The capital of Poland was chosen as the venue for this important seminar within the ESOM project, together with a face-to-face partners' meeting organised by the Polish University Sports Association (AZS) last Friday in Warsaw.

The main objective of the project was to strengthen the management and organisation of events in university sport. This was achieved by combining experience and blended learning to provide mutual feedback and to generate/acquire new information and skills on key issues such as sport management, funding, communication and other fundamental aspects.

The EU co-funded event took the form of a seminar, organised with presentations and discussions to share different experiences on the main topics of volunteering and sports event management.

Agenda:

One of the main topics was the presentation of volunteering in EUSA. The seminar, which started with the recruitment and management of volunteers, was conducted remotely.

During the seminar, Nikola Vincetic from the Croatian Academic Sports Federation (CASF/HASS) shared his experiences, followed by Hristina Hristova representing the European University Sports Association (EUSA). Both speakers presented programmes, projects and volunteering opportunities.

The experience of developing volunteers for the 2016 European University Games in Zagreb and Rijeka and their legacy were presented. EUSA highlighted different types of volunteering within EUSA, including different phases of volunteer management and their importance in the organisation.

In addition, the Hungarian example was personally presented by Marianna Pikul from the Polish University Sports Association (AZS), Mirella Keschik-Gyenes on behalf of the Hungarian University Sports Federation (HUSF/MEFS) and Mojca Rupert representing the University of Ljubljana (UL).

The first two shared their experiences in recruiting and managing volunteers for European University Championships and Games. They also presented different keys to define the organisation of volunteers during the event, including different activities and resources such as volunteer guides. 

The seminar also addressed issues related to event management and organisation, using the case of the University of Ljubljana as an example. Mojca Rupert presented an example of a sports event organised by the university, explaining the management, promotion and funding of the event and the crucial role of volunteers during the event.

Kevin Van Loon from Student Sport Nederland also took part, presenting the organisation of the National Multi-sport University Championships (GNSK), focusing on the importance of communication support to promote the event and increase its visibility.

Boris Sekulic from the Student Sports Association of Montenegro (SSAM/SSCG) presented the strategic management of inclusive events, aiming at mass participation and student-friendly events. He also provided key points on communication, building strong partnerships with national sports federations and improving funding and cooperation. 

This will not be the only meeting this year. ESOM partners will meet again in an online meeting and seminar on 11 April and in person in Hungary in July during the 2024 European University Games and in Croatia in August for the FISU Forum. 

The ESOM project is led by the EUSA Institute (Slovenia) in cooperation with national university sport federations such as the Croatian Academic Sports Federation - CASF/HASS (Croatia), the Hungarian University Sports Federation - HUSF/MEFS (Hungary), the Student Sports Federation of Montenegro - SSAM/USSCG (Montenegro), the Dutch Student Sports Federation (Netherlands), the Polish University Sports Federation - AZS (Poland), the Ukrainian Student Sports Union - SSUU (Ukraine) and the University of Ljubljana - UL (Slovenia).