City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) has always been dedicated to supporting the holistic development of students. Through various programmes, the University helps athletes balance their academic pursuits with sports, thus laying a strong foundation for their studies while allowing them to reach their athletic potential.

As early as 1997, CityUHK established the "Student Athletes Admission Scheme". In 2022, with the support of the University Grants Committee, CityUHK introduced the "Student-Athletes Learning Support and Admission Scheme" (SALSA). So far, these two schemes have admitted over 1,600 student athletes to CityUHK.

In Hong Kong, many athletes excel in both sports and academics. However, student-athletes often need to dedicate a significant amount of time to sports training and competitions, which can lead to their falling behind in their academic progress compared to other students. To support student-athletes facing these challenges, CityUHK has direct admission schemes or streamlines existing admission channels for prospective students with remarkable achievements in sports.

CityUHK also provides comprehensive assistance for student-athletes from admission to graduation. In addition to assigning personal teaching assistants to provide academic guidance for each student-athlete, the University offers remote classes and customised learning schedules, enabling them to flexibly balance sports training and academics.

 

Karate athlete Lo Sum-man is one of the outstanding athletes who entered CityUHK through the SALSA. She has achieved excellent results in many international karate competitions, including winning the gold medal in Female Kata in the Karate 1 (K1) Series A League in Turkey and the bronze medal in the Female Kata event at the FISU University World Cup Combat Sports in 2022.

In the same year, Sum-man chose to enrol in CityUHK's social science programme. She said, "The academic atmosphere and professors at CityUHK give me a strong sense of warmth. In addition to classroom study, the University places great emphasis on the development of sports."

She added, "Athletes have a very busy training and competition schedule every year, sometimes overlapping with university class time. CityUHK makes a great effort to support the academic progress of student-athletes through various arrangements, such as providing recorded lectures for review and tutoring by teaching assistants after class. This ensures that while we are striving on the sports field, we do not miss out on the lesson content."

Wushu athlete Gabriel Wong Cho-wai entered CityUHK's psychology programme through the SALSA. Gabriel needs to balance his classwork with daily wushu training and competitions. He recently showcased his ability at the inaugural Asian University Wushu Championship held at Harbin, winning the bronze medal in the Men's Optional Jianshu event.

He said, "In addition to classroom learning, I participate in extra-curricular activities at CityUHK. The Student Development Services organised a workshop for student-athletes to help us build up our personal image, understand our personalities, thoughts and values, and discuss how to leverage our strengths to analyse future career paths suitable for us. I feel that these activities are very beneficial for my future career development."

CityUHK also offers numerous scholarships and a variety of training programmes to help student-athletes balance their academic work and sports training to realise their athletic potential and to promote the development of sports in Hong Kong.