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RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS
Amateur Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong
The Amateur Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1951 as the Olympic committee of the territory, controls Hong Kong's participation in the Olympic, Commonwealth, Asian, East Asian and World Games. It has a membership of 64 national sports associations and is the acknowledged voice of sport in Hong Kong.
Besides promoting sports in the territory, the federation developed sports education programmes for sports administrators, coaches and technical officials. Since the early 1970s, the federation has sponsored sports leaders and athletes to attend courses and conferences held locally and overseas, and sends Hong Kong representatives to the annual International Olympic Academy.
It also sponsors Olympic Solidarity courses every year. Other special sports education activities during the year included the IOC sports medicine course, and the Hong Kong Olympic Academy seminar on sports and the media.
The federation organises local courses on sports leadership, sports administration, sports medicine and sports science, as well as courses on sports management and coaching in conjunction with the United States Sports Academy, and advanced level courses on sports management with the University of Oregon.
The year 1994 was the Centenary Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal of the IOC, and the federation included the Hong Kong Festival of Sport, a seminar on Olympism and the Olympic Day Run as part of its celebrations.
The annual Hong Kong Festival of Sport is organised by the federation in conjunction with governing sports bodies and the municipal councils. The large-scale community building event, held since 1958, attracts territory-wide participation.
Urban Council Facilities
The Urban Council provides and manages a wide range of sports and recreational facilities, and runs numerous low-cost introductory classes for people of all ages. The council also encourages and promotes sporting activities by subsidising competitions organised by various governing bodies.
It operates 35 indoor recreation centres, 14 swimming pool complexes, 130 tennis courts, 137 squash courts and eight sports grounds.
Capital works completed on Hong Kong Island included the Li Sing Street Playground. A roof was provided for the main spectator stand at the Aberdeen Sports Ground and improvement works were completed at the Wan Chai Gap Park. The Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, with covered seating for 12 000, is still under construction.
In Kowloon, recreational facilities completed included the Fung Tak Park in Wong Tai Sin, the Cornwall Street Squash and Table Tennis Complex in Kowloon Tong, the To Yuen Street Recreation Ground in Sham Shui Po, the recreational ground on the deck of the Ho Man Tin East Service Reservoir, Laguna Park (Phase II), the Shun Lee Tsuen Playground and the Lam Tin South Indoor Games Hall.
Good progress was made in developing the indoor games hall at Diamond Hill in Wong Tai Sin, the Kowloon Walled City Park in Kowloon City, the Lai Chi Kok Park (Stage II) and Shek Kip Mei Park Indoor Games Hall in Sham Shui Po, the Salisbury Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui and the Jordan Valley Recreation Ground (Phase I) in Kwun Tong.
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