Three days of educational sessions get going today (September 7) as the FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy (FVLA) 2023 Part II takes place online 7 – 9 September. Participants from around the world will join in the dynamic sessions, delivered by people with varied and deep backgrounds in the world of sport.
The FVLA acronym also helps outline the core elements participants will learn about over the three days. Topics will cover FISU, volunteer management, leaderships skills, and the Ambassadors Programme. Eighteen speakers, including FISU Acting President Leonz Eder, Secretary General of FISU Oceania Donna Spethman, Acting National Secretary for the Nigerian University Games Association Chidiebere Ezeani, and FISU Secretary General and CEO Eric Saintrond, among many others, will provide their insights and university sport experience throughout the sessions.
This will also serve as the start of the FISU Student Ambassadors Programme. Nominated candidates from national university sport federations (NUSF) and continental university sport federations (CUSF) will be named FISU Student Ambassadors for the 2023/24 season. In addition to the learning they will do over the course of the year, they will also develop and work on individual action plans to help develop university sport in their respective countries.
“More than 90% of FVLA participants are new this year, so they only start exploring a whole new world of university sport with FISU and its events. I am so happy to guide them and to see them making friends from all over the world. The end of FVLA is only the start of the FISU Student Ambassadors Programme, the best is yet to come!” said Albina Rakhmatullina, FISU Student Ambassadors Programme Coordinator.
The 7 – 9 September sessions serve as the main ones for FVLA, but in addition there are seven National Volunteer Leaders Academies established to provide additional
Croatia Volunteer and Leadership Academy opportunities for upcoming leaders in those nations. Argentina, Chile, Croatia, Brazil, Korea, Iran, and Portugal have all held sessions over the course of the last year and have delivered unique projects to support university sport in their countries.
Jesus Rodriguez participated in the FeDUA Academy in Argentina and had this to say about his experience. “It made me see how sport is lived from other universities, and also learn about its realities. It was there that we got to know FISU a little more thoroughly and we discovered that it is a huge network of people who work in pursuit of sport and student well-being.”
Korea also held its first FISU Academy, led by FVLA alumna Min Joo Kim. “It was held with the purpose of educating Korean students and student-athletes to achieve excellence in body and mind, and in helping them to become better leaders of tomorrow through educational workshops and sessions,” she shared.
This week online with FVLA, and throughout the year with the FISU Student Ambassadors Programme and National Volunteer Leaders Academy, multiple opportunities exist for engagement, learning, and development to support tomorrow’s university sport leaders in their personal growth. To join this week, registration for FVLA sessions can be done here.