200px, SCAA Sports Complex (back) South China Athletic Association overwiew

South China AA Sports Complex (), also known as SCAA Sports Complex, or the Sports Complex, the High Block () is a multi-use building in Hong Kong. It consists of

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

s, golf driving range, billiards halls, indoor shooting ranges, fencing halls,

table tennis table Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

s, squash courts, and gymnasiums. It is owned by the

South China Athletic Association South China Athletic Association (known simply as South China, SCAA, ) is a Hong Kong professional football club that competes in the Hong Kong First Division, the second-tier league in Hong Kong football league system. The club is historica ...

South China AA Stadium The South China AA-Jockey Club Stadium (), also known as the Caroline Hill Stadium (), is a multi-use stadium in Hong Kong. It is currently owned by the South China Athletic Association. The stadium was originally designed to accommodate up to ...

and South China AA Sports Centre (the Low Block) are next to the building.

History

The complex broke ground in the 1980s. Structure underground was completed in 1983. The superstructure was completed in 1987 and opened in the next year.

Events

On top of the events of the South China Athletic Association (SCAA), the Complex also held other competitions, such as a table tennis invitational tournament that co-held by

The Wharf (Holdings) The Wharf (Holdings) Limited (), or Wharf (九倉) in short, is a company founded in 1886 in Hong Kong. As its name suggests, the company's original business was in running wharfage and dockside warehousing, and it was originally known as Th ...

, Po Leung Kuk, Elegant Watch & Jewellery and the South China AA. Another table tennis tournament by the

Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong The Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong (CMA; ) is a not-for-profit chamber of commerce established on 1 September 1934 and one of the most representative industrial associations in Hong Kong. With over 3,000 member companies from var ...

, also used the facility of the Sports Complex. The shooting event of

2009 East Asian Games ) , Host city = Hong Kong , Teams participating = 9 , Athletes participating = 2,377 , Events = 262 events in 22 sports , Opening ceremony = December 5, 2009 , Closing ceremony = December 13, 2009 , Officially opened by = State Councilor L ...

was held in the 7/F of the Complex, after the government failed to build its own facility in time.

Controversies

The sports complex is built on

Crown Land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

(since 1997 known as Government Land in the law) with special land lease, which limited its purpose. However, '' Apple Daily'' accused that the athletic association violate the land lease by allowing non-members to use its canteen by joining its special-class of "eat-only" membership for HK$20 per month. A sport bar on the 2/F of the Complex, also subsidized their customers with HK$150 voucher, as a compensation for the full annual membership fee of the SCAA, HK$120.

Location

The complex is located on Caroline Hill Road, Causeway Bay, very near the Hong Kong Stadium.

References

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