The city’s first football youth training centre designed for youth – Jockey Club Kitchee Centre – will soon be built in Sha Tin, thanks to the $44 million generous donation from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The Trust and Kitchee also jointly announced today that the match between Kitchee and Arsenal on 29 July will be used to commemorate the start of the partnership between the two parties.
The sold-out event will now feature the trophy, “The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust Challenge Cup”. The match is also an official celebration activity for the 15th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and Kitchee jointly announced the start of the partnership between the two parties in today’s Press Conference. Honorable guests include the following, - Mr. Douglas So, Executive Director, Charities, The Hong Kong Jockey Club - Mr. Ken K. Ng, Chairman, Kitchee Foundation - Mr. Stuart Fraser, Member, Executive Committee, Kitchee Foundation - Mr. Brian Leung, Chairman, The Hong Kong Football Association - Dr. Philip Poon, Chairman, The Kitchee-Escola Parents Association The $44 million donation will cover approximately 90% of the estimated construction costs of $49 million for the proposed Jockey Club Kitchee Centre, with the remaining 10% to be raised by Kitchee.
Kitchee has also announced that surplus generated from the game with Arsenal and the gala dinner the evening before will be donated to the Kitchee Foundation for the Centre’s development. The construction of the Centre in Shek Mun will start soon pending the completion of the final procedures of the short-term tenancy lease for the site from the Lands Department. The Centre is expected to be completed in early 2014. Douglas So, Executive Director, Charities of The Hong Kong Jockey Club said the Club was delighted to co-operate with Kitchee Foundation in developing a youth football training centre in Hong Kong, and was honoured that Kitchee had named the trophy for the Arsenal match as The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust Challenge Cup. Wishing Kitchee every success in the game, he said he would also cheer for Kitchee Foundation for the swift establishment of the Centre, so to provide a suitable, long-term multi-purpose venue for youth football training.
Mr. Stuart Fraser, Executive Committee Member of the Kitchee Foundation, explained, “The proposed Centre will house the Kitchee-Escola program that started in 2008 as the FCBEscola Hong Kong. The program provides free-of-charge elite football training to boys aged between 6 and 12, three times a week, year-round. Kitchee currently employ 2 full-time expatriate ex-FC Barcelona Technical Directors of Youth Development to ensure the world-class quality of the curriculum.
The proposed Centre will also provide the facilities for the EDB-approved Professional Footballer Preparatory (“PFP”) Program at the Yan Chai Hospital Tung Chi Ying Memorial Secondary School within the Sha Tin (Ma On Shan) District. The Centre, when completed, will also provide over 2,000 session per year of prime-time usage to the public.” Mr. Ken K. Ng, President of Kitchee Foundation, further elaborated, “These programs are open to all Hong Kong youngsters during their football-formative years without any restriction on their affiliation with teams, clubs or districts. The Kitchee Foundation is extremely pleased to secure this partnership with The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. We are totally committed to make this a showcase of success for the future of Hong Kong football.”
Parents of the Kitchee-Escola are thrilled with the long-awaited news of the imminent construction of the proposed Centre. Dr. Philip Poon, President of the Kitchee-Escola Parents Association spoke on behalf of the students and their parents and said, “Other than the tangible benefits of enjoying the program free-of-charge, our families have benefited from the quality and the values the program has instilled in our boys. For many of our families, the Escola helped to build strong bonds between parents and children. Our boys are also well-educated through the Escola where they are taught the importance of manners, friendship, team-work, respect and fair play.
The generous donation from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust will create a facility which will improve the Kitchee program further with a fixed venue so that parents will not have to take their children to different venues from day to day.” Mr. Brian Leung, Chairman of the Hong Kong Football Association, congratulated Kitchee and The Hong Kong Jockey Club for the new partnership, and said, “Club football is the building block of any national football program. One cannot imagine what English football will be like if there are no clubs such as Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City or Liverpool. A strong national team requires a steady supply of top football players competing in the clubs. The Kitchee youth development program has been very successful and we expect that with the Centre, the Kitchee efforts will generate better players for Hong Kong in the future generations.”