RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS
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Under the management of the Home Affairs Bureau, the Sir David Trench Fund for Recreation provides grants for building and renovating small-scale non- government run recreational and sporting facilities. The fund also allocates some $4 million annually for the purchase of equipment for sport and recreation by non- governmental organisations.
Hong Kong Sports Development Board
The Hong Kong Sports Development Board (SDB) is the government-funded statutory body responsible for the development of sport and physical recreation in Hong Kong. In 1998-99, the board received a government subvention of $192.8 million, which included for the first time a contribution towards the Elite Training Programme for Hong Kong's top athletes at the Sports Institute. In all, the board allocated $95.53 million to this programme, which provided high performance coaching, overseas training, support in sports science and medicine, education and career guidance, use of dedicated training facilities, meals and accommodation to 281 local athletes. The key sports in which athletes are trained under this programme include: badminton, cycling, fencing, rowing, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, tenpin bowling, track and field, triathlon, windsurfing and wushu. Separately, the SDB also provides training facilities and support to athletes in other sports, such as gymnastics, sport for the disabled and football.
In 1998-99, the SDB allocated $64.65 million to 52 National Sports Associations (NSAs) and the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC), to meet personnel, office and programme expenses, audit fees and the costs of hosting major local international events. The board also supervised the award of a total of $6.82 million in grants to individual athletes from the Sports Aid Foundation Fund, the Sports Aid for the Disabled Fund and the Hong Kong Athletes Fund.
Hong Kong athletes achieved their best ever results in a major games event at the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok in December 1998. With the support of the corporate sector, the SDB set up an incentive scheme which rewarded the 20 medal winners with a total of $5.15 million. The board also awarded incentives of $546,000 to Hong Kong's disabled athletes for their outstanding performances at the 7th Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled held in Bangkok in January.
The Hong Kong Coaching Committee continued to promote the development of local coaches. Following the introduction of a School Coach Education Programme in 1998, 100 school team coaches took part in sport-specific coach education courses held in the summer of 1999.
In the wider community, the SDB injected considerable resources into junior sports development at the entry level. The GO! SPORT Programme, which introduces. school-age children to sports skills, reached over 65 per cent of the school population. To provide regular training and competition opportunities for those wishing to develop their interest in sport, the board's Community Sports Club Project expanded to involve 70 clubs in 15 sports in 1998–99.
The SDB remained active in securing funding for sport from the commercial sector. The Sports Sponsorship Advisory Service raised sponsorship and donations worth $15.17 million in 1998-99, which benefited over 32 individual programmes. The board had launched the Excellence in Sports Marketing Awards in 1998, to recognise