The department is responsible for the administration of government funding for the promotion and development of sports in Hong Kong. Subventions are provided to NSAs and sports associations for organising sports events, training programmes and competitions. During 2005, the department provided subventions over $139 million (including $23 million of notional venue charges) to 8 532 sports programmes for over 653 800 participants.

NSAs were given subsidies under the scheme to organise 65 international events held locally to provide more opportunities for spectators and enthusiasts to watch sports events at international levels, and to stimulate their interest in sports. The events included the Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races, the 10^th Asian Cities Gold Cup Taekwondo Tournament, the 14^th Eastcolight Super Kung Sheung Cup Basketball Invitation Championship, 2005 3D-Gold FIVB World Grand Prix — Hong Kong, Tour of the South China Sea, the 2005 ITU Hong Kong International Triathon, the China National Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships and the Hong Kong versus Austria Men's Table-Tennis Challenge Match.

	Hong Kong versus Austria Men's Table-Tennis Challenge Match.

The NSAs also organised more than 560 local competitions for 332 300 participants. The competitions were designed to foster a sports culture among players and spectators. The major events with spectator appeal were the Adidas Streetball Challenge, the Nike Hong Kong Football Five, the 6^th Hong Kong Sports Climbing Championships, the Hong Kong National Water Ski and Wakeboard Championships, the Hong Kong Cup Archery Tournament, the Hong Kong Road Cycling Race Series, the Hong Kong National Junior Tennis Championships, the Hong Kong Youth Indoor Rowing Championships, Hong Kong Windsurfing Circuit and the Hong Kong Open (Table-Tennis) Championships. A series of inter-school sports competitions was also organised to provide competition opportunities for primary and secondary school students.

	Athletes hurdling in an inter-school sports competition.

Sports promotion schemes and training courses are important components of the subvented programmes. These sports development programmes in 2005 included regional squad training, school sports programmes and various training schemes such as the Hang Seng Table-Tennis Academy-New Generation Table-Tennis Training Course, the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Badminton (Award) Training Scheme, the McDonalds Youth Football Scheme, the Nike Hong Kong Youth (Boys and Girls) Basketball Training Scheme, the Youth Windsurfing Promotion Scheme, the Youth Wushu Training Course, the Youth Handball Training Scheme and the Junior FinSwimming Training Silver Medal Course.

	Children simultaneously striking blows in the Youth Wushu Training Course.