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The HKSI and City University of Hong Kong (CityU) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to reinforce the support to full-time elite athletes in facilitating their planning on dual career development both in sports and in academics.

The MOU was signed by Dr Trisha Leahy BBS, Chief Executive of the HKSI, and Professor Way Kuo, President and University Distinguished Professor at CityU, witnessed by Mr Yeung Tak-keung JP, Commissioner for Sports; Professor Alex Jen Kwan-yue, Provost and Chair Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science at CityU; and Dr Lam Tai-fai SBS JP, Chairman of the HKSI.

The MOU ties the collaboration between HKSI and CityU on the provision of a special admission and study arrangement to current HKSI full-time Scholarship Athletes.  The HKSI may nominate eligible athletes to enroll all undergraduate programmes of CityU.  The University will also provide flexibility in course delivery, in order to better accommodate athletes’ intensive training and competition schedule. Apart from individualised mentorship, admitted student athletes might also apply for CityU’s scholarship scheme.

Professor Way Kuo said, “The MOU marks a milestone in helping the youth of Hong Kong to realize their dreams and to excel in academia and sports."

Dr Trisha Leahy was thankful to join hand with CityU for the betterment of dual-career development for elite athletes. She said, “To sustain the local development of elite sport, the HKSI has attached great importance to the whole person development of elite athletes, in addition to high-performance training, with an aim to attract more gifted young persons to join the elite athlete family.  With more academic opportunities offered under the MOU, elite athletes are enabled to keep striving for sports excellence while pursuing their tertiary education simultaneously.”

Elite athlete Yeung Ming-nok (badminton), a Year 5 student in the Department of Economics and Finance at CityU, said this collaboration was very encouraging and he would fully commit himself to well manage both study and sports. He thanked CityU for providing him with lots of opportunities for overseas competitions, in which he can improve his techniques and finally gain the elite athlete status at the HKSI.

Another athlete, Yip Tsz-fung (squash), who graduated from the Bachelor of Business Administration programme at CityU, is currently ranked 25^th in the world. He said that he had benefited a lot from the support of the HKSI and CityU and that he had made big progress in both academic development and sports excellence. He believed that his professional academic qualification would bring him more options to his post-athletic career.

Another full-time elite athlete, Ho Tze-lok (squash), a current student in the Department of Management at CityU, showed appreciation to her teachers and classmates for showing care during her busy schedules of study and overseas competitions.  She also expressed gratitude to her teachers for the provision of a highly flexible assessment schedule.

Targeting to attract more sports talents to devote themselves in full-time training, the HKSI has established Elite Athlete-friendly School Network in 2014 and Partnership School Programme in 2015. CityU is the seventh university engaged in MOU with the HKSI for supporting athletes on their dual career pathways in their sporting life.