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Seventeen elite athletes completed the special Sports-General Theory Course of the Coach Accreditation Programme (CAP) at Level 2 specially tailor-made for elite athletes after attending the intensive course during lunch break for a consecutive of two weeks in December 2007. When they received the examination results, they all said that it was worth taking this practical course.

Organised by the Hong Kong Coaching Committee (HKCC), the "Hongkong Bank Foundation Elite Athletes Support Scheme in Coach Education" (EASS) was launched as a pilot scheme in 2007/08 especially for Scholarship Athletes of the Hong Kong Sports Institute, with the aim of sustaining elite athletes to become accredited coaches. Participants included rowing athletes Law Hiu-fung, Lee Ka-man and Chow Kwong-wing; wushu athletes Ho Pak-kei, Yuen Ka-ying and Law Sum-yin; disabled sports athletes (fencing) Chan Wing-kin and Fan Pui-shan etc. and they were fully supported by their head coaches.

Prof Frank Fu, Chairman of the HKCC said, "The athletes' training and competition schedule is so tight that they may not be able to attend the regular class even they are interested in the course. In this regard, the HKCC has introduced EASS to provide elite athletes with a special Sports-General Theory Course to fit into their training schedule. Athletes have acquired profound knowledge and solid experience through competitions and training. It is a great benefit for local sports development when they are trained to become coaches; therefore I hope they can take up coaching career in the future and devote themselves in training potential athletes of the new generation."

The examination was held in mid January with over 80% passing rate. One of the best-performed participating athletes Chow Kwong-wing (rowing), who got the Scholarship Award for the CAP, showed interest in sports at young age and he read books about sports regularly. This has enabled him to pick up Level 2 course theories quickly. "I can apply the knowledge learned from the course in my daily sports training. For instances, I can better control my diet to optimise my physical condition and understand the importance of balancing training and rest as restless practice may impose an adverse effect." Chow said.

Another outstanding athlete Law Sum-yin (wushu) aims to be a wushu coach in future. She said, "This course is very practical either from the perspective of an athlete or a coach. Through the course I realise the importance for a coach to design a suitable training programme for an athlete, which covers adjustment of strength and conditioning programme of daily training as well as before and after competitions." Law wishes to take Level 3 course in the future to prepare for her career as a wushu coach.

Disabled fencer Chan Wing-kin, who also achieved favourable academic result, found the course useful. He said, "The course offered me insight in training arranged by coaches and their motives behind. For example, my coach often changed our training schedule, which made us very confused; but now I understand better the rationale and I will be more cooperative with the coach's arrangement." Chan also learned how to better communicate with his students. He realises that other than a skill demonstration, there are many other ways to guide his students to help them improve their technique.

The Hongkong Bank Foundation has been supporting the Hong Kong Coach Education Programme with over HK$21 million since 1992. Organised by the HKCC and administered by the Hong Kong Sports Institute, the Programme aims at providing coaches the opportunity to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge as well as formal accreditation. This EASS is one of the coach training activities of the Programme.