4 EUSA
first 10 years
I
t’s the year 1981. At the Europa Palace Hotel in Anacapri, from the
29th to the 31st of May a meeting is taking place, called by CUSI -
the Italian University Sport Federation, aimed at creating the CESCU, the
University Commission for Sport and Culture of the European Union.Having a close look at the list of the participants, we find among them
countries and persons making the history of the University Sport in our
Continent. As a matter of fact, there is Enno Harms from Germany,
Jean Talbot from France, Ignazio Lojacono from Italy, Hedwin Huis from
the Netherlands, Eduardo Fernandez Molina from Portugal, Laila Iren
Helgesen from Norway, Kenneth Erskog from Sweden and Roch Campana
from Belgium. The latter, together with the FISU Vice President, Gilbert
Schwaar from Switzerland, was present also as International Relations
Representative of the World University Sport Federation.
For various reasons, CESCU did not have a sustainable future at the
time; however the original idea to unite all the European National Sport
Associations into a unique entity still remained. As a matter of fact, until
1999, the international sport activity was represented by the International
University Sports Federation (FISU) alone, even though local events among
neighbouring countries occasionally occurred.The same year - in1999, during the Universiade at Palma de Mallorca, a
group of National University Sport Associations’ executives from Europe
decided to resume talks of Anacapri 1981: EUSA, the European University
Sport Association, founded by 25 European countries, was born in Vienna.In Palma de Mallorca the decision was made to form an association that
would not only involve students representing their nation alone but would
also include representatives from individual European Universities which,
under the aegis of NUSA, were annual winners of their national University
Championships.
On the basis and using these core characteristics as a guideline, between
2000 and 2005 EUSA was structurally and technically organised, with the
participation and support required to consolidate such a new association
under the leadership of President Enno Harms with whom I had the
pleasure and the honour to work with at first as Executive Committee
Member, then as Treasurer and the Vice President. The associated
Members, at present 42, represent university sport nationwide in their
countries.Welcome by the EUSA President