Eurosport supports Hong Kong athletes to launch TV careers

Eurosport Asia today announced the establishment of the
Eurosport
Commentator
Academy in Hong Kong to provide professional training for
Hong Kong athletes to develop their careers in sports commentary.

The five-session intensive program is open to athletes who are members of the Hong Kong Elite Athletes’ Association, and have trained at the Hong Kong Sports Institute and represented
Hong Kong for international competitions, such as the Asian Games or the Olympics. Based on the initial performance evaluation, two students will be selected at the end of the program for a further three-week commentary workshop at the Eurosport Academy in Spain, the training ground for all Eurosport commentators worldwide.

“There is a growing demand in Hong Kong for a wider variety of international sports programming, and this requires the expertise of professional athletes to provide exciting and accurate commentary in each country’s local language.

Eurosport is using its expertise to support the local sports community by opening up an alternative career avenue to athletes and ex-athletes who are eager to contribute their own sports expertise to the sports commentary.” said Arjan Hoekstra, Managing Director of Eurosport Asia.

The Eurosport Commentator Academy in Hong Kong will train the next generation of sports commentators in the following areas:

Fundamentals of sports commentary Types of commentary, including live, replay, magazine and short clips

Pre-show preparation Script writing, preparing information, commentary dos and don’ts

Technical knowledge Operation of broadcast equipment

Commentary style and form Technique in using “voice” and Cantonese pronunciation

Commentary workshop Students can participate in commentary production

Approximately 40 athletes will be enrolled in the Commentator Academy. Application process will be through Hong Kong Elite Athletes Association (HKEAA). Each student will have to pay a HK$5 00 fee upon application, which is refundable upon an 80 percent attendance rate. The first class will commence on 7 September.

Hung Chung-yam, Chairman of HKEAA said, “We are very excited about this training program coming out. It will help provide our athletes with an international outlook in the art of commentary as well as their own sports knowledge.”