With more than 70 percent of participants successfully completing the programme, the Asian University Sports Federation (AUSF) has concluded its first-ever online Student Media Bootcamp, designed to nurture the next generation of university sports reporters across Asia.
As part of AUSF’s 2025 Media Strategy, the bootcamp featured interactive training sessions that covered news writing, interviewing and feature reporting, video production and editing, social media content creation and analytics, branding and advertising strategies, and news ethics. The sessions were led by experienced professionals from both the media industry and academia, many of them prominent Asian experts.
Conducted over four weekends in October, the online bootcamp offered six sessions designed to develop essential journalism and media skills. It brought together 45 nominated students from AUSF member federations, of whom 33 completed the training.
“We hope the participants can put what they’ve learned over the past few weekends to good use,” said Cheng Fave Seetow, Secretary General of AUSF (top left). “What we truly look forward to are stories emerging from universities and communities across Asia, as these young reporters begin sharing inspiring stories about university sports and beyond.”
Participants represented four Asian regions—West Asia (KSA, IRI), South Asia (NEP), Southeast Asia (MYA, THA, SGP, MAS), and East Asia (CHN, MAC, TPE, KOR, JPN). They came from seven different time zones, each bringing unique cultures, perspectives, and levels of journalism experience. “This generation of participants grew up in the era of social media,” said Chia-Ju HUANG, Chairperson of the AUSF Media Committee. “Through their unique and creative perspectives, they can help showcase the cultural diversity of Asia and the distinctive university sports cultures across the region. We believe their work will bring even greater vitality to Asian university sports.”
Building on this vision, bootcamp organiser and mentor Jie Yao Ma (Naomi) reflected on the process behind the training. “Recruiting them and guiding everyone through the entire journey was no easy task,” she said. “Most of them were non-native speakers attending full-English instruction, but we overcame language barriers, time differences, and platform limitations, and ultimately cultivated a new generation of student reporters.”
Participants shared that the bootcamp broadened their understanding of sports media and storytelling. Yoon Thiri Zan (MYA) described it as “a great opportunity to learn about journalism, teamwork, and digital storytelling,” while Bhone Myint Myat Kyaw (MYA) said it was “a fantastic way to learn new skills and meet other students.” Muhammad Ariiq Bin Mohamed Sukor (SGP) highlighted its value “in networking and learning the basics of sports news reporting.” Chien Chu Sun (TPE) noted, “While I study journalism, our school rarely covers sports news production. Through the sessions, I gained many new ideas and experiences.” Yajie WANG (CHN) added that “the curriculum was systematic and practical, with mentors’ real-world insights being truly invaluable.”
“I believe this is just the beginning,” said Naomi Ma. “As the network of Asian student sports reporters continues to grow, we’ll be able to connect talents and resources across borders, breaking barriers of language and distance, and allowing more people to see and feel the power of university sports stories.”
Both Xiaohan Huo and Naomi Ma, mentors of the bootcamp, began their journeys in university sports media as volunteers and now guide a new generation of aspiring storytellers.
“When I was a university student, learning from mentors and gaining hands-on experience opened the door to my later connection with FISU and shaped my career path,” said Xiaohan Huo. “Likewise, the AUSF Student Media Bootcamp gives young participants a rare chance to learn from professionals and apply their skills in practice. I could see that they genuinely learned a great deal from the programme.”
AUSF’s next step is to select outstanding participants as student media contributors, who will report on university sports, athlete stories, and regional events, working closely with AUSF officials to enhance the federation’s digital storytelling and youth engagement across Asia.
Written by Naomi Ma, pictures courtesy of AUSF
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