The two-day “Community Sports Day in Celebration of the National Games” in Praça dos Lótus do Bairro da Ilha Verde (青洲坊蓮花廣場) concluded yesterday.
The Sports Bureau hosted the event, aiming to promote the upcoming 15th National Games of the People’s Republic of China (NG), the 12th National Games (NGD) for Persons with Disabilities, and the 9th National Special Olympic Games (NSOG).
According to the official website of the National Games, the 15th NG, the 12th NGD, and the 9th NSOG will be jointly held in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau.
The upcoming National Games, according to the official website, will feature both competitive events and mass participation activities, with 34 and 23 major categories, totalling 57 sports. The upcoming NGD and NSOG will cover 37 and 9 sports, respectively, amounting to 46 altogether.
The National Games Macau competition zone will host five events: table tennis, 3x3 basketball, 5x5 basketball (men’s U18), volleyball (women’s senior), and karate, while the NGD and NSOG will both hold the badminton competitions here.
The Sports Day featured booth games themed around the NG, NGS and NSOG Games being held in Macau.
Zhou Le, a student from Heilongjiang currently studying at Macao Polytechnic University (MPU), told the Post that she participated as a volunteer in the Sports Day. Zhou said she believes that the Greater Bay Area’s (GBA) co-hosting of the National Games carries special significance. She expressed equal support for athletes from both her home province and Macau.
While the 15th NG will be held from November 9 to 21, the 12th NGS and 9th NSOG will take place from December 8 to 15.
Community health consultation station aims to promote sports
Meanwhile, the Health Bureau (SSM) co-hosted a health consultation station on Saturday and Sunday with 10 public associations, aimed at promoting residents’ sports.
A doctor from the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), Sou Sok Leng, told the Post yesterday at the National Sentiment Pavilion (家國情懷館) close to venue of yesterday’s Sports Day that the two-day health consultation station promoted community fitness programmes and health lectures to encourage residents to use their spare time for physical exercise.
Dr Sou also said that by capitalising on the opportunity of the upcoming National Games, the station specially added youth sports training programmes to foster the integrated development of sports and tourism. These activities aimed to comprehensively improve public health standards and cultivate Macau’s new image as a vibrant city, she said.
According to a SSM statement, the health consultation station was set up in celebration of the August 8 “National Fitness Day” and Macau’s hosting of the 15th National Games of the People’s Republic of China (NG), the 12th National Games (NGD) for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games (NSOG) later this year.
Boys play badminton at a booth in Praça dos Lótus do Bairro da Ilha Verde during yesterday’s “Community Sports Day in Celebration of the National Games”. – Photos: Armindo Neves
Residents undergo a health check by a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner at the National Sentiment Pavilion yesterday’s at an ad hoc “community health consultation station”.
