Keeping the challenges presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic in mind, the Confederação Brasileira do Desporto Universitario (CBDU) has planned an all-new calendar and format for university sport competitions in 2021.
Since 2018, all university-level sport competitions in the CBDU calendar have been staged under the umbrella of JUBs – or the Brazilian University Games, which were made up of an annual season culminating in nationwide finals.
Each year, several JUBs events were organised, where each of the 27 State University Federations (FUEs) organised events in their respective states. The next step consisted of the Conferences – one for each region of Brazil: north, northeast, central west, southeast and south. Twenty-two sporting disciplines were divided into five events throughout the year, at the end of which, the JUBs Final Phase took place as a nationwide competition with the best teams, athletes and universities in the country.
In 2019 the 67th edition of the Brazilian University Games was held, bringing together more than 7,000 participants from all over Brazil. Over the years, JUBs has grown as an event and is now the largest university sports competition in Latin America.
For 2021, after an atypical year of a global pandemic and subsequent cancellation of all its events, CBDU has restructured its competition calendar and opted for a direct performance format for 36 sports.
In this new format, the Brazilian University Games return to the format in which representatives of the 27 State University Federations compete together in one event, scheduled for November. The competition will be organised in academics as well as the following sports: athletics, badminton, basketball, futsal, handball, judo, karate, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, volleyball and chess.
In addition to this event, another three major events are planned for the 2021 calendar. The JUBs eSports competition will make a return, promising to bring together the best university gamers in Brazil in an exciting face-to-face final in six modalities: LoL, FIFA, Clash Royale, Poker, CS Go and Free Fire.
The JUBs Praia event will take place with competitions in beach soccer, beach handball, footvolley, beach tennis, beach wrestling, beach volleyball, air badminton, 3×3 basketball and CrossFit. And for the first time ever in the history of CBDU, JUBs Atléticas will be held, with 10 sports as well as a university band challenge.
CBDU hopes that in this new format, the calendar will allow 360° integration of all Brazilian states and offer a complete experience for all participants in the competition, from athletes to the coaching staff. The plans are cautiously optimistic, as all events remain subject to the Covid-19 pandemic scenario.
