MA News: 75 Years of Swiss University Sports Federation
June 6th, 2007
Honorary Member Fritz Holzer - EUSA President Alberto Gualtieri - Dr. Arnold Koller, former President of Switzerland - Dr. Martin Hodler, SUSF President - Roch Campana, FISU Secretary-General - Leonz Eder, FISU and EUSA EC member & SUSF Managing Director
The Swiss University Sports Federation celebrated it's 75 anniversary with three events in Magglingen, also called the "Mekka" of the Swiss Sport. The SUSF invited the Executive Committee of EUSA for its second meeting of this year to the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport in Magglingen. For the first time Swiss University Championships were held in seven different sports such as Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Floorball, Tennis, Table Tennis and Badminton in the same city, and with a Gala dinner the Swiss Students Sport Organisation celebrated the 75 Years of its existence.
FISU Secretary-General Roch Campana presents SUSF President Dr. Martin Hodler a FISU token of appreciation for the 75th Anniversary of the Swiss Member Association
FISU Secretary General Roch Campana was also present in Magglingen and thanked the Swiss University Sports Federation for its continual support of the FISU activities since the foundation of SUSF in 1932. "The Swiss sometimes are a little bit complicated", he said with a smile on his face, "but always very punctual and very helpful." Indeed, the first Secretary General of FISU was Dr. Charly Schneiter from Zürich, and many other Swiss such as Rudolf Bosshard, Jean Brechbühl, Constant Bucher, Jack Günthard, Peter Holenstein, Fritz Holzer, Jost Schnyder, Gil Schwaar and Andreas Zweifel served FISU in different functions. "With Leonz Eder, Roger Roth, Hans Bodmer and Sepp Zellweger, the Swiss University Sports Federation is still very active in FISU", Roch Campana added. He especially thanked Switzerland for hosting and organizing many international events, starting with the 1930 Winter University Games in Davos up to the present time. "With the organisation of 7 World University Championships since 1978, two of them last year and the attribution of the WUC Chess 2010 in Zürich, Switzerland, as a small country is still very much engaged in FISU manifestations", he said.
In his welcome address SUSF President Martin Hodler asked where a lot of persons took the motivation to serve the student sports movement since 1932, mostly as volunteers. "This incredible amount of engagement is based on the fact that all of us believe in the values of sport. We are persuaded that sport can mean a lot in the private life, but also in the public area. We will go on to promote sport and University sport as sport for all, but also the competitive sport with the goal to reach a high performance level", Martin Hodler said. "We will continue to support the students which combine their professional goals and their aims in sports", he added.
More than 800 students had a great party in Magglingen after the competitions
EUSA President Alberto Gualtieri also took the floor. "We are very happy to be with the Swiss University Sports Federation here in Magglingen and feel to be part of your family", Mr. Gualtieri said. "Switzerland was one of the first countries to help to create the idea of an European University Sports Association and belonged to the founding members of EUSA in 1999 in Vienna." Around 900 Students from many Swiss Universities, Federal Institutes of Technology and Universities of Applied Sciences took part in the Championships in Magglingen. Some of them will also compete in different EUC and in the Universiade in Bangkok this year. In a big party tent the students also celebrated the 75th anniversary of SUSF.
