The debrief of the continental IDUS activities was one of the key topics of this seminarThe third edition of the CUSF (Continental University Sports Federation) Seminar was held online from 6-7 September 2021. The two-day meeting objective was to improve the collaboration between the staff of the five CUSFs and FISU to discuss operational plans and actions similar to the previous edition. In 2019, the first CUSF Seminar took place at FISU’s headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, resulting in closer collaboration between members, especially in the field of marketing and the sports event calendar, while the event took place digitally already in 2020.

The first day of the meeting was opened by FISU Acting President Leonz Eder and FISU Secretary General/CEO Eric Saintrond who greeted the participants. The working sessions started with CUSF updates about their activities and situation, followed by FISU event updates shared by Lilia Barieva, FISU Education & Development Director: 2021 FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy (FVLA), Lucerne 2021 Head of Delegations meeting in September, upcoming Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade in December and the Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games to name a few. The meeting ended with a round-table dedicated to the 2021 International Day of University Sports (IDUS), celebrated on 20 September, during which each continental association presented the IDUS activities they organised. 

The European University Sports Association (EUSA) promoted IDUS through their events EUSA-FISU Strategic Dialog in Budapest (HUN), the opening ceremony of the European Week of Sport in Ljubljana (SLO), the EUSA-EUG2022 Convention in Lodz (POL) and some physical activities.

The Continental University Sport Association of America (FISU America) organised a playful IDUS celebration with 5 challenges on the theme of “Play to celebrate”. With the theme of “Fun”: NUSFs had to create a fun and creative video and share it with FISU America, the second theme was “Personal growth” which was discussed through the seminar “Get ahead of the games. A continental view from the psychology of sport”. Third challenge on “Participation” involved E-sport: a Clash Royale competition and fourth theme was “Pride" where NUSFs had to send a video with one of the wonder of their country. Last challenge was on “Cooperation” and encouraged cooperative work between students, athletes and university sports community.

The CUSF Seminar continued on the second day with a presentation of the new process for project applications in 2022, the CUSF calendar and 2021 project reports. The FISU Education and Development department then presented the FISU events calendar which included educational and sports events. Among the upcoming educational events, the Lucerne 2021 FISU World Conference and Costa Rica 2022 FISU World Forum are both accompanied by the FVLA sessions each year.

The FISU World University Championships and University World Cups department also shared some updates on the organisation on the upcoming seasons for the World Cups and Championships, including the addition of finnswimming and powerlifting to the programme.

The second day meeting ended with a presentation of FISU membership’s activities, along with the presentation of progress and improvements on ongoing projects.

Overall, despite the sanitary situation this year, many ongoing projects and activies are restarting in presential format in all CUSF, highlighting the resilience of the University Sport Movement.

Tarmo Jaakson, FISU Development & NUSF Relations Manager added “The involvement of Student Ambassadors and the excellent cooperation of the CUSFs during IDUS were true proof of their commitment to the University Sport Mouvement.”