2012 Government’s Social Affairs and Culture Policies on Sports

In 2012, the policies in sports will continue to implement the two-pronged strategy of competitive sports and sports for all.  In order to provide citizen easier access to sport participation, different sports activities and recreational classes will be organized, allowing the public to practice sport frequently and achieve better health. As for competitive sports, cooperation with various sports organizations will be continued to enhance the training of athletes and sports personnel, together with giving greater support to the development of sports for the disabled.

Cultivate a healthy lifestyle with regular sport for all activities

Sports practice have a positive impact on improving health, relieving medical services burden, nurturing healthy lifestyles as well as fostering harmony in society. Hence, the Government will continue to popularize sports for all, aiming to encourage citizens to cultivate the habit to exercise everyday. It is hoped that the public will be self-initiated to conduct physical exercise and adopt the healthy lifestyle of lifelong fitness.

In 2012, the Government will continue to promote sports for all on a regular basis, providing the citizens with recreational facilities, and various activities and services like sport exercises instruction, sports planning advice and physical fitness testing. In this regard, there will be the weekly Sports and Health Consultation Service Point and the monthly Sports for All Day in different parts of the city. In addition, Fitness and Recreation Classes and Rehabilitation Courses for two months duration, as well as physical fitness testing will be provided for the public at fixed or multi-rotating locations.  In addition, the Public Sports Facilities Network and the ‘Sport Easy’ membership programme will be carried forward, providing the public with more opportunities and channels to take part in sports activities.

With the constraints on land resources, the supply of sports for all activities has gradually reached saturation. In view of this, through cooperation and subsidization to the private organizations, the Government will provide more sports for all activities, as well as improving the qualities of the activities, which helps the citizens to acquire correct knowledge in choosing the right sports and the right sports plans for themselves. To these ends, surveys will be conducted on the existing sports for all activities to analyze the citizens’ interests and needs. Based on the data collected, the types and contents of activities can be changed and adjusted accordingly, providing more suitable sports activities for citizens to participate.

Continuous training for sports personnel to facilitate the development of competitive sports

It will continue the training on sports personnel, and with the introduction of incentive programs, it helps sport associations to set clear and specific goals for further development of competitive sports.

Elite athlete training programs will be optimized through a system of grading subsidies and continuing education subsidies, which can encourage athletes not to only excel in sports performance, but also to upgrade themselves through continuing education in a preparation for professional careers in the future.  This aims to help athletes to be more concentrated on training to raise their competitiveness and standards.

It will continue to give support to various sport associations for their professional development.  Aside from providing training for management personnel, subsidies will also be given for hiring more professional secretaries to handle programmes related to promotional and developmental work. Assistance will also be provided for their long-term strategic planning in terms of better pre-competition preparation and training programs, with the World Championships and the Asian Championships as mid-terms goals and the Asian Games and the East Asian Games as long-term goals, which helps the athletes for better performance in the coming years.

To boost training and raise athletes’ competitiveness, training through competitions is an effective method.  Therefore, athletes will be encouraged to participate in different competitions and training so as to increase their performance levels and gain practical experience for future competitions.

In order to reinforce the training on coaching personnel, professional coaches will be recruited from abroad to instruct athletes and local coaches, and it will also cooperates with academic institutions to provide coach training courses for current and potential local coaches. These courses aim to raise the professional knowledge and skills of local coaches, as well as helping athletes to work on with their sports career in the future. Moreover, cooperation with various sports associations will be strengthened to facilitate the creation of the athletic echelon system and to establish different youth sports training academies so as to cultivate more sports talents and propel the sustainable development of competitive sports.

As for the support for the sports development of the disabled, partnership programs including personnel training, intensive training, competitions and exchange will be implemented under the Cooperation Agreement with the national Disabled Persons’ Federation.  These programs aim to promote the common development of disabled sports in Macao and the mainland, and support the participation of the London 2012 Special Olympics.

Enhance sports exchange and cooperation and promote an active image of the city

Through implementation of the signed protocols with various sports departments from mainland, sport exchange and cooperation will be strengthened. Based on the good relations with the mainland, it is hoped that further cooperation with different provinces and cities can be established, which helps to extend the exchange and learning opportunities for the local sports industry.

Continuous support will also be given to various sports associations in job involvement of international and Asian sports federations, training and conferences, and organizing athletes to attend competitions and training abroad. This will allow athletes to learn the advanced sports knowledge and technologies, but also help to promote the sports development in Macao.  In 2012, various large-scale international sport competitions will also be held in Macao, and assistance will also be given to sport associations in introducing different international competitions, which provides citizens more opportunities of watching sport events, and also allows foreign participants to learn about Macao sports development and experience the active image of the city.

Publicize the concept of scientific sport training and increase awareness of physical fitness and healthcare

Through promotion, education and organization of different events, it helps to increase the public’s awareness of scientific sport training. Physical fitness test service will be provided at the core service point in Sports Medical Centre, and advisory services will also be provided via the Sports and Health Consultation Service Point and other sport for all activities.  The “Sport Nutrition” website will be regularly updated and related pamphlets and seminars will be published so that the concept of scientific sport training can be propagated.

The Macao Residents Physical Fitness Monitoring & Assessment, which is held once every five years, has been completed and results will be announced soon. After carrying out twice the study, physical fitness database on Macao citizens is gradually collected and a regular announcement system has been established.  At the same time, a feasibility study on establishing a platform for citizens’ physical fitness and health information will be conducted, which can benefit the public to understand the interrelationship as well as providing the medical departments more relevant data for policies formulation.  In addition, a large-scale international seminar of physical fitness will also be held.

Supplementary work for competitive sports will be continued to provide athletes with medical assistance and supervision, which covers medical checkup, psychology, nutrition, physical function, so as to ensure that athletes are in good health and compatibility to undergo training and competition, which result to better performance and results.

Optimize sports facilities operations and construct quality sport spaces

In addition to optimize various electrical and mechanical systems and large-scale equipment, it will cooperate with professional organizations to conduct various training for management staff, allowing the staff to upgrade operations with up-to-date management knowledge. Environmental-friendly and energy saving policies will be implemented, and disabled facilities will be further improved.  At the same time, the survey on Macao sports facilities will be completed, and a database will be compiled which provides significant reference for future sport development and city planning.

It will construct and remodel sports facilities progressively, which include the design and planning of the multi-sports training centre, the Mong Ha Sports Pavilion and the Sports Fitness Centre. In addition, more space will be acquired for the construction of different types of sports facilities.  It will work actively to include private sports facilities into the Public Sports Facilities Network so as to expand the available space for sports practice to meet the increasing demands of the public and to realize the sustainable development of sports in the future.

 (The English translation is for reference only. In case of any discrepancy between the Chinese and English versions, the Chinese version shall prevail.)