Heavy use of Youth Sports Vouchers expected for Dragon Boat Festival as young people do sports in summer
To meet the enthusiasm for sports of young people in summer, the Sports Administration invites businesses to join the ranks of Youth Sports Voucher cooperating stores and, together with city and county governments, sport business providing “doing sports” and “watching competitions” in their jurisdiction will also be invited to join in to offer young people greater voucher redemption choice. According to Sports Administration figures, the counties and cities with the highest redemption amount for Youth Sports Vouchers at present are Kaohsiung City, Taichung City, Changhua County, New Taipei City and Tainan City. It is hoped that the number of people using the vouchers will reach a new high during the Dragon Boat Festival continuous holiday.
To encourage young people of voluntarily taking part in sports such as surfing, fitness, swimming, cycling, marathon or watching basketball and baseball events, the Sports Administration plans to annually issue NT$500 Youth Sports Vouchers to around 1.65 million citizens aged 16-22. The Vouchers can be used at cooperative stores all over the country. The Sports Administration invites young people to participate in various sports and view sports during the vacation; the aim is to improve their physical fitness and support local sports businesses.
The Youth Sports Vouchers was released on June 1, 2023. Young people eligible for the vouchers are ROC citizens aged 16 to 22 (born January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2007). Eligible people can collect the vouchers by visiting the Sports Voucher Website (500.gov.tw) after inputing basic information.
The Youth Sports Vouchers this time adopt a dynamic QR Code mechanism. The QR Code obtained is valid for the same day; if redemption on another day is required, the holder must go to My Youth Sports Voucher on 500.gov.tw and collect a new QR Code. Youth Sports Voucher can only be used by the holder; the Sports Administration calls on people to protect their personal data after picking up the vouchers to avoid data being misappropriated.
The scope of use of Youth Sports Vouchers covers businesses that provide services “doing sports”, “watching competitions”, and are approved after Sports Administration review; for example, the vouchers can be redeemed against purchase supporters’ clothes, cheering on props, posters for professional baseball or towels, swimming caps and protective gear etc. for doing sports. People are invited to make good use of the vouchers.
The Sports Administration has planned policy explanatory meetings for Youth Sports Vouchers and will, with city and county governments, invite “doing sports” and “watching competitions” related sports businesses to login their basic details on the 500.gov.tw website; after successful review, they can start accepting Youth Sports Vouchers. At present, some city and county governments are promoting additional special offers with the Vouchers to offer more varied choice for redemption to assist the development of the local sports industry.
The Sports Administration calls on eligible sports operators to take advantage of the opportunity and to register on the Sports Voucher website soon to become a Youth Sports Vouchers cooperating business. It is also hoped that all young people can use Youth Sports Vouchers to enjoy sports and watching competitions so that sports become fond memories of youth. For any questions, please go to the Sports Voucher website. (website: 500.gov.tw) or call the customer service line on 02-77523658 (the service hours: 8:30 am to 6:30 pm every day).