EUSA Magazine 2019-20

Dear Friends,

With great pleasure I welcome you to the pages of

our yearly magazine to share the best memories

of the past year and present our upcoming

activities.

Many important events happened in 2019, the

year of EUSA’s 20th anniversary. Allow me to draw

your attention to just a few personal highlights

here, while you can find a more detailed overview

on the following pages.

In the build up to the fifth edition of the European

Universities Games taking place in Belgrade,

Serbia, the efforts made by the Organising

Committee have been incredible. This is also

thanks to the direct involvement of the Prime

Minister of the Republic of Serbia Ms Ana Brnabic,

whose personal engagement in the preparations

provided a major boost. The COVID-19 Coronavirus

pandemic had a major impact on sport around the

world, and we believe the correct decision was

made to postpone the Games until July 2021. This

does not altar the magnitude, passion or quality

of the event, and we look forward to what is still

expected to be the biggest multisport event in

Europe, albeit now in 2021.

The 2019 European Universities Championships

reached a record number, surpassing 5000

participants, even though not all the originally

planned Championships were organised. This will

result in a re-evaluation of our sport programme,

planning the calendar and strengthening

cooperation with European sports federations. It

is worth noting that Ukraine became one of the

most active and most successful NUSAs, winning

51 medals in total. I hope this will inspire other

member countries to similarly demonstrate their

potential in future EUSA competitions.

EUSA’s main anniversary celebrations took

place at the Extraordinary General Assembly,

Conference and Gala in Aveiro, Portugal, during

which we also presented special awards for the

last decade. The events in Aveiro were hosted by

our Portuguese member FADU. EUSA has always

been able to rely on FADU’s contribution and

support, and it was not the first time where the

EUSA family was welcomed in Portugal with open

arms and hearts. It was the last EUSA General

Assembly for Mr Daniel Monteiro as the FADU

President, having led the organisation over the last

four years. I would like to personally thank Daniel

for everything, and I’m sure that in his heart,

EUSA will be held in a position equal to FADU and

Sporting.

Our last Assembly took several important

decisions related to the internal organisation of

EUSA’s structure. By implementing changes to our

Statutes and Electoral Procedure which assures

minimum gender representation and the presence

of a student as a voting member of the Executive

Committee, we became – and I have no fear to

say – a sports association which can serve as an

example for many. It was not easy to find a proper

tool to do that, bearing in mind that the cultural

backgrounds of our members and national

standards are so different, but we nevertheless

achieved this through a unanimous decision-

making process.

I am proud to see EUSA and its Institute continue

their active engagement and involvement in

the field of social responsibility through the

development fund, dedicated projects and

campaigns, supported by the European Union

and FISU. We are also happy to see many of our

members celebrating the European Week of Sport

(#beactive) and the International Day of University

Sport (#letsidus) together with us.

Mr Oleg Matytsin was re-elected unopposed for

the next mandate as the FISU President at their

General Assembly held in Torino, Italy, the nest

of the modern university sport movement. It was

an expected decision and well-deserved by Oleg,

with EUSA always ready and willing to support

FISU’s plans and efforts to continue the growth of

university sport across the world.

My sincere appreciation goes to member

federations, organising committees of EUSA

sports events, hosts of our Executive Committee

meetings and other events, universities,

volunteers, partners, colleagues from the

Executive Committee, Commissions and Working

Groups, as well as EUSA staff for their passion,

dedication and year-round support. I would

especially like to underline our appreciation to

FISU and President Matytsin for their contribution

to EUSA’s growth.

I would like to encourage all of you to take an

active part in the electoral General Assembly

in Yerevan, Armenia as well as EUSA’s various

projects and other activities, and we look forward

to seeing you at the fifth edition of the European

Universities Games in Belgrade next year!

The growth of EUSA is the reflection of our joint

work and depends on each and every one of us.

Adam Roczek,

EUSA President

Adam Roczek,
EUSA President

WELCOME ADDRESS

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