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The Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games will shortly start.  While athletes are putting their effort in the preparation of the Games, coaches and sports medicine experts are also actively equipping themselves to support the athletes.  In order to promote exchange between coaches from Hong Kong and the Mainland, the annual Hongkong Bank Foundation Elite Coaches Seminar was held on 11-12 September 2010 at the Shanghai University of Sport.  The theme for this year's Seminar is "Enhancing Recovery in Sports". 

Six coaches and sports medicine experts from the United States (US), Mainland China and Hong Kong shared their invaluable experience with the audience.  The Seminar has successfully attracted over 160 local and Mainland China coaches to attend.  The opening ceremony was officiated by Prof Frank Fu, Chairman of the Hong Kong Coaching Committee (HKCC) and Jiang Zhixue, General Director of Science and Education Department of General Administration of Sport of China.

Prof Fu, said at the opening ceremony, “I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the All-China Sports Federation who works closely with the Hong Kong Coaching Committee in providing opportunities for this annual seminar to be held in Shanghai to maximise exchanges between Hong Kong and the Mainland coaches. I would also like to thank the Hongkong Bank Foundation for their generous funding and support to the Hong Kong Coaching Committee on many coach education programmes over the years. Last but not the least, our special thanks to the Shanghai University of Sport for their valuable support to the seminar.”

Jiang Zhixue said, “The Seminar provides a good platform for exchanges on sport training and facilitates cooperation opportunities between coaches from Hong Kong and the Mainland.  Through detailed presentations of professional coaches and experts, coaches from Hong Kong and the Mainland can obtain the latest training format, training methods and techniques, and thus help improve their coaching standard.”  Jiang added, “The content of the Seminar is growing more diversified and it has also become an international seminar for coaches in the Asian region, which helps in moving coach education forward in the territory.” 

Six professionals of different expertise delivered presentation on 11 and 12 September.  Dr Sean McCann, Senior Sport Psychologist of the US Olympic Committee, shared with the audience “The Psychology of Recovery”.  Dr McCann has worked in the Sport Psychology Department of the US Olympic Committee for 16 years.  Since 1994, he has served as the Sport Psychologist for the US Olympic Team.  He talked about the important role that psychological factors played in athlete recovery especially on special challenges for certain traits, and interventions to help athletes manage and reduce psychological stress while enhancing recovery.

Internationally recognised acupuncture physician and physical therapist Dr Kerry D’Ambrogio spoke on the topic “An Integrated Evaluation and Treatment Approach for the Injured Athlete”.  He discussed evidence based evaluation and treatment strategies that would help the coach determine what was best for his athlete.  He also explored the various types of manual and exercise therapies that would facilitate recovery in sports.  Dr D'Ambrogio is an American physical therapist, osteopath and board certified acupuncture physician. He has a background in acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, applied kinesiology and exercise and movement therapies.

Sun Hai-ping, Deputy Chief Coach of the China National Athletics Team, shared with audience on how to train hurdlers and help improve their performance in the topic of “Physical Training for Hurdlers”.  Coach Sun has been coaching for nearly 30 years, which includes leading Liu Xiang to various champions, especially as the first Chinese men’s athletics gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics.  Liu withdrew from the Beijing 2008 Olympic event due to injury, and after receiving treatment and recovery training, he won a silver medal in the 110m hurdles in the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix a year later.

Prof Yang Ze-yi, Researcher of China Anti-Doping Agency and member of preparation for Olympic expert group of the General Administration of Sport of China, is a scholar in sports nutrition and biomechanics, and has been serving the National Team and lecturing postgraduates.  He was the Deputy Director of the National Institute of Sports Medicine, Director of the China Anti-Doping Centre and　Member of the International Olympic Committee Medical Commission.  In the topic of “Sports Nutrition Intervention and Maximization of Training Efficiency”, he shared the success stories on the tactical nutritional measures for the preparation of the Olympics, the relationships between training and recovery from a scientific perspective, and the crucial support and recovery of sports nutrition. 

Dr Raymond So, Sports Science & Medicine Coordinator of the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI), elaborated the topic “Enhancing Recovery for Elite Athletes in Physiological Aspects” which covered the measures for enhancing recovery in physiological aspects based on his experience in training Hong Kong elite athletes.  Dr So was the president of the Hong Kong Association of Sports Medicine and Sports Science during 2002-2005.  As an experienced sports physiologist, Dr So’s research interests include local muscle monitoring under dynamic condition, exploration of the effectiveness of physical recovery methods and hypoxic training.  

Dr Paul Wright, Head Athletics Coach of the HKSI spoke on the topic “Periodization for Optimal Performance in Track Events”.  He introduced the five primary principles of training – specificity, overload, recovery, adaptation, and progression, to illustrate the importance of periodization when building traditional training plans and how periodization related to the five primary principles of training within the context of Track and Field events.  Prior to joining the HKSI in June 2010, Dr Paul Wright was the Head Coach for the US Athletics Team at the Universiade Belgrade 2009.

In addition to the excellent presentation sessions, the participants were arranged visits to various training venues to broaden their views.   

Jointly organised by the HKCC and the All-China Sports Federation with the funding from the Hongkong Bank Foundation, and coordinated by the Shanghai University of Sport this year, the annual Seminar aims to provide a platform for overseas and Mainland experts as well as local coaching professionals to exchange ideas in sports coaching.