This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous sports events around the world were affected, but the fifth International Day of University Sport (IDUS) was still celebrated with great enthusiasm. The Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation (CTUSF) for example, managed to hold multiple events to promote this meaningful day among local communities and university students.
“We view the International Day of University Sport as a big festival,” says Ching Yu Tseng, the Secretary General of CTUSF. “To celebrate a festival, it cannot be just one single event. So, starting from the end of August onwards, we designed a series of events for university teachers and students alike, to join and to get to know FISU and IDUS better.”
CTUSF teamed up with the government’s Sports Administration body to launch five different events, including cycling, hiking, university sports executive conference, and two types of workshops to promote the IDUS to more than 260 participants. Among these events, the 3-day workshop was a brand new endeavour for CTUSF in its annual IDUS promotions.
CTUSF Secretary General Ching Yu TsengCTUSF designed two different topics for the workshop – the first, about the sports industry in Chinese Taipei, and the second one regarding sports education. For the first workshop, CTUSF invited 30 foreign students to participate.
The workshop included keynote (virtual) lectures from representatives of FISU and Asian University Sports Federation (AUSF), a tour to a sports TV station, an outdoor sport programme and a visit to a professional baseball stadium. All activities were conducted in English.
“Before attending the workshop, I don’t know about international organisations like FISU or AUSF, and I had no idea of the sport culture in Taiwan, but through this experience, I got to know these things better,” expresses Sayaka Nakasone, a student from Japan. Not just for Nakasone, other participants from Mongolia, India and Philippines also expressed similar feedback.
The CTUSF’s Sports Executive Conference for IDUS 2020Many of them also considered the experience of watching a professional baseball game as interesting and valuable. “It was the first time for me to see a baseball game,” added Nakasone. “I learned about the rules, and I really liked the atmosphere in the stadium. All the spectators were cheering or chanting from time to time, it was really fun. If not for this workshop, I may not have had a chance to watch a baseball game here.”
“This is the reason why we wanted to invite foreign students who are studying in Taipei, especially students who are not athletes to join our workshop,” mentions Tseng. “We wanted to let them know about the sports world, and our local sports culture. We hope they will spread the message, to allow more people to recognise the charm of university sports. “
Right after the workshop concluded, CTUSF and Tseng have already come up with plans for next year’s IDUS. “This year we promoted the idea of IDUS to the sports executive from more than 100 universities. Next year, we hope that each school can design their own event to celebrate IDUS,” Tseng explains. “And if the pandemic is under control, we would like to cooperate with other NUSFs, to send students abroad to celebrate this meaningful day together, without boundaries.”
