The National Council Sports Education of Mexico, known as CONDDE by its initials in Spanish, is the main body supporting and promoting young athletes in higher education in the country. It is also FISU’s member National University Sports Federation (NUSF).
In this interview with FISU Student Ambassador Valeria Rojas, the General Secretary of CONDDE and Vice President of FISU America Manuel Alan Merodio Reza tells us about the short-term and medium-term objectives, upcoming projects and events, as well as the main achievements last year of the organisation.
“During 2019, all the events carried out by CONDDE were special, but without any doubt the most significant was the World University Games, held in Napoli,” he says. “The Mexican delegation had its best participation ever, with 8 gold medals, 7 silver medals and 6 bronze. The goal now, is to stay in the top ten in future World University Games.”
Among the principal goals of CONDDE in the near future are finishing in the top three at the FISU America Games and also hosting the World University Games.
“We want to continue promoting the participation of our student athletes,” he adds.
To achieve this, CONDDE is working on several plans and projects over the next two years, and one of those is the National University Games which take place every year with around 9000 athletes from approximately 300 universities.
Also in the pipeline, is hosting of some Pan American Games in sports such as 3×3 basketball, organising meetings and conferences for the university sports community on topics related to the sports, health, training, communication etc.
Manuel Merodio believes what makes CONDDE special and unique is that it is one of the biggest institutions around the world, related to university sports, and certainly the most important in Mexico.
“It is the best civil organisation in the country related to sports due to the moral values and fair-play that university sports put into practice” he says.