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The Hong Kong Sports Institute () is a
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
institute located in
Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The ne ...
,
New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...
,
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. It is mandated to provide training to athletes, and also offers academic qualification in the field of sports training. The institute sponsors elite athletes and trains them as full-time employees, based on their talent and potential. The campus is located on reclaimed land on the bank of the
Shing Mun River The Shing Mun River or Shing Mun River Channel is a Rivers of Hong Kong, river in Sha Tin, Hong Kong. History The original Shing Mun River began at Needle Hill, and flowed into the former Tide Cove (Sha Tin Hoi), a shallow bay. In the 1970s, ...
, next to the
Sha Tin Racecourse Sha Tin Racecourse is one of the two racecourses for horse racing in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin District, Sha Tin in the New Territories. It is managed by Hong Kong Jockey Club. Penfold Park is encircled by the track, and the Hon ...
.


History

The institute, then called the Jubilee Sports Centre (JSC), was envisioned to provide "top class coaching and training for promising and outstanding" athletes, with an emphasis on training young people and in providing a great variety of activities and programmes. The Jubilee Sports Centre Ordinance was enacted in 1977. Sir Alberto Rodrigues, chairman of the JSC Board, stated in 1977, "we do not see any sports excluded" and explained that the aim was to improve sports standards in the territory and that the centre would seek out skilled athletes to provide them further training. A 41-acre site beside the new
Sha Tin Racecourse Sha Tin Racecourse is one of the two racecourses for horse racing in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin District, Sha Tin in the New Territories. It is managed by Hong Kong Jockey Club. Penfold Park is encircled by the track, and the Hon ...
was chosen and construction was financed jointly by the
Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, having been founded in 1884. In 1959, it was granted a Royal Charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (). The institution reverted to its original name ...
and the government, with additional support from the Queen's Silver Jubilee Fund. The thus-named Jubilee Sports Centre was opened by
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick; born 9 October 1935) is a member of the British royal family. Queen Elizabeth II and Edward were first cousins through their fathers, King George VI, and Prince George, Duk ...
on 31 October 1982. It was originally managed by the Jockey Club. By 1986, the Jockey Club sought to make the Jubilee Sports Centre and Ocean Park independent entities, reportedly on the advice of the government to focus on racing activities following doping and fixing scandals and on the club's own policy to "leave the management responsibilities to an independent body once the club-financed projects can stand firm on their feet". At the time, Ocean Park was making a profit of around $1 million per year, while the JSC was operating on a deficit. These operating costs were covered by the Jockey Club, Hong Kong's largest charity. Financial control was transferred from the Jockey Club to the JSC board of directors, and the club paid the centre a $350 million grant designed to cover operating expenses up to 2007. By 1991, it was reported that the centre was on track to exhaust these funds "well before" 2007. In 1989, the Executive Council recommended the establishment of the Hong Kong Sports Development Board to bolster athletic training in the territory, and "envisaged that, in support of such objectives, the Jubilee Sports Centre should be developed into a Hong Kong Sports Institute". Secretary for Home Affairs
Peter Tsao Peter Tsao Kwang-yung, CBE (1989) ( Chinese: 曹廣榮; born 7 October 1933, Shanghai – died 5 June 2005, Thailand) was a career civil servant of Hong Kong. Tsao was Secretary for Administrative Services and Information (行政司) and Secret ...
moved a name change bill in the Legislative Council in February 1991 to "reflect more accurately its role in promoting sport". The centre was renamed "Hong Kong Sports Institute" later that year. The institute was the site of equestrian events of the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
. In order to make way for the Olympic Games, the sports institute temporarily relocated to the YMCA Wu Kai Sha Youth Village in January 2007 and the
Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, having been founded in 1884. In 1959, it was granted a Royal Charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (). The institution reverted to its original name ...
took over the site to prepare it for competition.


Recent expansion

In the 2006-2007 edition of the
policy address Policy Address () is the annual address by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (Governor prior to the handover). The practice of giving annual policy address is mandated under Article 64 of the Basic Law, requiring the government to "present regul ...
, the
Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
announced a major redevelopment of the HKSI "to provide world-class training facilities to elite athletes in Hong Kong". The government allocated $1.8 billion for this redevelopment in 2008. Many new facilities have been constructed in the years since, and existing venues were refurbished. The outdoor velodrome beside the
Fo Tan Nullah The Fo Tan Nullah () is one of the nullahs of the Shing Mun River in Fo Tan, Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR) ...
was dismantled. In its place a nine-storey Main Building was erected to house offices, hostels for local and visiting athletes, a canteen, conference and lecture rooms, a 400-seat auditorium, and related ancillary facilities. The Main Building opened in 2013. To replace the cycle track, a temporary velodrome was built at Whitehead,
Wu Kai Sha Wu Kai Sha (), formerly known as Wu Kwai Sha or U Kwai Sha (), is a place at the shore of Tolo Harbour, northwest of Ma On Shan in the New Territories, Hong Kong. Wu Kai Sha is within the Sha Tin District, one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. ...
, to serve athletes until the indoor
Hong Kong Velodrome Hong Kong Velodrome is a velodrome in Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong. It has a 250-metre cycling track and spectator facilities for 3,000 people. It opened on 30 December 2013 next to the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground. History The Hong Kong governmen ...
opened in
Tseung Kwan O New Town Tseung Kwan O New Town is one of the nine New towns of Hong Kong, new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on Land reclamation in Hong Kong, reclaimed land in the northern half of Junk Bay (known as Tseung Kwan O in Chinese language, Chinese/Canto ...
in 2014. The existing 25-metre swimming pool was joined by a new
Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...
, with the two venues integrated into a single indoor complex. At the north end of the campus a new multi-purpose sports centre was built, housing a new tenpin bowling alley, squash courts, and a
martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
training centre. The architect for the redevelopment of the HKSI was P&T Architects and Engineers.


Facilities


Funding

The HKSI has an annual budget of HK$700 million from the Hong Kong government. It is funded by the Elite Athletes Development Fund, established in 2012 with HK$7 billion in taxpayer funds, and given another HK$6 billion in 2019. In August 2021, the government announced that it would apply for HK$990 million in funds to speed up construction of a new facility at HKSI. The government also announced that it would spend HK$150 million as a "booster fund" for HKSI's sports science and medical support.


Sports

It supports 20 tier A sports, not all of which are Olympic sports, such as squash, wushu, and tenpin bowling. It supports 13 other sports as tier B, most of which are not Olympic sports. However, some Olympic sports with National Sports Associations recognized by the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, such as
Olympic weightlifting Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...
, are not supported in either tier A or tier B. The vast majority of funding goes to tier A sports.


Elite sports selection

HKSI has been criticized for its selection of its 20 tier A and 13 tier B sports. Pui Kwan-kay, the head of Hong Kong's Olympic delegation, has said that the HKSI's elite system places emphasis and funding on sports which have already won medals or have gotten good results, creating a cycle which keeps those sports growing, but keeps other lower-profile sports, which have potential, from growing. For example, out of 60 recognized National Sports Associations, only 20 of them have been selected as tier A elite sports. Yeung Tak-keung, Sports Commissioner of Hong Kong, said that the government may conduct a review to determine whether the criteria for tier A sports needed to be changed, but it would first need to collect opinions from stakeholders. Chung Pak-kwong, professor at Baptist University and former chief executive of HKSI, has said that though
Hong Kong at the 2020 Summer Olympics Hong Kong competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, marking the territory's seventeenth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut as a British colony in 1952. More medals were won at the 2020 Summer Olympics by athletes repres ...
won 6 medals, it took longer than expected to get those medals, as Hong Kong had invested 40 years and billions of HKD, mostly into developing tier A sports. For example, Chung said that with the money spent,
Hong Kong at the 2016 Summer Olympics Hong Kong competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the territory's sixteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics, since its debut as a British colony in 1952. The Sports Federation and Oly ...
should have won medals; instead, 0 medals were won. Chung also that the 20 tier A sports needed to be reviewed, and that some of the current tier A sports "may not even be able to achieve any breakthrough in the coming years", giving a reason to reclassify them to non-elite sports. A senior sports official also commented and told ''
SCMP The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...
'' that Hong Kong should adopt a more "medal-oriented strategy" and that HKSI should focus on funding sports which Asians have excelled at, stating "If we look at the sports won by our Asian counterparts in the Tokyo Games - such as
shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...
,
archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...
or those with a weight category such as
judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
,
weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...
,
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
or
taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
- these are sports in which Asians are not at a disadvantage to stronger, bigger Westerners. However, it is very difficult for athletes from these sports to get Tier-A support from the sports institute." Athletes and coaches who talked to ''SCMP'' also expressed hope that there would be changes in the elite sports system. One example is that tier A athletes can get up to HK$41,030 in funding each month, while tier B athletes receive less funding and support, a gap "too big" which could hamper the winning of medals in less-popular sports. Funding is also linked to performance at competitions, which gives younger athletes who are still developing their skills a disadvantage, as it creates a cycle where the more senior and best athletes are given funding. Chris Perry, head rowing coach at HKSI, said that youth needed to be funded, or else it would be too late to develop them into medal-winning athletes. A separate ''SCMP'' editorial agreed and said that youth in non tier A sports are at a disadvantage. After the multiple public requests to change elite sports selection, the chairman of HKSI, Lam Tai-fai, said that he was hesitant to add more sports, claiming that in doing so, "the overall quality would slip" for elite sports. Tony Choi Yuk-kwan, deputy executive director of the HKSI, said that "The Asian Games are our main target and the Olympic Games are our ultimate goal", however of the 20 top tier A sports, 5 of them, or 25%, are not Olympic sports.


Transportation

The institute is linked to
Fo Tan station Fo Tan () is a station on the of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. It is located in the Fo Tan area of Sha Tin District, between and stations on the East Rail line's main branch. The is located parallel to Fo Tan, on the ...
on the
East Rail line The East Rail line () is one of ten lines of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. It used to be one of the three lines of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR) network. It was known as the KCR British Section () from 1910 to 1996, ...
via a footbridge spanning the
Tai Po Road Tai Po Road is the second longest road in Hong Kong (after Castle Peak Road). It spans from Sham Shui Po in Kowloon to Tai Po in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Initially, the road was named Frontier Road. Location The road begins at Nathan ...
. It is also accessible via the extensive cycle track network serving Sha Tin.


Notable people

* Ma Kwok Po, Techno team coach


References


External links

* {{coord, 22, 23, 41.88, N, 114, 12, 07.44, E, type:landmark, display=title Sports universities and colleges in China Venues of the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic equestrian venues Sports venues in Hong Kong Swimming venues in Hong Kong