Although officially commemorated last month, International Day of University Sport (#LetsIDUS) and European Week of Sport (#BeActive) celebrations continued also into October with several EUSA member federations organising a range of activities to mark the occasions.

European University Sports Association (EUSA) initially planned to co-host the start of the activities with our members in Ukraine, and finish with our members in Hungary. Although due to the global Covid-19 pandemic the plans got changed, many activities were still able to be organised safely and successfully, with National University Sport Associations across Europe getting creative in their various activities.



EUSA staff working from the EUSA Office in Ljubljana celebrated the 2020 edition of the #letsidus and #beactive campaigns by participating in a bike tour through the Slovenian countryside, before also engaging in the European fitness badge battery test and taking up FISU’s Cheerleading Challenge.



Also check out activities by our members:

ALBANIA

In Albania, IDUS was used as platform to exchange ideas, best practices and opportunities at a conference involving two university sports federations FSUK and FSHSU. Thereafter a number of different sports championships and events took place, including basketball and futsal tournaments, hiking, paddling, paragliding and online Zumba classes.

AUSTRIA

Unisport Austria took IDUS 2020 as an opportunity to pause and take a journey through time, creating and sharing a montage of the many beautiful events in international student sport over the last 15 years to reminisce and enjoy. With the many successes in international university sport having made an important contribution to the life of student athletes across the country, the montage was a memorable way to highlight all these achievements once again.

ARMENIA

Coinciding with IDUS 2020 was the first beach volleyball student championship, organised by the Armenian Student Federation and attended by 13 male and 12 female teams, with winners awarded with certificates, medals, cups and gifts.

BELARUS

Celebrations across Belarus were widespread, involving over 30 Belarusian higher education institutions. Activities included sports festivals, bicycle and cross-country races, ZUMBA dancing, multi-sport races as well as virtual events including an online Chess and FIFA 20 competition.

CROATIA

Croatia marked IDUS with an array of sports activities in cities across the country, with a 3x3 basketball competition taking place in Zagreb; disc golf, bocce, hiking, cycling as well as a First Aid workshop being organised in Rijeka; a 3x3 beach volleyball and basketball tournament was enjoyed in Varazdin while 3x3 basketball, cageball and uniFIT competitions were hosted in Split.



CZECH REPUBLIC

Despite the pandemic cancelling many activities in the Czech Republic, a successful tennis tournament was still able to take place at the Ustav Telesne Vychovy a Sportu in the Czech capital, Prague.

 
ESTONIA

A variety of IDUS activities were celebrated in four different cities across Estonia including Tallinn, Tartu, Parnu and Viljandi, with 14 different universities involved. Activities ranged from group training sessions, running races, 3x3 basketball and blind volleyball, to Cage Foot, obstacle courses, poker, darts, billiards, cycling, softball as well as an environmental litter clean-up.



GERMANY

473 students, university employees and alumni from 70 member universities of ADH took part in Germany’s main IDUS event – the first digital ADH university run, where all participants were asked to record as many kilometres completed and metres of altitude climbed in a one-hour period, with the winner recording an 17.48 kilometres and 29 metres in altitude.



FINLAND

For the fourth year in a row, a nationwide Dual Career seminar was organised to celebrate IDUS in Finland, with 70 on-site participants and 50 more attendees online as assistance was given to help athletes in their career transition, while exercise sessions were also organised.

FRANCE

In France, the FFSU unveiled an interactive online frieze on September 20, tracing the federation’s history, from an institutional perspective, from 1921 to the present day. Articles, photos, videos and archives of all kinds were included in the nostalgic publication.

HUNGARY

Hungary’s main IDUS celebration was the popular 5vös 5km running race, which received a total of 343 entries, including 201 students from 11 different universities. Apart from this, online challenges, performance tours combined with a sports quiz, hiking tours and indoor games in small groups, of which volleyball and badminton were the most popular, were also organised.



ITALY

In Italy, two FISU Ambassadors shared their experiences and highlighted the importance of IDUS, while CUS Milano and University Bicocca organised a conference titled "Equality goal. For a new governance in sport", debating the goal of gender equality in the governance of world sport. 



KOSOVO

Together with Albania, Kosovo’s university sport authorities organised an international conference, where the role of the COVID-19 pandemic in particular was discussed. Students from various universities within the country then joined together on a hike up to Ljuboten, a peak in the Sar Mountains.



LATVIA

Cities across Latvia involving ten Latvian higher education institutions hosted a variety of sporting events to commemorate this year’s IDUS which included running competitions, relay races, non-traditional sports games, as well as football, baseball and orienteering competitions.



LITHUANIA

An international Student Sports Festival was hosted in Lithuania, with competitions organised in volleyball, football and basketball, and medals and prizes awarded to all winners.



MONTENEGRO

The Student Sports Federation of Montenegro celebrated IDUS with an active weekend for students, organising both a mountaineering tour in the Moracka mountains as well as a Student Tennis Championship with 23 participants involved.

NORWAY

Due to Covid-19, the Norwegian Association of University Sports promoted the celebration of IDUS as a digital campaign. The campaign encouraged healthy values and the importance of university sports, and was spread through social media.



POLAND

IDUS 2020 was promoted during two sports events in Warsaw, with a men's basketball and sport climbing competition involving 300 student athletes. Additionally, a training seminar for AZS employees and staff was held, where the topic of IDUS was discussed and presented.



PORTUGAL

An online conference titled “Sports and Mental Health of Students” was organised for IDUS 2020 in Portugal, with several discussions and round tables surrounding both the physical and psychological well-being of students. Later, 60 participants gathered for an enjoyable 5km canoeing course down the Zezere and Tejo rivers.



RUSSIA

Sports, educational and cultural and entertainment events were organised across Russia with over 50 entities of the Russian Federation involved. Events included competitions in table tennis, mini-football, basketball, arm wrestling, athletics and tug-of-war, volleyball, quizzes as well as an educational programme involving lectures and seminars on the history and development of the student sports movement in Russia.

SLOVENIA

Students from the Slovenian coastal city of Koper celebrated IDUS in the town square on inline skates at an event called “Zrolani Koper”. The fun-filled event saw a section of the square cordoned off for participants to enjoy rollerblading and scooters, while there was also a court for inline hockey and inline soccer.

SWITZERLAND

Activities took place in both Zurich and Lausanne to celebrate IDUS, which included a Sports Week festival, as well as Zumba and after workout classes.



TURKEY

In Turkey, IDUS celebrations included a dance challenge conducted via social media, where students were encouraged to share dance videos on their social media accounts using the #letsidus #beactive #myeusa hashtags.

UNITED KINGDOM

In the UK, IDUS celebrations were taken to social media, where followers were asked to publish what they love most about university sport, with high engagement and reposting of many replies and responses.

UKRAINE

Several different events took place across Ukraine, with students taking part in flash mobs, volleyball, twist jumps, e-sports, rugby 7s, rowing, table tennis, relay races and physical training sessions.



For more information about the initiatives, please see:
https://www.fisu.net/education/international-day-of-university-sport
https://ec.europa.eu/sport/week