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The 5^th East Asian Games (EAG) concluded successfully with the Hong Kong China Delegation bagging 26 gold, 31 silver and 53 bronze medals, creating a real legend. Stepping down from the stage of the important multi-sport competition, 15 Scholarship Athletes of the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) joined the Hongkong Bank Foundation Elite Athletes Support Scheme in Coach Education (EASS) organised by the Hong Kong Coaching Committee (HKCC) to prepare for a more enriched sporting life and future.

First launched in 2007/08, the Scheme aims to sustain elite athletes to become accredited coaches. Last year, 15 elite athletes joined the Sports-General Theory (Part A) Course of the Hong Kong Coach Accreditation Programme (HKCAP) at Level 2 from 28 December 2009 to January 2010. The Course is specially tailor-made for elite athletes in which classes are squeezed to two whole weeks of evenings and weekend afternoons.

Fully supported by their head coaches, 15 athletes joined the Scheme with 10 being badminton players. Others come from athletics, cycling, rowing and wushu. Zhou Mi, who fought hard and snatched a silver medal with her waist pain in the final round of women’s singles at the EAG, thinks that this is the best timing to take a rest and study. “I enjoy playing badminton very much; but it is getting more and more difficult to keep myself competitive when there are many up-and-coming players. I am grateful that the HKSI and head coach Chan Chi-choi gave me a golden opportunity to join the Hong Kong squad. I hope I could do something to nurture the younger athletes after retirement. Equiping myself in coaching theory would help me in achieving this goal,” Zhou said.

Zhou’s teammate Ng Wei also enrolled the Scheme. Ng plans to retire in April 2010 and is ready to contribute his experience and expertise to the badminton team. He said, “I look forward to seeing other junior teammates succeed in international competitions. I am not sure if I would be a coach, but in the meantime I should equip myself for better preparation.” Attending numerous competitions over the past years, Ng is still new in coaching. “With some experience in coaching junior athletes recently, I hope to enrich myself particularly in Sports Coaching and Coaches Management. Some modules such as Planning the Programme, Managing Skills for Coaches and Legal Aspect in Sports Coaching would surely be useful too,” Ng said.

Rower Lee Yuen-yin, who grabbed a silver medal in women’s lightweight quadruple sculls at the EAG, is excited to attend the Course. She is happy that the Scheme provides such intensive class schedule for her. Although she is always busy in overseas training and competitions, she can still complete the Scheme in this short period. “I have been thinking about taking some coach education courses, but it is hard for me to stay in Hong Kong for a long period. It is always good to learn something. Some knowledge such as Motor Control & Learning and Sports Psychology are also useful for my daily sports training,” Lee said.

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 HKSI, 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, which 53 athletes have participated in the Scheme. They come from eight Elite Sports and sports for athletes with disabilities, such as Law Hiu-fung (rowing), Wu Siu-hong (tenpin bowling), Yuen Ka-ying (wushu) and Chan Wing-kin (wheelchair fencing).