong Kong women’s national box team.
“It’s my first time being a captain in a world championship,” said Tang. “I have to think about the team, not just myself. It’s a lot to think about, but it’s a good step up for myself as a person and a player.”
Beyond the playing on the field, it’s a special, and unexpected, opportunity to experience this world championship in Utica.
“Seeing all the teams, especially playing alongside the men in this event, is a dream come true,” Tang said. “We [women’s team] never really thought about playing box in a world championship, so it’s amazing.”
As for the future of the two, they plan to get married in 2026. Tang is far from stopping playing lacrosse, whereas Wong has retired and turned to coaching.
“I think we will be part of the Hong Kong lacrosse community forever,” Wong shared. “We hope to grow the game in Hong Kong and who knows, maybe one day our kids will play for Hong Kong at a world championship.”
