Continental Association News: AUSF EC Meeting in Tianjin
October 9th, 2008
On September 30th, AUSF EC members, including President ZHANG Xinsheng (China), Senior Vice President CHUNG Tong Gu (Korea), Vice President AL-HAI Omar A. (U.A.E.), Secretary General CHOW Kenny (Hong Kong), Vice Secretary General XUE Yanqing (China), Assessor JARGALSAIKHAN Dorjsuren (Mongolia) and newly-elected Assessor PRAYOONPAT Preecha (Thailand), met in Tianjin, P. R. China for the 2008 AUSF Executive Committee Meeting.
AUSF President Dr. ZHANG expressed his gratitude to the Chinese central government for its support, especially financial support, to the development of AUSF since its headquarter moved to Beijing. In his report, the President repeated several times that the central task of this EC meeting was to discuss the matters on how to accelerate AUSF development and how to further improve its growth in a sustainable way. 'Most of us are developing countries, and we are amateurs', Dr Zhang said. 'Therefore, we can learn from FISU, but we stick to the principle that we serve Asian students.'
Also in his report, the President mentioned the great achievement of AUSF, including a fast growth of membership, from 18 member associations in 2004 to 32 in 2008; harmonious working atmosphere among EC members; regularly-hosted championships and great experiences from championships hosted. The President also shared his great experience in the NCAA, from which he summarized some important points for the sustainable development of AUSF, that is to meet the needs of university leaders, the needs of students, the needs of partnership and the needs of the media.
Finally, he mentioned the importance to walk on 2 legs due to AUSF's preliminary development stage. One is the National University Sports Federation; the other is the university. It is necessary to work out a principle and strategy to attract them both. After the President's report, the Secretary-General reviewed the great job done by the Secretariat last year and announced the financial situation on behalf of the Treasurer, who was absent for this meeting due to personal matters.
During this meeting, 4 main issues were discussed and approved. Firstly, what the AUSF has learnt from the 1st Asian University Table Tennis Championship held in Mongolia 24th to 27th April and from the 1st Asian University Handball Championship held in Korea from 25th June to 1st July. Secondly, championships to be held in 2009 and 2010 were finally decided. Thirdly, new board members, including the new Vice Secretary-General XUE Yanqing, who will replace YAN Guohua due to the readjustment of work and Assessor PRAYOONPAT Preecha, were elected. Fourthly, AUSF will affiliate both NUSF members and university members.
