European University Sports Association: 1999-2019 - Inspiring new generations of champions for two decades

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EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES GAMES

ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS:

JULY 24 – AUGUST 8, 2014

The summer of 2014 saw the second edition of the European Universities

Games held in Rotterdam, known as the City of Sports, in the Netherlands.

The event was not only the largest Euro-
pean celebration of university sport, but
also marked two important achievements

• the centennial celebration of the Erasmus
  University Rotterdam, and the recognition
  of the event by the European Union as one
  of the three key non-profit events in the
  year, receiving support from the Erasmus+
  Programme.

The Organising Committee, chaired by Mr
Daniel Sikkens, was fully supported by
the Erasmus University Rotterdam and its
President Ms Pauline van der Meer Mohr,
and worked closely together with the
Student Sports Association the Nether-
lands, and a great number of volunteers.
Together they welcomed participants and
enabled them to compete, enjoy sport
and make new friends. The importance
of the event was recognised not only by
the participants, hosts Erasmus Univer-
sity Rotterdam, City of Rotterdam, Dutch
Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and

other partners, but also by the European

Commission.

The Games featured 10 sports: Badminton,

Basketball, Football, Futsal, Handball,

Rowing, Rugby 7’s, Table Tennis, Tennis and

Volleyball; and apart from sports offered a

wide range of educational, social and cul-

tural activities, making the event the larg-

est European multisport student happening

and the place to be. The event attracted

2828 participants, representing 269 teams

from 174 universities from 34 countries.

Futsal was the sport with the most partici-

pants (488), followed by Football (469) and

Basketball, Rowing and Volleyball with over

300 participants each. National University

Sports Associations from Germany, Portu-

gal and Turkey were the top 3 contributors,

each bringing over 20 teams to the event.

The concept of the Games was much wider

than the sports competitions during this

period. A key component of the event was

the inclusion of an educational, cultural and

social programme, expanding the activities

also within the sphere of social respon-

sibility and wider inclusion. The Erasmus

Pavilion at the University campus was the

hub of the accompanying programme,

hosting a series of diverse activities includ-

ing various master classes on the topics of

gender equality, students with disabilities,

LGBT issues, youth employability in and

through sports, elite sports and education,

city marketing through sports, sports and

new media.

The Games were officially opened at the

Woudestein Stadium, the home of the

Excelsior team. After an intense and enjoy-

able sports programme in which a total of

1009 medals and 36 cups were awarded,

the Games came to the end with the

basketball men finals at the Topsportcen-

trum Rotterdam, followed by the closing

ceremony.

EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY SPORTS ASSOCIATION, 1999-2019^128