European University Sports Association (EUSA) with its Institute welcomed three international European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteers into the office, joining the team in Ljubljana for the period of 7 months. 

The EUSA staff is pleased to have been joined by Ms Cristina Kenely from Malta, Mr Pol Arnan Rimbau from Spain and Ms Kinga Gaal from Hungary. These three young individuals will learn, assist and experience the daily EUSA activities in the EUSA Office. Here is a short introduction about our new volunteers:

Cristina Kenely

Cristina recently graduated from the University of Malta with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She loves sports and has participated in a variety of them throughout her life, including swimming, volleyball, and football. Moreover, she has competitively played netball for more than 10 years and has served as captain of her team for several years. Being part of sports teams has helped her to develop her leadership abilities and given her the responsibility of looking after her teammates. In addition, she is a highly organised, goal-oriented, and motivated in everything she sets her mind to. Cristina’s passion is travelling and being exposed to learning new cultures and traditions of different nationalities.

She is very much looking forward to this 7-month volunteering experience with EUSA, since she feels it will teach her a lot about working in this sort of organisation and will help her to develop more knowledge and abilities in this field. Her long-term goal is to pursue a master’s degree in sports psychology, so she considers this opportunity as a big help to learn how to work as part of a team and apply these abilities in her future studies and jobs.
Cristina's sending and supporting organisation is Prisms from Malta.

Pol Arnan Rimbau

Pol was interested in sports since young age, when he started playing football and later also started with track and field. After all these years and after having suffered several injuries, he now considers sports as a hobby. Currently, he likes to play padel, go hiking, running and he also goes to the gym occasionally, even though his real passion is still football. When it comes to his studies, he holds a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Activity, Sports Science & Primary Education in the University of Lleida and a Master's Degree in Sports Business Management in the University of Barcelona. 

Being part of EUSA, for Pol is a great way to get a first-hand experience in the sector and start building his career in the field that he really loves. His expectations from the experience are high and he thinks he is going to learn a lot during the next seven months. Not only because of the tasks and responsibilities that he is going to have, but also because of the international environment in which he will be working.
Pol's sending and supporting organisation is Mundus from Barcelona.

Kinga Gaal

Sports and traveling have been always part of her life. She tried many sports until she fell in love with powerlifting at the age of 16 and quickly achieved spectacular success in international powerlifting competitions. Her experience as a competitive athlete and her participation in several European and World Championships led her to the decision that she would like to pursue a career in the international sports business in the future. Kinga did a bachelor's degree in International Business in English at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and during her studies she gained a broader perspective and knowledge of other aspects of international business while studying in different countries namely in the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United States. 

For Kinga, EUSA is an international organization where she can combine all her knowledge, skills, and experience together while working in a multicultural and professional sports environment. During her voluntary work, she would like to learn how to interact and manage relations with association members, universities, officials, and other organizations working with EUSA. Furthermore, her goal is to get a profound insight into the organization of sports and educational events and the implementation of sports projects as well as in promoting the organization and its activities.
Kinga's sending and supporting organisation is Hungarian Volunteer Sending Foundation - HVSF. 

EUSA Institute is an accredited organisation with a Quality Label for the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), previously the European Commission's European Voluntary Service (EVS), financed by the European Union. In Slovenia, the programme is coordinated by the National Agency Movit. If you are a young person (18-30), check out the ESC volunteering opportunities which are available to you!