Hong Kong Sports Institute
| 香港體育學院 | |
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Former name
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Jubilee Sports Centre (1982-1991) |
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| Chief Executive | Dr Trisha Leahy |
| Location | No. 25 Yuen Wo Road, Sha Tin, Hong Kong |
| Website | hksi |
The Hong Kong Sports Institute (Chinese: 香港體育學院) is a sports institute in the Fo Tan, Sha Tin district of Hong Kong. It is mandated to provide training to athletes, and also offers academic qualification in the field of sports training. The institute sponsors elite athletes and trains them as full-time employees, based on their talent and potential. The campus is located on reclaimed land on the bank of the Shing Mun River, next to the Sha Tin Racecourse.
The institute, then called the Jubilee Sports Centre (JSC), was envisioned to provide "top class coaching and training for promising and outstanding" athletes, with an emphasis on training young people and in providing a great variety of activities and programmes. The Jubilee Sports Centre Ordinance was enacted in 1977. Sir Alberto Rodrigues, chairman of the JSC Board, stated in 1977, "we do not see any sports excluded" and explained that the aim was to improve sports standards in the territory and that the centre would seek out skilled athletes to provide them further training.
A 41-acre site beside the new Sha Tin Racecourse was chosen and construction was financed jointly by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club and the government, with additional support from the Queen's Silver Jubilee Fund. The thus-named Jubilee Sports Centre was opened by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent in 1982. It was originally managed by the Jockey Club.
By 1986, the Jockey Club sought to make the Jubilee Sports Centre and Ocean Park independent entities, reportedly on the advice of the government to focus on racing activities following doping and fixing scandals and on the club's own policy to "leave the management responsibilities to an independent body once the club-financed projects can stand firm on their feet". At the time, Ocean Park was making a profit of around $1 million per year, while the JSC was operating on a deficit. These operating costs were covered by the Jockey Club, Hong Kong's largest charity. Financial control was transferred from the Jockey Club to the JSC board of directors, and the club paid the centre a $350 million grant designed to cover operating expenses up to 2007. By 1991, it was reported that the centre was on track to exhaust these funds "well before" 2007.
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