The Convention of the European University Sports Association (EUSA) in Łódź is behind us. Delegates from all over Europe came to the capital of the region to share their plans and experiences with the team preparing the 2022 European Academic Games. They also visited sports facilities where the Lodz EEU 2022 will be held.
The convention was opened by prof. Krzysztof Jóźwik, the rector of the Lodz University of Technology, drawing the attention of the delegates to the charms of the city, which in July next year will host the EUG2022. Then, on behalf of the President of EUSA, Adam Roczek, Haris Pavletic, the vice-president of this federation, welcomed the participants. Pavletic reminded that the European Universities Games is the most important sport project of the European Federation of Academic Sports. “I hope that the Games in Łódź will be the best in the history of EUSA,” said Pavletic.
Tatsiana Andrushka from the organizing committee of the EUG Lodz 2022 presented a special report on the current state of preparations for the Games. The COVID-19 pandemic made preparations significantly more difficult, but thanks to proper organization, it was possible to make up for lost time. “We managed to develop the municipal sports facilities for 15 disciplines, but we do not rule out extending this number,” announced Andrushka. The EUG 2022 team effectively cooperates with all universities in the city and prepares projects together with ERASMUS +. The Games are to be an opportunity to promote Łódź universities and the city in Europe. “We want to promote Łódź, which is a very creative place open to students from all over the world. Our universities are closely related to sports” reported Tatsiana Andrushka. As part of the event, the dormitories are to be renovated, and symbols related to EUG2022 are to remain in the city’s public space.
During the convention, Miha Zvan, the sport manager of EUSA, presented statistics confirming the dynamic development of the EUG. “In 2012, we had 2,574 Olympics participants from 154 universities, in 2018 this number increased to 4,027 athletes from 289 universities.”
From the point of view of the upcoming European Universities Games in Łódź, the information and comments presented by the coordinators of previous editions of the EUG turned out to be very valuable. Nikola Vincentic, responsible for the preparation of the Games in Zagreb in 2016, was the first to share his experiences with the audience. At that time, the help of 1,400 volunteers turned out to be of key importance. Thanks to the EUG, it was possible to renovate the sports infrastructure and dormitories. Then Filipa Godinho, coordinator of the EUG 2018 in Coimbra, shared her experiences. Thanks to intensive and effective work, it was possible to raise numerous funds and attract a large audience to sports facilities.
On the next day of the meeting in Łódź, EUSA technical delegates visited sports facilities, checking how they were adapted to next year’s games. The conclusions of the audit will be presented in the next few weeks.
The EUSA convention in Łódź took place on September 23-25.
