EUSA Convention and EUSA-FISU seminar 2024 successfully concluded

EUSA Convention and EUSA-FISU seminar 2024 were successfully concluded in Salerno, Italy, with the final day of programme being held on October 12. These two events, held simultaneously for the first time, gathered more than 100 people, including EUSA and FISU representatives, members of EUSA Technical Commission, future Organizing Committees of the upcoming European Universities Championships 2025, and other delegates.

On the 11th of October, the programme of EUSA Convention and EUSA-FISU Seminar moved to the premises of the University of Salerno, where the participants were greeted by Mr Maurizio Sibilio, Vice-Rector of the University of Salerno and Mr Fulvio Bonavitacola, Vice-President of the Campania Region.

Mr Lorenzo Lentini, President of CUS Salerno, also greeted the participants, emphasizing the importance of hosting these two events, as well as the EUSA and FISU upcoming Games. The stage was then joined by Mr Matjaz Pecovnik, EUSA Secretary General, with a special appreciation speech towards the Technical Delegates, Organizing Committees, and NUSA representatives for joining the EUSA Convention and EUSA - FISU Seminar, as well as for the great work done up to now and to be done in the future EUSA sport events.

Before the start of the official programme, Mr Francis Cirianni, EUSA Treasurer, showcased a short presentation about the historical ancient city of Paestum that the group visited in the afternoon social part of the day. The official program was then kicked off with the scoop of presentations, giving insights into different parts of the Guidelines for Successful Organization of the EUSA European Universities Championships, introduced by Mr Liam Smith, EUSA Events Manager.

First to present the Rules and Regulations was Mr Miha Zvan, EUSA Sports Manager, presenting important information and documents related to the future European Universities Championships 2025. Matters such as key benefits of organizing EUC, documents and EUSA Minimum Organizational Requirements, important aspects, technical and non-technical matters of inspection visits, EUC project management, registrations, and team structures were presented and discussed.

Following with the presentation of Project Management was Ms Eszter Gulyas, EUSA Sports Coordinator. Ms Gulyas focused her presentation on the process of the EUCs, the timeline, examples of organizational structures, as well as the importance of progress reports and other types of important documents, as well as the value of the inspection visits in the process of the organization of the future European Universities Championships in 2025.

Next taking the floor and giving some useful information and guidelines regarding the Communications & Visual Identity was Mr Salvatore Sisca, EUSA Head of Media and Communications, who shared about how to build a strong visual identity, usage of logos, website and social media managemente, photo and video creation and implementation, and branding. He stressed the importance of consistency and collaboration in building a better and stronger visual identity and communication campaign during the European Universities Championships.

After the short coffee break, the programme continued with four additional presentations. First to present the Volunteer Program was Ms Hristina Hristova, EUSA Communications Officer, covering the importance of the volunteers in the organization and implementation of sports events, the responsibility of the OC towards the volunteers, the recruitment process, volunteering areas, and recommendations for a smoother organization of a volunteering experience at the European Universities Championships 2025.  

A short overview of the Result Management & Live Streaming was given by Mr Liam Smith, sharing insights of how the system works, how the website, the results, and match details are processed, as well as how the draw on the General Technical Meetings work, and the responsibilities of the members of the OC for EUC 2025 during the process.

Ms Aleksandra Andreeva, EUSA Sports Administrator, gave a clear presentation related to the Registration process and Accreditation System, as one of the many important steps in the organizational timeframe of the championships. She spoke about the registration timeline, deadlines, and the steps of the process.

Last to conclude the presentational part of the official programme, was the detailed sharing of many useful insights of Protocol and Hospitality, given by Ms Sara Rozman, EUSA Education and Development Manager. She stressed out the importance of protocol in organizing events, not just in the opening and closing ceremonies, but in the medal awarding, and other institutional events. She gave details regarding the challenges, main protocol areas, and expectations in terms of the protocol part of the future European Universities Championships in 2025.

On the topic of Best Practices from the 2023 European Universities Championships season, Mr Pablo Martinez Martinez, EUSA Technical Delegate for Volleyball presented the European Universities Championship of Volleyball organized last year in Braga, Portugal as a best practice example. Mr Jordi Mercade Torres presented the European Universities Championship in Tennis, organized last year in Granada, Spain as a best practice in terms of sustainble way of organizing an EUSA event.

After the programme ended, the present attendees then had the opportunity to go sightseeing and visit Paestum, a major ancient Greek-Roman city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, part of the area once known as "Magna Graecia". The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order dating from about 550 to 450 BC that are in an excellent state of preservation.

The successful second day of EUSA Convention and EUSA-FISU Seminar was concluded with a dinner. The third and last day of the official programme of the EUSA Convention and the EUSA-FISU Seminar was started with a #BeActive sport activity, a well-paced run around the coast and the historical port of Salerno. Right after the healthy start of the day, the official programme continued with the presentations of the upcoming European Universities Championships 2025. The Organizing Committees presented the upcoming events they are organizing in two parallel sessions.

As a third session present on the programme, EUSA Projects and Policy Manager Andrej Pisl presented the key EU Funding of University Sports Events and Projects. At the start of this session, the present attendees were greeted by a video message from Mr Stefan Bergh, Chair of FISU Committee for Development of University Sport and ENGSO President. Study cases of the Erasmus+ Sport Cooperation partnership DiscoverU and Erasmus+ Youth & Youth Workers Exchange were presented as well. The workshop concluded with a discussion session with Nikola Vincentic from Croatia, Marianna Pikul from Poland, and Peter Juhasz from Hungary - all representing their national university sports associations, and their experience with the management of the EU-funded projects.

The next part of the programme was focused on the Future of FISU and EUSA Games, moderated by Ms Sara Rozman, EUSA Education and Development Manager. In this session we had FISU Development and NUSF Relations Manager, Mr Tarmo Jaakson, presenting the Winter World University Games Torino 2025, and Mr Joerg Foerster, President of the German University Sports Federation (ADH), presenting the Summer World University Games Rhine Ruhr 2025.

Mr Lorenzo Lentini, President of CUS Salerno, and Mr Francis M. M. Cirianni, EUSA Treasurer, presented the next edition of the European Universities Games taking place in Salerno in 2026. Representatives from the Split 2028 and Granada 2030 editions of the European Universities Games, Ms Jelena Matesic and Mr Jordi Mercade Torres, gave us the first insights into what is planned for the future of the Games.

The panel discussion on the topic of universities and their placement in EUSA and FISU was the part that concluded the official programme of these two events. Moderated by Ms Filipa Godinho, Pro-Rector of the University of Coimbra, this panel saw Mr Bruno Barracosa, EUSA Vice President and Mr Fernando Parente, FISU Development & Healthy Campus Director taking part in the conversation. The presentations of both Mr Barracosa and Mr Parente focused on sharing about EUSA and FISU important programmes involving partnerships and support for the universities, like EUSA Associated Members programme and FISU Healthy Campus programme.

The panel involved interesting discussions emphasizing the importance and value of inclusion of universities, future possible steps, best practices, and the key factor of good collaboration between the two organizations in building up these programmes in the future. Simultaneously, the internal meetings between the Organizing Committees and the EUSA Technical Delegates of the designated sports took place, taking the first steps towards the successful organization of the European Universities Championships 2025.

The programme of EUSA Convention and EUSA-FISU seminar of 2024 was then concluded with the final closure words given by Mr Adam Roczek, EUSA President and Mr Leonz Eder, FISU President, both pointing out the valuable importance of both organizations in the university sports world and what value the significant collaboration between the organizations have and can bring in development of university sport in Europe and beyond.

At the EUSA Convention and EUSA - FISU Seminar, EUSA Office was represented by Mr Matjaz Pecovnik, EUSA Secretary General; Mr Miha Zvan, Sports Manager; Ms Eszter Gulyas, Sports Coordinator; Mr Liam Smith, Events Manager; Ms Aleksandra Andreeva, Sports Administrator; Mr Andrej Pisl, Projects and Policy Manager, Ms Sara Rozman, Education and Development Manager; Ms Marta Studzinska, Education Officer; Mr Salvatore Sisca, Head of Media and Communications; and Ms Hristina Hristova, Communications Officer.

The events concluded with the official dinner held on the rooftop of the Grand Hotel Salerno, serving as the occasion for the final moments of gratitude expressed towards the hosts, EUSA family, FISU representatives, NUSA, and partners. Special tokens of appreciation were offered from both EUSA and FISU sides to Prof. Vincenzo Loia, Rector of the University of Salerno.

For the great hospitality and great support during these two events, a token of appreciation was also given to Mr Lorenzo Lentini, President of CUS Salerno. Expressions of gratitude were given both from EUSA and FISU to each other as a sign of a great EUSA-FISU seminar and great collaboration. EUSA thanks all the participants, guests, and delegates for their presence at EUSA Convention and EUSA-FISU Seminar 2024. Special thanks go to the hosts of the event—the University of Salerno and CUS Salerno. EUSA events in Salerno were supported by FISU and co-financed by the European Union.

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