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Football gets major boost with new training centre

09/09/2015

The opening today (9 September) of the first purpose-built football training centre in the city helps promote local football development. Funded by a HK$63 million donation from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the Jockey Club Kitchee Centre, located in Shek Mun, Sha Tin, will be open to the public and feature extensive training facilities to nurture local football talents.

Attending the opening ceremony were the Club’s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges; Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs Jonathan McKinley; Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Michelle Li; Legislative Councillor Ma Fung-kwok; The Asian Football Confederation Research and Support Services Head Steve Kim; Sha Tin District Council Chairman Ho Hau-cheung; Sha Tin District Officer Cora Ho; Hong Kong Football Association Chairman Brian Leung and Kitchee Foundation Chairman Ken Ng.  

Through promoting ‘Sports for Hope’, one of the Trust’s three areas of strategic focus over the next few years, the Club would like to use sports to create lifelong positive values and hope in Hong Kong society.
Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges noted that the opening of the Jockey Club Kitchee Centre marked another milestone in the Club’s commitment to developing football in Hong Kong. “Football is not only a sport, it is also an activity that benefits everyone in our society, most especially our young people. As a team sport, football strengthens ties within our community. On a personal level, football builds strength of character and teaches valuable lessons about leadership and teamwork. This is why the Club has invested some $485 million in football development over the last decade,” he said.

Kitchee Foundation Chairman Ken Ng said, “Other than the generous financial support provided by The Hong Kong Jockey Club, the policy support provided by the Home Affairs Bureau and the Leisure Culture Sports Department have been crucial for Kitchee to bring the project to fruition. The new facility means a new responsibility to develop future generation of top Hong Kong players.”

With an area of 15,000 square metres, the Centre includes a multi-purpose artificial turf and five single-storey amenities blocks with changing rooms, medical room and office space.  The pitches can be arranged into three different configurations for different training purposes.  Apart from enabling Kitchee to expand its free youth training programmes for children from the age of five, the facilities will be open to the public for 30% of the Centre’s sessions. Altogether, more than 100,000 people are expected to use the Centre each year, with the first booking being taken from tomorrow (10 September).  For details, please visit http://kitchee.com/jockeyclub.php.

As a long-time supporter of local football development, apart from funding HK$120 million to the Hong Kong Football Association to run the first-ever holistic Jockey Club HKFA 5-Year Football Development Programme, partnering Manchester United to launch a series of innovative youth football projects, and supporting the Hong Kong Games and its futsal games; the Club has also funded the construction of infrastructure such as the Football Training Centre in Tseung Kwan O, and the re-turfing of the pitch at the Hong Kong Stadium, which it had earlier redeveloped.

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.

The Cluba£į?s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges says the opening of the Jockey Club Kitchee Centre marks another milestone in the Cluba£į?s commitment to developing football in Hong Kong.
The Cluba£į?s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges says the opening of the Jockey Club Kitchee Centre marks another milestone in the Cluba£į?s commitment to developing football in Hong Kong.

The Cluba£į?s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (2nd left) pictures with Kitchee Foundation Chairman Ken Ng (2nd right), Kitchee captain Lo Kwan-yee (1st right) and vice-captain Lam Ka-wai (1st left).
The Cluba£į?s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (2nd left) pictures with Kitchee Foundation Chairman Ken Ng (2nd right), Kitchee captain Lo Kwan-yee (1st right) and vice-captain Lam Ka-wai (1st left).

Officiate guests perform the roast pig-cutting ceremony.
Officiate guests perform the roast pig-cutting ceremony.

Photos 4/ 5: <br>
Guests participate in the Celebrity Challenge.
Photos 4/ 5:
Guests participate in the Celebrity Challenge.


The Jockey Club Kitchee Centre aims to nurture more young players for Hong Kong.
The Jockey Club Kitchee Centre aims to nurture more young players for Hong Kong.

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