DEAR FRIENDS,
I feel privileged to welcome you to the
pages of our 20th anniversary publication.
Indeed, it is hard to believe that 20 years
have passed so quickly from 1999 when
the European University Sports Associa-
tion was founded at its General Assembly
in Vienna hosted by Unisport Austria.
There were a lot of firsts during those
years: the first General Assembly, the first
European Universities Championships in
2001, the first time our European Universi-
ties Championships attracted more than
1000 participants (2004), the first time
the EUC attracted more than 2000 par-
ticipants (2006) and the first time the EUC
attracted more than 5000 participants
(2019). Then there was the first European
Universities Games in Cordoba, Spain in
2012 and the first official invitation issued
to EUSA by the highest authority of the
country, President of Portugal Mr Anibal
Antonio Cavaco Silva, in 2013.
However, the history of EUSA is not only
written by dates and numbers ... this is
also the history of the people, the history
of many individuals who devoted a part
of their life to put EUSA forward. I’m not
able to enumerate them all, but many of
the names you will find by looking through
this book, and we tried not to miss
anyone ...
I do not remember when and where I
met Enno Harms for the first time, but
I’m sure it was a couple of years prior to
EUSA’s foundation. In my eyes, the first
President of EUSA was of the generation
which felt they owed something to the
others. It was his strong motivation. He
was the one who convinced the German
University Sports Federation (ADH) to
support EUSA in its first years, he was the
one who went looking for each opportunity
to engage as many NUSAs as possible in
EUSA’s activities. Although Poland – and
I personally was present at the Vienna
Assembly – could be easily called a less
active NUSA at that time, we had a long
talk in Nicosia during the first Sympo-
sium, which resulted in Wroclaw/Poland
submitting a bid to organise the 2nd EUSA
Football Championship, and my candida-
ture for the Executive Committee member
post. In December 2003 I was elected and
from today’s perspective I’m sure it was
thanks to Enno. I wasn’t among his closest
friends – he could have easily pointed out
someone else, but he was convinced that
spreading EUSA’s wings to the eastern
part of Europe was crucial for the Associa-
tion’s development. He taught me to look
at the things from a wider perspective
while overcoming particular interests.As we celebrate our 20th Anniversary, we
are being confronted with no different
questions as in our first years, on the way
to overcome challenges which modern
time brought us:- What are the values we stand for?
- What are our goals?
- What makes EUSA different?
- What are our inspirations?
- Who and what inspired us and how can
we inspire each other?
Our ability to give answers in due time is
the key driver to EUSA’s progress as an or-
ganisation which responds to its members
and modern societal needs.Today’s EUSA is the result of the work of
many people and contribution of many
institutional partners, therefore I’d like to
address the following words of thanks and
appreciation to:- The Member Associations – EUSA was
founded by You to serve your needs and
fulfil your expectations, - FISU and its President Mr Oleg Matytsin
not only for the help EUSA receives,
but for being the leading and inspiring
global organisation of University
Sport, of which EUSA is proud to be an
associated member, - Our Honorary Members, Order of Merit
awardees, colleagues from today’s
and past Executive Committees,
Commissions and Working Groups, - The colleagues from our Office led
almost from the beginning on by our
Secretary General, Mr Matjaz Pecovnik, - The Partner Organisations and the
Games, Championship and Educational
activities Organisers, - And last but not least, I’d like to address
my words of thanks to all named and
unnamed on the pages of this book,
individuals to whom EUSA became part
of their own intimate story.
I hope EUSA’s achievements over the first
20 years become an inspiration for the
next generation to come.
I wish you pleasant reading!Adam Roczek
EUSA President