Leisure and Cultural Services Department - Community Sports Club BulletinLeisure and Cultural Services Department
Portraits of National Sports Association
Hong Kong Amateur Athletic AssociationAccording
According to the definition of the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association (HKAAA), athletics includes 4 events: track & field, road races, cross-country and race walking. In this issue, it is our pleasure to have invited Mr. Kwan Kee, the chairman of the HKAAA, to tell us about its role and the development of athletics in Hong Kong.
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| Mr. Kwan Kee, the chairman of the HKAAA |
The HKAAA was founded in 1951 by a group of enthusiastic volunteers. In the same year, the association became a member of the Sports Federations and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC). In the next year, it joined the International Association of Amateur Federation (IAAF). Since then, it has become the governing body for Athletics in Hong Kong. The HKAAA has now been founded for 65 years. In the early years, there were only 10 member clubs. At present, there are 17 full member clubs and 36 associate member clubs, with about 8,500 talented athletes registered.
Complete system for the selection and training of talents
The HKAAA has contributed greatly to the promotion of Athletics in Hong Kong. The HKAAA has developed a complete system for the training of the athletes, which provides children and teenagers basic to high level training, as well as selects talented athletes for further trainings in order to represent Hong Kong in major international sports events like the Olympic Games and Asian Games. Mr. Kwan, the chairman of the HKAAA, says that the association has formed different sports training teams, such as a relay training team and a marathon training team, to provide focused training to talented athletes. In addition, the HKAAA also provides professional trainings to coaches, referees and sport management professionals to enhance their skill levels.
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The training pathway of the HKAAA : Hong Kong Athletic Team |
Every year, the HKAAA hosts different major sports events, including the highlighted Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, MTR Hong Kong Race Walking and Hong Kong Inter-City Athletics Championships. The HKAAA also hosts different international championships to create more opportunities for local athletes to compete with and learn from foreign athletes.
Emergence of new Hong Kong talented athletes
There are many talented athletes in Hong Kong. Some of them have even taken part in international events. For example, Mr. Kwan mentioned that Chan Ming Tai, a young long jumper, won the bronze medal at the 7th World Indoor Championships in Doha recently, and that the marathon runner Yiu Kit Ching is eligible to participate in the 2016 Olympic Games that will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Several other Hong Kong athletes might also have the chance to participate in the Olympic Games and it is absolutely wonderful.
Promoting athletics in the community
Recently, more and more citizens have taken up long distance running and jogging. Mr. Kwan says that both the Community Sports Club Project organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the Long Distance Running Training Course in the 18 districts have helped to promote and enhance the sports development of young athletes and raise their skill levels. The LCSD also supports the HKAAA in various other aspects, such as co-organizing Junior Athlete Training, providing support for competitions and providing financial support to promote the development of local athletics.