The University Sports Federation in Liechtenstein (USFL) is an organisation that works closely and directly, with their students.
“Firstly, the federation is led by a young team in their twenties, who are all students themselves,” President Christian Schemeth tells FISU Student Ambassador Daniel Knapp. “Secondly, due to the small size of the federation, we are able to maintain close contact with students for personal advice and support.”
USFL oversees the development of around 1000 active athletes and has four member institutions; namely the University of Liechtenstein, the Private University in the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Liechtenstein Institute and the International Academy for Philosophy. Although there are only four institutions involved, successful work requires coordinated communication.
“Primarily, we communicate with the students through our member institutions and their sports organisations,as well as via Facebook,” says Schemeth. “Also through the various national sports federations for student-athletes who are studying abroad. Our communication is mainly about upcoming events, recent results and sports offered at the universities.”
The USFL was officially founded in 2011, before which the National Olympic Committee had been taking care of university sports for many years. A joint decision was taken by the key stakeholders of Liechtenstein’s sports – the National Government’s Sports Commission and Liechtenstein Olympic Committee – as well as representatives from the main educational institutions, to establish an independent University Sports Federation in Liechtenstein.
“The Swiss University Sport Federation (SUSF) also supported the federation in Liechtenstein during its early stages of development,” explains Christian Schemeth. “Today, USFL still maintains close contact with SUSF, but its work and activities are developed independently.”
USFL became a member of the European University Sports Association (EUSA) at the general assembly held in 2011 in Ljubljana, Slovenia and a member of FISU during the Shenzhen 2011 Summer Universiade. The key people who made it happen were the first General Secretary Verena Burtscher first President Gregor Diehr. Schemeth also shares the fact that in 2019 the organisation reached another milestone, becoming a member of the Liechtenstein Olympic committee.
The USFL wants to grow and in the short term, they are focusing on improving student engagement at sports events and on enhancing their participation in international events. Schemeth proudly says, “This year, we will send a representative from Liechtenstein to the FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy (FVLA) in Kazan for the first time.”
From a long term perspective, Schemeth is looking to receive more public attention in the country and is aiming to host international university sports events in Liechtenstein.
However, before USFL can hold its own events, they want to understand thoroughly how such events are organised. Therefore, they are currently in the process of participating in as many international university sports events as possible, including International Erasmus Games, PCU University Games, etc. The year 2019 was the first time USFL participated in a Winter Universiade and the USFL athletes at Krasnoyarsk 2019 gained a lot of valuable experience.
The FISU Student Ambassador conducting this interview would like to take the opportunity to thank NUSF President Christian Schemeth, on behalf of the entire student body, for the great work being done in Liechtenstein and the continuous improvement of the federation.