FISU Promotes YouRef at the Beach Sports Championship

FISU organised two practical promotional sessions with all the officials present at the 2026 FISU World University Championship Beach Sports in Figueira da Foz, dedicated to the YouRef Erasmus+ Sport project

Held during the six-day championship, the sessions provided an opportunity to introduce participants to the YouRef programme – “Inspiring and Retaining Young Sports Officials across Europe” – its objectives and its role in encouraging more young people to become involved in sports officiating.

YouRef is an Erasmus+ Sport project co-funded by the European Union that aims to connect secondary schools, universities and local sports clubs in order to attract, train and retain a new generation of sports officials.

The project focuses not only on technical officiating skills, but also on soft skills, life skills, capacity building and employability, helping young people develop pathways into sports officiating and supporting the long-term sustainability of sport.

The practical sessions in Figueira da Foz offered a direct platform for FISU to present the project within an international university sport environment, connecting the YouRef objectives with the wider FISU commitment to education, youth development and the future of sport.

The 2026 FISU World University Championship Beach Sports brought together around 400 student-athletes, coaches and officials from 29 countries, competing in beach volleyball, beach soccer, beach handball and beach wrestling.

By bringing YouRef directly into the Championship environment, FISU contributed to raising awareness of the opportunities available to young people in sports officiating and highlighted the importance of developing the next generation of referees and officials alongside athletes and coaches.

The YouRef project is co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Sport programme.