Four organisations have come together in an exciting new initiative to help support the delivery of sports programmes for students at the Sir Ellis Kadoorie Secondary School in Kowloon, a government secondary school that caters to non-Chinese-speaking students.

The school was founded by the Kadoorie family in the 1890s and first operated as a primary school in Sai Ying Poon for Indian children.  Today, 100 years later, it is an English medium co-educational institution serving Nepalese, Pakistanis, Filipinos, Chinese, Indians and others.

Sport is seen as a very important part of the school curriculum, and a number of Kadoorie alumni have gone on to represent Hong Kong internationally, but with limited resources it has proved a struggle to offer the students a range of sporting choices – which is where the HKRU Community Foundation and friends stepped in!  With the generous support of the Kadoorie Foundation Form 1 and 2 students this year will get the chance to try touch rugby supported by Operation Breakthrough, modern dance through InspiringHK and hockey through the Hong Kong Football Club.  In addition, going forward graduating students interested in a career in the sports industry will have the opportunity to apply for a 1 year apprentice programme working with the HKRU’s Community Department. “This is a great example of collaboration amongst NGOs from the sport-for-change sector,” explains Stuart Gunn the HKRU’s Inclusive Participation Manager. “Sport can be a real game-changer for these youngsters, and with this initiative we can give them an opportunity to try new sports and also offer them a pathway to continue their participation if they so wish, and even pursue a career in sport.”