To uphold the principle of people foremost and to serve the community the Macao Sport Development Board has, since it launched the “Public Sports Facilities Network” in 2006, continuously and actively sought to use available spaces to build additional sports facilities. Some of these spaces were made available via the restructuring of the spaces of existing sports facilities with the aim of providing the population of Macao with more sports venues to satisfy their growing demands.
In the wake of the reconstruction project of Mong Ha Pavilion, there has been ever-increasing demand for badminton venues. Currently, the venues provided by the “Public Sports Facilities Network” to the public for badminton are the 11 badminton courts in the Olympic Sports Centre - Badminton Zone and the 6 badminton courts in the Macao East Asian Games Dome – Zone B. Considering that badminton is one of the most popular sports in Macao, the Macao Sport Development Board carried out a series of measures which included the integrated re-structuring of the existing Olympic Sports Centre space by converting some of the spaces next to the swimming pool into a Sports and Leisure Area that can be used for badminton practice, as well as fitness and recreational activities such as Taijiquan and aerobics, so as to ease the relevant usage situation and make full use of existing facility spaces. Furthermore, the venue also equipped with other sports and leisure facilities which can be used as space to carry out family activities.
The Leisure and Sports Area is open for public use from January 1st of this year, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. The Board hopes that above measures of making good use of the venue spaces and that the increased hours of operation will not just further expand the exercise space available and improve the relevant services of the “Public Sports Facilities Network”, but also attract and encourage more residents to participate in sports and exercise on a long-term basis thus fulfilling the “Sport for All” concept of “Let’s Exercise for a Better Health”.
