EdUHK Launches Jockey Club Sports Empowering Programme

Thanks to The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust’s funding, the Department of Health and Physical Education (HPE) of The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) has launched the Jockey Club Sports Empowering Programme – the city’s first large-scale sports coaching programme integrating character education – with the support of Action Sports Foundation, the Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association, Hong Kong Rugby Union, the Hong Kong Tennis Association and Hoops for Hope Basketball Asia.

EdUHK held a kick-off ceremony today (4 March) on its Tai Po campus, attracting more than 1,000 sports practitioners, academics, parents and students. Officiating at the ceremony were EdUHK President Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, Acting Head of HPE Dr Andy Tse Choi-yeung, Chief Curriculum Development Officer of the Education Bureau Curriculum and Quality Assurance Branch Ms Annie Wong Hing-yee, Executive Manager of Charities (Sports and Culture) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Ms Donna Tang, Legislative Council Member Hon Vincent Cheng Wing-shun, and Manager of Hong Kong Athletes Career and Education Programme Mr Man Yue-hin.

To cultivate a conducive sports environment for young people, EdUHK has been adopting an “Empowering Coaching™” theory from the University of Birmingham. Apart from enhancing students’ skills and performance, the objectives of the three-year programme are to help coaches understand their students’ psychological needs, and develop empowering and enjoyable strategies to motivate them. In an empowering environment, students should be able to develop five positive attributes: self-confidence, leadership, resilience, mental toughness and social inclusion.

To date, 17 tutors from EdUHK’s five partner associations have been trained with the empowering principles. They in turn become trainers for 250 sports coaches in their affiliated associations. Online training courses are also offered to over 5,000 sports practitioners, educators and parents.

Expressing his gratitude to all partner associations, Professor Cheung said, “We believe the programme will help encourage students and members of the public to take part in sports, while building the positive characters of teenagers. This is in line with the Government’s commitment to promoting sports in the community.”

As part of the programme, the EdUHK team also conducted a survey of over 650 respondents, aged between 11 and 16, to examine the effectiveness of empowering coaching. According to Dr Carman Leung Ka-man, Project Coordinator and Assistant Professor of HPE, the results show that youngsters will more likely engage in and enjoy sports if their coaches value their efforts, provide them with more choices, and empower them with a sense of support from the community.

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EdUHK Launches Jockey Club Sports Empowering Programme