Top athletes around the world attend Hong Kong's first forum on promoting sports as a tool to tackle mental health challenges

The EACT Jockey Club Active Community Programme Presents: Laureus Sport for Good Mental Health & Wellbeing Forum, funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, was held from 20 to 23 February, 2025.

With the aim of addressing mental health and wellness issues in the region, the Forum included a series of events held from February to March that brought together Laureus’ Sport for Good programmes, world-class athletes, experts and the general public.

The star-studded Forum featured elite athletes across three continents, including China Olympic speed skating champion Yang Yang, fellow Laureus World Sports Academy Members Steve Waugh – the legendary Australian cricketer – and eight-time world squash champion Nicol David.

Leading the discussions were Laureus Ambassador and British double Olympic cycling gold medallist Victoria Pendleton, as well as Sean Dyche, the former manager of English professional football teams Everton and Burnley and a member of the Laureus-partnered League Managers Association.

Held in various locations across Hong Kong, the multi-day event was well-received, attracting more than 1,000 participants.
The Forum brought together community partners, athletes, mental health and wellbeing experts and key stakeholders to discuss the role of sport in building confidence and resilience in young people.

The Forum was built on Laureus’ Model City Hong Kong programme which, since 2020, has supported local organisations to tackle these issues through the use of sport and physical activity.

Two school visits were also organized to celebrate Laureus’ longstanding partnership with the Hong Kong Elite Athletes’ Association. These visits featured renowned local athletes, including Laureus Ambassador and Hong Kong’s four-time Olympic swimming medallist Siobhan Haughey, iconic boxing athlete Rex Tso, star jockey Derek Leung, former Olympic swimmer Alex Fong and rugby player Tammy Lau.

Hosted at The Park Lane Hotel, the Forum was attended by sports ambassadors, athletes and students for a series of leadership and discussion panels.

The Forum was the largest in-person Sport for Good gathering in Hong Kong. It was the first in-person event of its kind, building on the success of a virtual Mental Health Forum held in Hong Kong in December 2020, and demonstrating Laureus’ long-term commitment to mental health and wellbeing in the region.

This year, the Forum focused on the knowledge, technical insights and learning opportunities necessary to support youth mental health and wellbeing in the region and beyond.

Based on three “pillars”, namely learning, changemakers and catalyst, the Forum highlighted Hong Kong as a world leader in making use of sports as a means to address the social challenges faced by young people by utilizing Laureus’ global network to share knowledge and best practice.

The event also highlighted The Hong Kong Jockey Club as a leading global partner in tackling inclusivity and accessibility issues within the region.

Following the Forum, the “Festival of Sport” took place over two days at AIRSIDE, bringing together athletes and participants through a series of workshops. The Festival of Sport applied concepts discussed at the Forum, bringing the discussions to life through “Sport for Good” clinics with local young people.

This multi-day event was part of Laureus’ year-round calendar of events within the region. Its collaborative, multi-stakeholder programme is instrumental in improving youth mental health and wellbeing in Hong Kong through sport.

 “Mental health and wellbeing, particularly of our youth, is a critical issue, and this event is a valuable opportunity to bring together both local and international stakeholders to share knowledge and best practice,” said Robbie McRobbie, Executive Manager, Charities (Sports) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

McRobbie reaffirmed that The Hong Kong Jockey Club is an organisation that has long recognised the power of sport to positively impact both individuals and society.

Meanwhile, Yang Yang, Laureus Academy Member and China Olympic speed skating champion, believed that Laureus has become more than a stakeholder in Sport for Good in the region.

“This Forum showed that we can act as a network, both locally and globally, creating platforms such as this for the sharing of knowledge that will supercharge development in this sector,” said Yang.

“But to do that we need partners, and we are fortunate to share this mission with The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and the Hong Kong Elite Athletes’ Association, who are key supporters of this project,” Yang added.