European University Sports Association - First 10 years: 1999-2009

144 EUSA

first 10 years

1999-2009 EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY SPORTS ASSOCIATION International University Sports

FISU Philosophy

FISU was formed within the university sphere in order to

promote sporting values and encourage sporting practice in

harmony with, and complementary to, the university spirit.

To promote sporting values means encouraging friendship,

fraternity, fair-play, perseverance, integrity, co-operation and

application amongst students who will one day hold respon-

sible, and even key positions in politics, the economy, cul-

ture and industry. As allies or competitors, perhaps even as

antagonists, these young men and women will have learned

how to collaborate and confront every eventuality whilst re-

specting the ethical code enshrined in these values. Promot-

ing sporting values and sporting practice also means giving

a new dimension to the university spirit in study, research,

and discipline, through the strong affirmation of the full hu-

manist development of the individual and, thus, of society

at large. This development is not just intellectual, but also

moral and physical.

The university student should be able to practice sport at

his own chosen level within his university. Even if he or she

reaches a high level of competition in their sport, the student

will not look upon these competitions as an end in them-

selves, but as an element in the development of his own po-

tential, in the same way as he or she prepares for the upcom-

ing professional life. With its international dimension, FISU

brings together the university community in the wider sense,

necessarily transcending the conflicts which divide countries

and peoples, to achieve harmony between Academic Ex-

cellence and Top-Level Sport, or Competition and Leisure

Sports. The World University Sporting Movement also aims to

become a powerful channel of communication for bringing

together the various communities whose rich diversity is all

too often a source of conflict today. This philosophy neces-

sarily implies that FISU should be not only international, but

also independent and free, regardless of the source of finan-

cial and technical support from its institutional, academic,

financial or media partners.

The Rector’s Forum reunites during two days the Rectors

of the Universities worldwide to discuss the place sport has

within the university, to exchange ideas regarding the devel-

opment of university sport and to better understand the way

how university sport is organized in the different parts of the

world. Indeed, every edition of the Rector’s Forum brings

together University Rectors of the five continents.

In conjunction with the Universiade, FISU organises the FISU

Conference every two years. The themes discussed in this

congress relate to the study of University Sports, the differ-

ent elements of university sport and physical education. The

goal is to create more understanding among the National

University Sport Federations, to understand different systems

of higher education and cultures of the world. These confer-

ences involve keynote speakers, paper presentations work-

shops and discussion groups.