Celebrating Success: Coleman Fung’s Visit to the 721M City Hawks
On June 3rd, Blue Goji’s CEO, Coleman Fung, made a memorable visit to the City Hawks, a school dedicated to students with intellectual disabilities, to celebrate their incredible achievement in the 2024 Goji Games. The City Hawks, under the guidance of their fitness director Joe Stewart, participated in the first-ever Goji Games and emerged victorious, earning $42,500 for their school. The celebration included heartfelt speeches from both Joe, Coleman and the principal, highlighting the dedication and enthusiasm of the students.
Joe’s initiative to involve the City Hawks in the Goji Games has proven to be a game-changer. Cardiogaming has provided a unique platform for students interested in video games to become physically active, as the games require players to pedal to progress. This innovative approach has not only improved their physical health but also fostered a sense of teamwork and achievement.
Coleman Fung’s visit was a day of joy and pride for the students. As Kenai, one of the athletes, expressed, “It was a first experience for me trying out those bikes, and let me tell you, it was a killer workout made competition.” Kenai’s father was able to bring him to the school to compete for the Goji Games and got to proudly spectate as his son competed with his team. Another student, who also loves playing Capture the Flag in the Go Battle game, said, “I feel happy and proud of my friends.” The event underscored the powerful impact of combining gaming with physical activity, and it serves as an inspiration for other educational institutions to participate in the Goji Games 2025.
Q&A with the City Hawks Teachers:
Q: How was your Goji Games experience?
Mr. M: It was just a fun experience. We had balloons up (we still do) and there was a great energy when I walked into the room the morning of the Goji Games amongst the staff and students. It was a fun, fun experience for all of us.
What’s it like watching the students cardiogame?
Mr. M: We're watching them beat their high scores and they're sweating and getting competitive with us. You know, we were looking at the scores and I'm like, wow, that's better than Mr. ____.
Q: What did you think of the workout experience on these bikes?
Mr. M. It was intense. I can tell you, me and Mr. Stewart did a crash course for about a month with Kreature Krunch, and I wish we had another month because we, we, we were getting better every day.
Go Bikes is hard. It's like, you can do it for three to five minutes…I saw the tutorials. I saw how much fun everyone was having. And when I got off the machine, I'm like, that was intense. You have a euphoric feeling when you get off the bikes.
Q: What would you tell other schools considering participating in the Goji Games 2025?
Mr. M: Well, I mean, I'll tell you now I put I have a lot of teacher friends and I told them to come watch and I guarantee they're going to be interested for next year. But, you know, you got to beat us. Come on. It's a competition, obviously. See your students in a different kind of competition.
You would be proud, honestly, to see these guys just working together as a team or just getting on the bikes. It's exciting, you know, I mean, for a day of excitement and I don't think New York city does enough of days like we had, you would want to be part of that.
Q: What did you think of the Goji Games overall?
Joe S.: I think it is a game changer for us and our students. We have such a big esports group at the school these days and now with the exercise bikes we can pair that with the phys ed program to get kids active. And seeing the staff get involved and so many more staff members have asked me since, “I know you asked us, but we didn't know what it was, but now that we saw it on YouTube, can I play next time?” One of our teachers rides over the Manhattan bridge every single day to get to work, he's said to me, “wait, I'm built for that”.
