Shenzhen tour to understand GBA’s development of physical education and sports science

While the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is moving full speed ahead to develop itself into a world‑class city cluster, it has become increasingly important to share knowledge and experience among cities in the region. Shenzhen, which is only a stone’s throw away from Hong Kong, is a convenient choice for Hong Kong people to find the pulse of the region. To better understand recent developments in the physical education and sports science fields within the region, the Department of Health and Physical Education (HPE) organised a visit to Shenzhen on 11 and 12 July 2023.

Mr Roy Chan Ching-yat, Senior Lecturer from HPE, and Ms Carmen Chan Ka-man, Lecturer II from HPE, together with twelve students from various programmes of the department visited the Shenzhen Hong Kong Pui Kiu College Longhua XinYi School (PKXYS) on the first day of the tour. PKXYS is a school that provides both primary and secondary school curricula for mainland Chinese as well as Hong Kong students. On the following day, staff members and students from HPE visited the AquaLab of Shenzhen Hyzen Hospital.

“The GBA is a region of opportunity, possibility and rapid developments. To embrace this, HPE strives to provide occasions for our students to gain a first-hand knowledge of the education systems in the GBA and explore the differences and similarities between these education systems. We hope this visit can serve this purpose, especially in understanding the development of physical education and sports science in Shenzhen,” Mr Chan said.

Located in the Longhua district of the city and jointly run by Hong Kong Pui Kiu College and Hong Kong Xinyi Group, PKXYS boasts a spacious campus, modern teaching aids and equipment, and state-of-the-art school amenities. As regards sports facilities, a gymnasium and a swimming pool are under construction. During the visit, PKXYS teachers demonstrated to the HPE delegation their teaching style and related pedagogy in conducting physical education lessons.

“Dodgebee was one of the activities played during the visit. In Hong Kong schools, students usually play with soft flying discs. At PKXYS, students from both sides played with hard flying discs instead of soft discs. PE teachers from PKXYS first explained the rules of the dodgebee game, with a special emphasis on safety. They instructed students to do some warm-up stretching exercises and then divided the students into groups to play the game. This is pretty much the standard way PE classes are conducted in Hong Kong,” said Mr Chan.

On the second day of the tour, our students attended an experience workshop at the AquaLab of Shenzhen Hyzen Hospital. Opened recently by a former representative of Hong Kong’s Olympics swimming team, AquaLab is the first hydrotherapy centre operating in Shenzhen. “The therapeutic function of water has been well recognised by sports and health professionals in recent decades. Across the globe, aquatic exercises like aqua yoga and therapy swimming have grown increasingly popular among the sporting community and the general public,” Mr Chan said. 

The unique features of water, such as its buoyancy, resistance and pressure, combined with the control of water temperature, make it an ideal medium for therapeutic and training functions. “Coupled with modern technology, water therapy can treat injuries and chronic illnesses, and improve athletic performance. By performing different exercises in water, people can achieve relaxation, training and fitness purposes. They can enjoy other rehabilitation and therapeutic benefits too,” said Ms Chan from HPE.

Jimmy Cheung Yan-chun, a second-year student of the Bachelor of Physical Education programme, found the experience workshop at AquaLab a novel experience. He said: “I have seen people using aquatic equipment to do aquatic therapy and fitness exercises in water on TV before. However, it was the first time I tried it myself at AquaLab. When I did exercises in the pool, I realised that it was actually very difficult to run in water.”

AquaLab is the first of its kind in Shenzhen. Through the experience workshop held there, we hope that our students can keep themselves posted of the latest developments in the sports and rehabilitation fields. We hope that the workshop not only gave students a feel of aquatic exercises, but also heightened their awareness about the seriousness of sports injury and the importance of rehabilitation, and expanded their knowledge about hydrotherapy.

At present, HPE doesn’t offer courses on aquatic therapy. “Given that sports science is a rapidly evolving field, the workshop will definitely benefit HPE students’ personal and professional developments whether they choose to become a PE teacher, a sports coach or any other work type in the sports and rehabilitation industry in the years to come,” Mr Chan said.