Sports

We work to develop Hong Kong’s sports sector at every level. We make sports more accessible and engaging for all, especially among younger people, while nurturing athletic talents and celebrating excellence and achievements. Our aim is to foster a more physically active society, enrich lives and promote the well-being of the community.

Providing sporting opportunities to the Hong Kong community

Take a walk any day through the lush green trees of Victoria Park, and you will see people of all ages enjoying a wide range of sports and recreational activities on the multiple courts, pitches and in the swimming pool. This iconic urban oasis was formerly a typhoon shelter. During the 1950s, The Hong Kong Jockey Club felt honoured to fund the land reclamation and creation of this beautiful space that provides fitness opportunities for the people of Hong Kong in the very heart of our city.

This park was really the start of what became a decades-long mission for us to provide sports for all, particularly at a time where it was not available to people on the housing estates and amid the city's dense living conditions. We were fortunate to be in a position to help with the building and funding of public sports facilities such as football grounds, swimming pools and tennis courts, along with investment in major infrastructure projects including the reconstruction of Hong Kong Stadium in the 1990s and Jockey Club HKFA Football Training Centre in Tseung Kwan O. Over the years we have supported Hong Kong Sports Institute in training elite athletes and coaches. We have also been involved in fostering equestrian sports, including for the Olympics and Paralympics, and also provided recreation facilities such as Kowloon Park.

Making sport affordable and accessible

With Hong Kong undergoing a rapid population rise in the 1950s and 1960s, government resources became increasingly stretched. This was an opportunity for us to contribute to Hong Kong by helping with some of the funding gaps, creating additional and affordable sports and leisure opportunities. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a growing demand for swimming facilities in the crowded urban environments, and we provided the funds for seven public swimming pools, among them Tsuen Wan Swimming Pool, which was the first public swimming pool in the New Territories when it opened in 1975. Meanwhile, in 1972, the first indoor heated public pool was opened at Morrison Hill in Wan Chai, which meant people could now swim year-round.

From 1965 onwards it was the baby boomers and Generation X who benefitted from this growing number of new sports facilities. Attention shifted to building public sports grounds, including Perth Street Sports Ground in Ho Man Tin in the late 1960s and King's Park Sports Ground in 1973, and also creating playgrounds for children to provide a safe environment for them to play and explore.

As well as sport, in the 1980s we branched out into recreation, funding the redevelopment of Kowloon Park with the aim of providing an enjoyable leisure experience in the heart of an urban area. Opened in 1970, Kowloon Park is the largest park in West Kowloon, and home to the first heated indoor Olympic-standard swimming pool in Hong Kong, which was completed in 1989 as part of the subsequent Club-funded redevelopment of the park.

Nurturing athletic talent

By the late 1970s, local athletes were starting to make their mark on the international stage. With the ambition to advance Hong Kong sport on both the local and international stage, we helped fund the establishment of Hong Kong Sports Institute. It has been amazing to witness the athletes it has helped. The institute was originally known as Jubilee Sports Centre and was opened in 1982 and since then has nurtured the careers of Hong Kong's athletic talent, including fencers Edgar Cheung Ka-long and Vivian Kong Man-wai, who both went on to win gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The institute provides training and support to its athletes, as well as opportunities to continue developing their post-athletic careers.

Shen Jinkang, the former head coach of the Hong Kong Cycling Team, has also commented in relation to how the institute, the JC Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme and Sports Science Research Funding have helped our athletes thrive.

"For 30 years, Hong Kong’s sports development and athlete training have always had the support of the Jockey Club.”

Hong Kong Jockey Club Elite Athletes Fund was set up in 1992 as another way to support the training and development of athletes. Champion cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze has previously referred to the sports institute as her "second home" and is also appreciative of the way in which we support athletes both while they are competing and afterwards.

In 2016, Hong Kong Sports Institute was able to launch the three-year Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme to recognise athletes who achieve excellent results in six major sporting events, including the Olympic Games. "This scheme is another form of recognition for athletes, and it also eases some of the worries about life after sport," Lee says.

Hong Kong, despite its relatively small population of 7.5 million, has always done incredibly well on the Olympic medals table. Over the years, we have worked on developing equestrian sports both here and in the Mainland, and since the 1980s have been supplying horses to Mainland equestrian sports teams. In 2008, we supported the equestrian events in Hong Kong for both the Olympics and Paralympics and then assisted with the 2010 Asian Games equestrian events in Guangdong, later utilising the same site to build Conghua Racecourse. More recently, in 2023, we were proud to support the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, where Hong Kong athletes achieved historic results by winning 53 medals.

For 30 years, Hong Kong’s sports development and athlete training have always had the support of the Jockey Club.

Shen Jinkang, former head coach of the Hong Kong Cycling Team

Keeping the city fit and entertained

City life is not always conducive to staying fit, and research shows that more than 65% of Hong Kong people do not maintain a healthy lifestyle. JC Fit City is a programme set up to promote incorporating sports and exercise in daily life across Hong Kong based on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Meanwhile, JC Project MuSE broke new ground for us in terms of community engagement. Underprivileged children often miss out on extra-curricular activities at school. So to help them out, we set up tailored programmes of music and sports education for primary school children.

Hong Kong has a long history of football fandom, with the first local team established as far back as 1904. Today crowds flock to watch both the Hong Kong, China representative sides, our local Premier League clubs, as well as a regular selection of international visiting teams including Manchester United (MU). Recognising the great love for football, we have utilised it as a force for positive change both on an individual basis and at a community level.

Together with MU, The Football Association of Hong Kong, China and Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, we created JC Youth Football Development Programme, helping Hong Kong’s youngsters to develop physically, mentally and socially through leadership and life skills training, plus professional coaching to nurture their football talent.

There is also football for elderly players, with many still playing into their 70s and beyond. We have partnered with The Football Association of Hong Kong, China since 2023 and Street Soccer Hong Kong since 2015 to provide football opportunities for the elderly population and underprivileged groups.

The annual Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament has become a beloved extravaganza, not only for its fabulous sporting action but also the costumes and the enthusiastic feel-good atmosphere created by the roaring crowds. In 2025, the Sevens moved to Kai Tak Sports Park, but their home previously for more than 30 years was Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po. In 1993, we funded the construction of Hong Kong Stadium, which, in addition to the Sevens, also hosted all the major football tournaments.

Since 2022 we have supported “M” Mark events, including the Sevens, through community partnerships that enable organisers to showcase the sporting abilities of our top local athletes to inspire and motivate the community to lead a more active lifestyle. We promote sports participation and appreciation for students and disadvantaged communities, and bring in volunteering and sports career exposure opportunities for youth. In recent years our partnerships have included the Sevens, Volleyball Nations League and the Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships, and reached a total of more than 81,000 beneficiaries.

Our future commitment

Sport is a unifier, allowing people of all ages to enjoy team spirit and crucially get the exercise they need both at a young and old age. We recognise the benefits of sport in keeping people of all ages healthier in the community, it is a motivator and fosters a positive mindset. We are proud to have been recognised as an "Outstanding Contributor" for the support we gave to the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics and both the 2010 and 2022 Asian Games. We are also honoured to serve as the sole Partner Sponsor of the 2025 National Games, National Games for Persons with Disabilities, and National Special Olympic Games (NGD & NSOG) in the Hong Kong Competition Region, while also providing support for the games held in the Guangdong Competition Region.

Going forward, we are committed to strengthening our role as a key player, contributor and facilitator of local sports development in Hong Kong.