The 11th General Assembly of EUSA was held in Vienna on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the European University Sports Association. After the ‘Gaudeamus igitur’, Stefan Bergh, FISU Vice-President, expressed his warm regards on behalf of FISU President George Killian and the FISU Executive Committee to Alberto Gualtieri, EUSA President and to the whole EUSA Executive Committee. Stefan Bergh gave a short overview of the different actions that FISU has initiated within the field of Continental Federations. These federations are an important element in the important work to develop the global university sports movement. “EUSA has gone through a remarkable development during its 10 years in existence. Both in terms of quantity and quality the EUSA events really have increased”, Stefan Bergh said, who chaired already the first General Assembly in 1999 in Vienna and now again the 11th GA in Vienna.
Indeed 23 nations founded EUSA in 1999, and at this GA 40 out of 42 member countries were present in Vienna, which is a marvelous success and an impressive development.
Dr Malumbete Ralethe gave a welcome message on behalf the African University Sports movement, representing also Hassan Chikh, FASU President. He expressed his wish that EUSA will continue to assist the other Continental Federations, FASU in particular and that, based on friendship and mutual understanding, both organizations will be successful in leading the University Sports to become the life style of as many young students as possible.
FISU SG Eric Saintrond and FISU Assessors Matytsin, Eder and Douvis
EUSA President Alberto Gualtieri first presented a welcome message from Julio Jakob and Luciano Cabral on behalf of ODUPA, and from Claude-Louis Gallien, FISU 1st Vice-President. In his annual report, Alberto Gualtieri said: “With President Enno Harms and his colleagues who I am proud to be part of, our Association was born here and we come back to Vienna to celebrate 10 years of intense work, the development of our Association which goes beyond our earliest expectations, as well as the central role gained by EUSA in the European and World University Sport.” And he continued: “We managed to tie a relationship with other Continental Associations, non European Countries and Universities to exchange their experiences with ours but also to corroborate, with our presence, their activity, their organization, providing suggestions when requested, giving possibly a practical support aimed at reaching a common growth. We believe this way of working gave the impulse to the creation, even if only initially, of a Continental and World University Sport model which is different from the past. The appreciation and respect which highly reputed our Association, arises from its structure, its management, its capability to effect and communicate in the fields of culture and education. These are undoubtedly the resource and the vocation of the Universities, from which we will have those managers, who are our future and our hope”, Alberto Gualtieri stated.
Secretary General, Matjaz Pecovnik, reported that in 2001, 2 EUC with 250 participants from 22 universities from 9 countries were organized, while 15 EUC with more than 3,100 participants, representing 450 universities from 32 countries were organized in 2009, a remarkable increase of the EUSA activities in the field of competitive sports. Iris Olberding, Chairwoman of the Student Commission presented the success of the Volunteers Program, the Photo Competition 2009 and the intense networking done by the members of the STC. The following awards were attributed:
• Best University Award to the University of Ljubljana (SLO)
• Enno Harms Fair Play Award to the University of Cork (IRL) Golf Team
• Special Award to Mr Dragoljub Bojic, USSS Secretary General (SRB)
• STC Photo Competition to Daria Timoshenko (RUS)
The GA approved all the plans that were proposed by the EUSA Executive Committee. The meeting atmosphere was dynamic and positive. The next GA of EUSA will be held in Eilat, Israel, from March 3rd to 6th, 2011.
Leonz Eder, Chair FISU Press Committee
EUSA President Alberto Gualtieri
EUSA Secretary-General Matjaz Pecovnic
FISU Vice-President Stefan Bergh
FISU 1st Assessor Malumbete Ralethe
Iris Olberding, Chairwoman of the EUSA Student Commission