Ready for the Olympics - and beyond?
Commencing on August 8, 2008, our country will host the Olympic Games, but is Hong Kong ready to take advantage of the opportunities that this affords?
Experience elsewhere shows that people in the Games' host country will closely identify with sport, and participation will increase significantly. The Games provides us with an opportunity to develop a sports culture, but does the government understand this? Can we handle a big increase in participation, and will our athletes win a clutch of medals, and, if not, why not?
Present policies are rooted in the past. Fifty years ago, as part of the public housing programme, the government began building recreational facilities, but instead of encouraging the community to organise activity, the Urban Council decided to do it for them.
This may have seemed right at the time, but it had many disadvantages. Coaches became accustomed to being paid by the government, whereas elsewhere, volunteers within clubs mostly carry out this function. Priority was given to council-organised courses and to casual use. Sports club formation was discouraged. Volunteer service in sport remained underdeveloped. The community's cohesion, social focus and health and well-being would have been enhanced by sports club membership, but it has been deprived of these benefits.
Without a large network of clubs, and deprived of adequate access to facilities, national sports associations have struggled to develop competitive sport and, with a few exceptions, our international successes have been meagre for our population size.
More effective sports systems exist. Look, for example, at Denmark, where virtually all activity is organised by clubs. Danish local governments build and maintain facilities. Clubs get free use of them and are subsidised according to their number of junior members. The results are that 35 per cent of Danes belong to sports clubs, Denmark is successful internationally in many sports, its clubs provide a lifelong social focus, and the health and well-being of the community is enhanced.
To gain these advantages for Hong Kong, we should discard the outdated policies of the past. The government should be a facilitator, not an organiser of sport; it should encourage club formation, give clubs and national sports associations priority and free use of facilities, and encourage the community to form clubs. It should provide adequate facilities for community use and elite athlete training, and subsidise clubs according to the number of junior members. Clubs should link up with schools to provide sport.
What would be the result? During the transition, government staffing can be reduced and the savings used to expand elite athlete training and boost community participation through subsidies to clubs. Eventually, hundreds of new clubs will have been formed, participation at all ages will have increased, performance standards will have risen and international results will have improved. More international success will further raise interest in sport, and social cohesion and community health and well-being will be enhanced.
The Beijing Olympics can be a catalyst for improving our society, offering us the opportunity to bring Hong Kong and the mainland closer, reduce crime and delinquency rates, improve community morale and volunteerism, reduce long-term health-care costs, and a myriad other benefits associated with sport and a healthy lifestyle.
A new policy for sport is needed. A high-level steering group is likely to be the most appropriate way to develop it and take advantage of the social and economic implications of the Games up to and beyond 2008. The opportunity to modernise our sports system should not be missed.
Robert Wilson is president of the Hong Kong, China Rowing Association
