The three-year Jockey Club Youth Football Fitness Assessment has now been successfully completed. Today (8 June), The Hong Kong Jockey Club and the research team jointly revealed the latest and final research findings before formally handing over the data and results to the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA), which will use it to develop fitness training programmes. The data will also be made available to club and district level football coaches to support their own youth football training programmes.
The Club has long been committed to bringing world-class standards to Hong Kong in support of the city’s football development. Since 2012, the Club has partnered with Manchester United to launch a series of football programmes. This includes The Jockey Club Youth Football Fitness Assessment, which has been carried out with support from the HKFA, the Hong Kong Sports Institute and the Jockey Club Sports Medicine and the Health Sciences Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Over the past three years this pioneering project has seen more than 600 players from the Hong Kong Youth Football Team, local clubs and district teams, aged between 13 and 17, go through fitness tests to assess their competence in the four football-specific physical capabilities of explosiveness, speed, agility and endurance. As a result, the project has established the first-ever fitness database of local youth players, and it is hoped that the resulting improvements in fitness training will help develop the competitive standard of Hong Kong youth football.
Speaking at the press conference today, Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Football Association, Mark Sutcliffe expressed his thanks to the Club for its support for local football. “The HKFA is grateful for the Jockey Club’s invaluable help in our quest to develop better, fitter, more competitive footballers.” Mr Sutcliffe added, “One of the main attributes of an elite footballer is physical fitness and enhancing physical training is therefore a priority for us. It is essential that we have a starting point from which to improve. This project provides just that, clearly defined benchmarks that can be used to focus training regimes and testing programmes.”
At the press conference, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Sports Medicine and Health Sciences Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which was responsible for the study, announced the latest assessment findings. One of the findings was that the explosiveness and endurance of Hong Kong youth team players was lower than their counterparts in the United Kingdom, although the number of training sessions per week was similar. This suggests there is a need to increase strength and endurance training in additional to teaching football tactics.
In respect of this finding the research team revealed that the recently implemented High Intensity Circuit Training (HICT) has had some success. A study from a 7-week HICT intervention programme for six local school teams showed significant improvement in players’ body fat percentage, arrowhead agility time, and 1-minute sit-up compared to the control group.
For detailed findings of the Youth Football Fitness Assessment and the High Intensity Circuit Training programme, please visit the JC Youth Football Development website at http://campaign.hkjc.com/en/yfd/index.aspx.
The Club is a long-time supporter of local football development. Since 2012 it has been collaborating with Manchester United on a number of programmes designed to develop the physical, mental and social capabilities of young people. These include the JC Elite Youth Football Camp, the JC School Football Development Scheme, the JC Youth Football Leadership Scheme, JC Youth Football Fitness Assessment and Youth Football Skills Challenge. The Club also supports the Jockey Club Youth Football Development Scheme, whose summer scheme is the largest such programme in Hong Kong. Last year, the Club announced a HK$120 million donation to support the Jockey Club HKFA 5-Year Football Development Programme, which aims to promote football across the community. In terms of infrastructure, the Club has supported the construction of the Jockey Club Kitchee Centre as well as the reconstruction of Hong Kong Stadium as a home for Hong Kong’s major domestic and international football games.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club
Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a world-class horse racing operator and Hong Kong’s largest community benefactor, as well as one of Asia’s most prestigious membership clubs. Operating as a not-for-profit organisation, the Club allocates its surplus funds for charitable and community projects. In 2014/15, its donations reached a record $3.87 billion, and in the last decade alone it supported over 1,300 projects. The Club is also Hong Kong’s largest single taxpayer, contributing a record HK$20.05 billion in 2014/15. With about 70% of its revenue given back to society every year through donations and tax contributions, The Hong Kong Jockey Club delivers a significantly higher return to the community than any other racing and/or sports betting organisation in the world. As a socially responsible organisation, the Club helps Government combat illegal betting and advocates responsible gambling. The Club is also one of Hong Kong’s largest employers with over 24,000 full-time and part-time staff. Committed to global excellence and giving back to society, the Club is always “riding high together for a better future” with the people of Hong Kong.
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The three-year Jockey Club Youth Football Fitness Assessment has now been successfully completed. Today (8 June), The Hong Kong Jockey Club and the research team jointly revealed the latest and final research findings. The Cluba£á?s Executive Manager, Corporate Branding, Sports & Community Programmes, Li Tak-nang (left) hands over the data and results to Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Football Association Mark Sutcliffe (right). The data will provide a scientific basis for the HKFAa£á?s fitness training strategies.
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The Cluba£á?s Executive Manager, Corporate Branding, Sports & Community Programmes, Li Tak-nang says the Club has long been committed to bringing world-class standards to Hong Kong to promote its football development. In recent years, the Club has partnered with Manchester United to launch a series of football projects, including the JC Youth Football Fitness Assessment.
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Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Football Association Mark Sutcliffe expresses his appreciation for the Cluba£á?s support for local football. He believes that The JC Youth Football Fitness Assessment can improve the physical performance of local football players.
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Specialist Conditioning Coach of the Hong Kong Football Association Mathew Pears talks about how the HKFA will use the data and analysis provided by the Club to optimise fitness training programmes.
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Director of Elite Training Science & Technology, Hong Kong Sports Institute, Dr. Raymond So says the JC Youth Football Fitness Assessment will help coaches and football players better understand their physique and therefore held formulate effective training schemes.
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Head of Fitness and Conditioning of Manchester United Tony Strudwick talks about the latest developments in football fitness training at the press conference.
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The Hong Kong Jockey Club Sports Medicine and Health Sciences Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Project Leader, Hardaway Chan, presents the results and findings of the JC Youth Football Fitness Assessment and High Intensity Circuit Training trial scheme.
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Group photo
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