Mr Dominic Lai, Group Managing Director of AS Watson Group, the organizer and sponsor of the awards, said at the ceremony, "We are very pleased that the SSA received once again an overwhelming response of 800 nominations, which was a new record for the Awards. About 70% of all schools in Hong Kong participated this year, among which 12% were nominating students for the first time since the SSA was launched in 2005. This reflected the enthusiasm of schools to promote a sporting culture. We hope this would encourage students to pursue their dreams in sports, and develop their potentials to the full. The support that school principals, teachers and parents rendered to the student awardees, helped them build up healthy lifestyles and positive mentality, which are critical for success in the students' upbringing and their contribution to the Hong Kong society.

"Being awarded in 2008 carries special meaning to student awardees this year, as the Olympic Games will be held in Mainland China for the first time. Hong Kong will co-host the Equestrian events, which is an important task that all Hong Kong Chinese will be proud of!

The SSA is the first of its kind in Hong Kong opening to all primary, secondary and special schools in the territory with the aims of awarding one sports talent from each school every year, and identifying tip-top student athletes for Hong Kong. Launched in 2005, the awards continue to act as a corporate drive to help build an active sporting culture for the forthcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2009 East Asian Games in Hong Kong, and the years to come.

At the presentation, local elite athletes Mr Tang Yik-chun (famous sprinter), Ms Tsang Sze – man (Asian Games silver medalist in Wushu), and Mr Choi Fong-yue (Asian Games basketball representative and ex-professional basketballer), shared with the students their secrets of success and the hard work they had dedicated towards their sports.

Among the 800 award winners, 382(47.7%) were from primary, 378(47.3%) from secondary and 40(5%) from special schools. There were 451 boys and 349 girls, with the youngest winner being a seven-year-old primary two student. In the secondary section, some of the winners were already representing Hong Kong in international competitions. The 40 special school student winners are outstanding athletes in various sports, including 9 students representing Hong Kong in Special Olympics Games' swimming, badminton, track and field, lawn bowls and gymnastics respectively.

Nearly half of the award winners participated in track and field (46.8%) to be followed by swimming, basketball, soccer, volleyball, badminton, table-tennis, handball and gymnastics. Some students, however, chose to excel themselves in less popular sports such as Wushu, Taekwondo, tennis, squash, fencing and dancing.

The SSA is supported by the Education Bureau, Home Affairs Bureau, Social Welfare Department, Association of Principals of Government Secondary Schools, Hong Kong Association of Heads of Secondary Schools, Hong Kong Subsidised Secondary Schools Council, Union of Heads of Aided Primary Schools of Hong Kong, Union of Government Primary School Headmasters & Headmistresses, Subsidised Primary Schools Council, Hong Kong Special Schools Council, The Hong Kong Schools Sports Federation, and The Outstanding Young Persons Association.

Details of the awards