Hong Kong Jockey Club pledges HK$3 billion investment in city sports over next 3 years
A new Believe & Bounce Basketball Programme aimed at the city’s children, young adults and underprivileged will receive HK$70.75 million
The Hong Kong Jockey Club will pump HK$3 billion (US$384.6 million) into sport in the city over the next three years, with HK$70.75 million earmarked for a programme aimed at developing local basketball.
Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said on Saturday that his organisation wanted “to do even more for sports” and so was doubling the amount it had already provided.
A new Jockey Club Believe & Bounce Basketball Programme, funded through its Charities Trust, aims to make the sport more accessible for children, young adults and the underprivileged, and is expected to benefit more than 32,000 people, including over 660 coaches, according to officials.
The programme will consist of three projects, co-run by the InspiringHK Sports Foundation, the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong (BGCA) and the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG).
“If you look at the club, they have always dedicated significant resources to sports and sports development,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said during an event at the Tai Kwun cultural centre. “So we plan, in a way, in the next three years, to spend HK$3 billion on sports and sports development.”
The InspiringHK Dream Factory project will take charge of 3x3 basketball, aiming to introduce the sport to kindergarten and primary school pupils.