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“Kalos Kagathos” –the spirit of the ancient Olympic
Games has the ideal of health and physical strength, a developed mind
as well as cultural soul. (Hanley, 1987) For the harmonious development
of the whole person, education remains the goal of all human beings
that participated in the Olympics, whether as an athletes, coach or
administrator, regardless of gender. It is based on this principle that
I conduct this study on tracing the development of women’s sport
in Hong Kong Women have moved into the modern Olympic Games from a position of total
exclusion in 1896 to a partial inclusion in the earlier 20th century.
(Stier, 1991) Although women’s participation has increased substantially
since the turning of the 21st century as athletes, there is still not
a total acceptance in the governance structure of the Olympic movement.
In view of this, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) policy objectives
do not only focus on sports practice, they are also highly concerned
with women’s involvement in the decision making structures of
sports organizations. (Stivachitis, 2000) At the 105th International
Olympic Committee Session held in July 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia (USA),
one of the resolutions was that the NOCs should immediately established,
as a goal to be achieved by 31 December 2000, that at least 10% of all
the officers in their decision making structures be held by women and
that percentage should reach 20% by December 2005. The International
Federations, the sports organizations belonging to the Olympic movement,
should also immediately establish, as a goal to be achieved by 31 December
2000, that at least 10% of all the officers in their decision making
structures should be held by women and such percentage reached 20% by
31 December 2005. (International Olympic Committee, 1997) To echo the objectives of the IOC, Hong Kong set up The Women and Sports
Commission in January 2000, with the following terms of reference:
After its establishment, the Commission has organized one local conference
every year under different themes such as 1) Creating new experiences
in the new century, 2) Inside out of developing female athletes, 3) Winning formula for recruiting and motivating volunteers, 4) Exercise program called Mother and Child. (Fung, 2004) Hong Kong has progressed at a faster pace in women’s sports when comparing to many western countries. This can be seen in the participation of women in major games. PARTICIPATION OF HONG KONG WOMEN IN MAJOR GAMES FROM 1986-2004
As to women’s involvement in governance structures in the National
Sports Associations, a survey was conducted in March 2004. A questionnaire
was sent to all National Sports Association affiliated to the Sports
Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China. 46 responses were
received and results are as follows:
A table on the descriptive statistics showing
the profile of National Sports Associations
Despite growing participation of women in sports in recent years and
increased opportunities for women to participate in different sports
arenas, women are still under-represented in coaching and officiating,
especially at the elite level.
A table showing the number of male and females involved
in the governance of NSAs in Hong Kong
The case of women participation in governance in NSAs and as decision
makers are still limited compared to their male counterparts. Using the SPSS 10.0 the following hypotheses were tested:
Paired sample correlation was used to test the first hypothesis. The
hypothesis was rejected and it was found that there was significant
correlation between the number of males and number of females involved
in the NSAs’ participation in their respective sports as individual
member, referee, coach or administrator. Correlation between male and female’s participation in Sports
governance for Q 2-9
Paired sample t-test was used to test the second hypothesis. The hypothesis
was rejected and it was found that there was significant difference
between male and female’s participation in the NSAs’ governance
whether they be executive members, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Secretary
Generals, delegation heads or managers. Paired sample t-test between male and females participated in Sports
Governance Q 2-9
Hong Kong is determined to make its contribution to ensure that the
21st century will be the beginning of a new era for women in the Olympic
movement. Accompanying what Hong Kong has done in the past, the following
measures are recommended in order to achieve the 20% target set by the
IOC in terms of women’s participation in sports governance:
References
Fung, V. (2004) Report of the Hong Kong Women’s Sports Commission
presented at the 2nd Meeting of OCA Women’s Committee in Doha, Qatar.
International Olympic Committee (1997). Women
and the Olympic movement. IOC,http://www.Olympic.organ/efwom.html.
Hanley, E.A. (1987). The role dance in ancient
Greece: Education, religion, and the Olympic Games. Proceedings
of the USOA XI (p.93), Indianapolis, Indiana
Leung, M.L. (2000) Women and Sport in Hong Kong.
Women’s Physical Education and Development of Asia in 21st Century.
Proceedings of the 2000 Seoul Asian
Physical Education Symposium for Girls and Women. Korea, Korean Physical
Education for Girls and Women. 115-119.
Stier, W.F. (1991) Women in the Olympics –
The role of education. Journal of Physical
Education, Recreation and Dance, 62(11) , 62. Stivachtis, K.M. (2000) Women’s participation
in the Olympic Movement:: IOC policy and strategies. Olympic Review
XXVI-31. Lausanne, International Olympic Committee.
http://www.icsspe.org/portal/bulletin-january2005.htm
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