Recreational and Sports Programmes
The LCSD organises a wide range of recreational and sports activities for different target groups in line with its mission to promote Sport for All and to encourage people of different age groups and abilities to lead active and healthy lives. These activities organised in the community include district-based sports training courses, competitions, and recreational activities.
In 2017-18, we organised around 38 400 recreational and sports activities for about 2 727 000 participants of all ages and abilities, at a total cost of around $187 million. Major events and territory-wide events included the Hong Kong Games, Sport For All Day, and the Healthy Exercise for All Campaign.
Healthy Exercise for All Campaign
The Healthy Exercise for All Campaign is run annually in conjunction with the Department of Health. The campaign includes community activities such as fitness programmes for children, persons with disabilities and the elderly, QualiWalk, Hiking Scheme, Dance for Health and Rope Skipping for Fun activities, held across 18 districts in Hong Kong. This year, about 90 000 participants took part in over 1 400 various activities.
Under the campaign, a free exhibition panel loan service is made available to local organisations to help promote events and encourage different sectors of the community to embrace a sporting culture and a healthy lifestyle.
In addition, we disseminate information on health education and physical exercise in the form of DVDs, leaflets and booklets, and online at www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/healthy.
Sport For All Day 2017
Sport For All Day (SFAD) 2017 was held on August 6, under the theme ‘Dance’, and with the catchy slogan ‘Stay Active, Let’s Dance’. The event aimed to encourage good habits of regular exercise, and to contribute to community celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
On SFAD 2017, most of the LCSD’s leisure and sports facilities were open for free use by members of the public, with over 198 000 people taking advantage of this. Many free programmes were also organised at designated sports centres in 18 districts, attracting more than 36 000 people.
School Sports Programme
The School Sports Programme (SSP) is organised by various National Sports Associations (NSAs), and coordinated and subvented by the LCSD in collaboration with the Education Bureau (EDB). This programme has a number of related aims, which include increasing opportunities for students to participate in sport regularly, raising sporting standards among students, identifying talented young sportsmen and women for further training, and more generally fostering a sporting culture in schools.
The SSP includes seven subsidiary programmes and schemes: the Sport Education Programme, the Easy Sport Programme, the Outreach Coaching Programme, the Sport Captain Programme, the Joint Schools Sports Training Programme, the Badges Award Scheme, and the Sports Award Scheme. In 2017-18, 44 NSAs organised 8 400 sports activities under the SSP which drew participation from around 629 000 school students.
Running since 2012-13, the School Sports Programme Coordinator Pilot Scheme is jointly organised with the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) and co-organised by the EDB and the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI). A total of 23 retired athletes are at present serving 23 schools under this scheme.
The current three-year scheme, which ends on August 31, 2018, has achieved its intended outcomes of promoting a sporting culture on school campuses and providing a platform for retired athletes to develop new careers. A new three-year scheme will be rolled out under the HAB’s Retired Athletes Transformation Programme, supported by the EDB, the LCSD and the HKSI, which will start from the 2018-19 school year.
Community Sports Club Project
The Community Sports Club (CSC) Project provides technical and financial support to CSCs for organising sports development programmes, and also arranges seminars, training courses and workshops to improve the management skills and technical knowledge of CSC leaders. A total of 30 NSAs and around 430 CSCs have now joined the CSC Project. In 2017-18, about 2 350 CSC programmes were organised for some 51 000 participants.
The aims of this project are to improve sporting standards at the community level, promote and strengthen youth sports development, encourage lifelong participation in sports, and attract sports volunteers.
District Sports Teams Training Scheme
The 18 districts each have their own football, basketball, handball and fencing teams, supported by the respective NSAs. In 2017-18, a total of 9 124 people were enrolled in these district teams, taking part in 246 training activities and inter-district competitions.
Young Athletes Training Scheme
The Young Athletes Training Scheme enhances the sports training available for young people, and identifies promising young sporting talent in Hong Kong. Under the scheme, young athletes with potential are given opportunities to be selected for further training by NSAs, and possibly get to join national squads and take part in international competitions.
Bun Carnival 2017
This year’s Cheung Chau Bun Carnival was held from April 9 to May 4, 2017. More than 9 000 members of the public participated in the many events organised for the carnival. The LCSD also oversaw the selection of finalists for the Bun Scrambling Competition and the Climbing Carnival, and provided training to participants involved in climbing the bun tower.
