Sports Group Urges HK$10,000 Handouts For Coaches

The Hong Kong Sports Federation on Wednesday urged the government to hand out HK$10,000 a month to sports coaches, after conducting a survey that suggests that two thirds of them earned no income at all last month because of the coronavirus crisis.

The federation said because most government sports facilities have been closed down to encourage social distancing, many coaches have had nothing to do.

Coaches affiliated with 400 organisations were interviewed by the federation last month.

A fifth of them reported earning just a quarter of what they usually make.

Half say they’re facing current financial difficulties, and another 30 percent envisage they’ll start running into problems next month.

The federation’s vice president, Kenneth Fok, said the government needs to give them direct cash handouts to keep them afloat.

“If the average income of an average coach is 20,000, we are hoping that the government could give out 10,000 just to alleviate the current situation”, Fok said.

Fok said sports shouldn’t be treated any differently from other trades that have gotten financial support and subsidies from the government.

He warned that many coaches may even quit entirely, saying the survey found 60 percent of coaches have been looking for part-time jobs unrelated to sports education, while another 20 percent are even considering a career change.

“Sports coaches really represent the base of the pyramid… the whole sports ecosystem where you have the elite athlete at the top”, Fok said.

“Every elite athlete started from the bottom… started from the schools, and had a coach to cheer them along the way”, he added. “That is why we need this help fast from the government.”