Portraits of National Sports Association

Dragon boat racing always gives people an impression that it is a traditional custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. The annual live broadcasts of the races on TV further add to the perception that dragon boat racing only takes place during the Dragon Boat Festival. In fact, dragon boat racing has developed into a global sport that is beyond a festive activity.

 

 

 

Transforming from a tradition to a regulated sport
Hong Kong was once a small fishing village and dragon boating was both a festive and recreational activity to the fishermen. In the 1970s, the first Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races was organised in 1976 to facilitate tourism promotion. Since then, dragon boating has been modernised, internationalised and standardised. To plan competitions more effectively and to draw athletes together, the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Association was established on 13 June 1991 to manage the sport in Hong Kong. In 2012, the Association was officially renamed as the Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association.

Focusing on training and recruiting elites
The Association has a membership of more than 700, including members from community sports clubs and corporate bodies, as well as individual members. In order to promote the development of dragon boating, the Association and its affiliated clubs jointly organise various training courses such as dragon boating training courses, helmsmen training courses and indoor dragon boat training courses. The Association also arranges annual coaching seminars and race official seminars to provide guidelines for community races, and organises water safety seminars to enhance participants’ safety awareness.

To further recruit new talents, the Association runs a school sports programme in secondary schools to introduce the competition rules and techniques of the sport, and organises the annual Inter-school Dragon Boat Championships to give students a platform to compete their skills and stimulate their potential. Recently, the Association has launched the Jockey Club Youth Dragon Boat Development Programme to provide free and comprehensive training to encourage and help schools to promote dragon boating.

Organising mega events to popularise the sport
On large scale promotion, the Association does not only organise the Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Championships, but also co-organise the Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races with the Hong Kong Tourism Board to promote the tourism industry and attract more countries to participate in the sport. It is hoped that the sport will become an Olympic sport one day to bring this traditional Chinese culture to the international sports arena. The Association strongly supports the Community Sports Club Programme and believes that the programme can directly help its affiliated clubs to promote and develop dragon boating, so that members of the public can participate in the activities at the community level, thereby achieving the aim of popularising the sport.