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Over a hundred coaches were honoured at the 2013 Hong Kong Coaching Awards Presentation Ceremony at the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) today (13 April) in recognition of their tremendous contributions in leading Hong Kong’s athletes to outstanding results at the international sporting arena in 2013, as well as in developing sports across the community.

Organised by the Hong Kong Coaching Committee (HKCC), the annual Coaching Awards is the only territory-wide programme to commend the achievements of local coaches from the community to elite levels.

The 2013 Awards took on a new presentation format and was specially arranged at the brand-new Lecture Theatre of the HKSI Main Building to signify the formal, professional recognition that coaches deserve for their excellent work.   Over 160 nominations have been received for five award categories, including Coach of the Year Awards, Coach Education Award, Best Team Sport Coach Award, Coaching Excellence Awards and Community Coach Recognition Awards. The high number of nominations reflected the remarkable achievements demonstrated by the concerted efforts of coaching teams and athletes over the past year.

Officiating guests of the ceremony included Ms Florence Hui SBS JP, Acting Secretary for Home Affairs; Mr Timothy Fok GBS JP, President of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China; Mr Carlson Tong JP, Chairman of the HKSI; and Professor Frank Fu MH JP, Chairman of the HKCC. They together showed appreciation to 80 recipients of the Coaching Excellence Awards who led athletes to achieve outstanding performance in major international competitions in 2013, leading to the growing success of Hong Kong sports in the region.

Professor Fu congratulated the award-winning coaches and acknowledged the important role played by coaches as a whole.  “A prominent coach is not only a trainer, but also works as a counsellor and influencer, helping athletes overcome an array of challenges in their sports journey,” he said. “It also signifies that the highest level of mutual trust has been built between coaches and athletes.  On the basis of trust, it helps unleash athletes’ potentiality and further enhance their athletic performance.”

The highly coveted Coach of the Year Awards saw both familiar and new faces taking the trophies. Cycling Coach Shen Jinkang won the award in the senior athletes, individual sport category for the seventh time in 14 years.  With an illustrious coaching career spanning almost two decades in Hong Kong, Shen added further accolades to his stellar resume last year, leading Olympic bronze medallist Lee Wai-sze to a gold medal in the women’s 500m time trial event and a bronze in the women’s sprint event at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships, and four medals in the UCI Track World Cup, among others medals won by individual athletes at the 12^th National Games and the Asian Cycling Championships.

Badminton coach Chen Kang and wheelchair fencing coach Chen Yu both won the Coach of the Year Awards for the first time, sharing the limelight in the senior athletes, team event category. In 2013, Chen Kang led mixed doubles duo Chau Hoi-wah and Lee Chun-hei to a breakthrough year with a bronze-medal finish at both the Hong Kong Open and the Asia Badminton Championships; while Chen Yu coached the women’s and men’s foil teams to a gold and a bronze medal respectively at the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing World Championships.

Swimming coach Michael Peter Fasching took the Coach of the Year Awards for the first time in the junior athletes, individual sport category for his achievements in leading swimmer Siobhan Bernadette Haughey to a historic gold medal in the girls’ 100m freestyle event and a bronze in the 50m freestyle event at the 4^th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships.  Squash coach Dick Leung Kan-fai lifted the trophy for the third time in the junior athletes, team event category, having led the junior women’s squash team to a bronze medal at the World Junior Women’s Team Championships and a silver in the Asian Junior Team Championships.

Korfball coach Warman Cheng Wai-ming won the Coach Education Award for his continuous devotion to the sport.  Cheng has played a significant role in defining a clear route and developing a module-based curriculum for professional coach training since 1999, and has been dedicated to professional teaching for coaches in the Asian region.

Rugby coach Dai Rees, who led the senior men’s rugby sevens team to a silver medal at the 12^th National Games last year, received the Best Team Sport Coach Award for the fourth year in a row.

The Community Coach Recognition Awards were presented to 24 coaches who had made special contributions to the coaching of athletes and teams in the community for a period of not less than three consecutive years.

The HKCC, a joint committee of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China and the HKSI, was established in 1991 with aims of formulating and implementing short-term and long-term strategies for the development of coach education and accreditation programmes in Hong Kong.  Throughout the years, over 85,000 coaches have benefited from the HKCC’s training and recognition programmes.

For the List of Recipients for the 2013 Hong Kong Coaching Awards, please click here.  For the past recipients, please click here.