Minister of Sports Lee Yang (李洋) yesterday attended his first Cabinet meeting, where he discussed expanding eligibility for sports vouchers and improving education for student-athletes.
The Ministry of Sports is mulling issuing sports vouchers to broader swathes of demographics to stimulate growth in the domestic sports industry, said Lee, a retired badminton champion who has headed the new ministry since its establishment on Monday.
The ministry has a NT$21.43 billion (US$706 million) budget for the first year of its operations.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The proposed changes to the sports vouchers — which are redeemable at athletic exercise venues or sports events — would allow Taiwanese other than those aged between 16 and 22 years to get the coupons, he said.
The proposal is being discussed with officials in the relevant agencies and the private sector, he said.
The ministry is also in the process of formulating reforms to educational programs for students training to become professional athletes, Lee said.
Sports officials are consulting with teachers and coaches to come up with a strategy, he added.
The policy’s target is to ensure that professional athletes receive both the sports training and the academic instruction they need, he said.
Collaboration between the Department of Competitive Sports, the National Sports Training Center and entities involved in sports would be key to the ministry’s efforts to protect the rights and interests of athletes, he said.
The ministry said in a statement that the major goals of Lee’s tenure are encouraging all Taiwanese to engage in athletic activity, integrating competitive sports organizations and institutions, and increasing Taiwan’s visibility by hosting international sports events.
The major goals are also facilitating the commercialization of the sports industry, realizing the values of sustainability and diversity, and improving the training of young Taiwanese athletes, it said.
Also yesterday, the ministry opened a conference of school athletics directors, to continue through tomorrow.
Athletics directors would be briefed on their role in the ministry’s overall policy, and the division of labor between the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Education in the education of student-athletes, officials said.
Educators would also be briefed on dealing with matters concerning gender equality, child welfare and bullying prevention, they said.
Directors of athletics could join elective seminars on managing student athletic organizations, sports event planning, athletic safety and discussions headed by schools that have received commendations for outstanding athletic programs, they said.
An open meeting would be convened at the last day of the conference for the ministry to address concerns and design policies, they said.
A separate event for athletics directors at schools in the nation’s south would be held on Sept. 25 and 26 with a similar format, they said.
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