1st Panamerican Congress on University Sports from FISU America in Venezuela

PUERTO DE LA CRUZ - On 24 April, the 1st Panamerican Congress on University Sport, jointly organized by FISU America and the NUSF of Venezuela, started in the city of Puerto la Cruz, District of Barcelona, Venezuela. Alim Maluf Neto, President of FISU America, highlighted the fact that for the first time in the history of FISU America, sports directors, coaches, student athletes, representatives of governmental organizations and academic leaders can exchange their experiences and expand their knowledge about the different aspects of the sports environment in their universities and countries.

The presence of Mr Hugbel Roa, Minister of Education for Universities, Sciences and Technology stressed the importance that was given by the Government of Venezuela to this Congress. At the opening ceremony the Mayor of the Municipality Simon Bolivar, Ing. Guillermo Martinez, underlined the important role which sport plays in his city and his country. Additionally the Rectrice of the Experimental National University, Ana Alejandrina Reyes, mentioned how important sports and other elements of the culture are in the university life, on campus, and that the play a very important role especially in these difficult times.

On behalf of FISU, 1st Vice President Leonz Eder welcomed all the participants from more than a dozen countries, including Canada, Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil. Colombia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Peru, Dominica Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. “My colleagues from FISU, Laurent Briel, Rosaura Mendez, Alim Maluf Neto, Luciano Cabral, Gilles Lépine and myself are not here to tell you what you have to do. You know your strengths and problems, your chances and challenges better than us. We are here to explain the vision and goals of FISU and to show you our programme. The goal of this conference is to exchange ideas and experiences and to learn from each other. Together we can develop University Sport in our countries, continents and globally for the benefit of the youth, our students and the people,” Eder said. In closing he congratulated the NUSF of Venezuela for having sent such a big and strong delegation to the 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju, Korea, and he expressed his sincere wish that through sports the people of Venezuela are going to find a common language in these difficult and stressful time in their country.

 FISU 1st VP Eder surrounded by press

The Conference was attended by different TV crews, radio teams and lots of journalists from the written press.

The evening all the participants of the Forum were invited for the Opening Ceremony of the XVI Juegos Deportivos Universitarios de Centroamerica y del Caribe. The basketball arena was full of spectators for this event. Eight countries with 420 participants will compete in 8 different sports. The Minister of Education for Universities, Sciences and Technology, the Minister of Sports, the Mayor and the rectors were present for this ceremony.

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