The Universiade experience

One hundred eighty-two member nations, with 153 participating. The Universiade is the largest multi-sport event in the world, next to the Olympic Games themselves. The recently-concluded 26th Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China marks the first time the Philippines has participated as a nation since 1964.

“It was a very good experience for us, especially the kids,” says David Ong, president of the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines or FESSAP, the national member of the International University Sports Federation or FISU, governing body for the Universiade.

The Universiade is held every two years for students aged 18 to 27. Many participants are champions from the various World University Games in their individual sports. Given this age range, many current Olympic gold medalists also represent their countries in the games. With one silver medal in taekwondo from FEU’s Samuel Morrison (using jins from UAAP member schools), the Philippines placed 51st overall. The 2013 Summer Universiade will be held in Kazan, Russia, while the 2015 staging will be in Gwangju, Korea.

In preparing for the Universiade, the Chinese government literally spent billions of dollars constructing the various venues for the 24 disciplines played beginning Aug. 8. The main stadium alone, where the opening ceremonies were held, cost over $300 million, prompting organizer Yuan Guiren to call Shenzhen a “young city of miracles.”

In the past, invitations have been sent to individual schools with affiliation to the Universiade. However, FISU decided that a member association was needed. Given the surprising lack of awareness regarding such a huge movement, private sector funds drove the campaign to join the biennial event. All told, FESSAP spent more than P5 million out of its own pocket to be able to send a small delegation of 80 (including CESAFI basketball champion University of Cebu) to the games. Luckily, travel was not that expensive since the games were held in China.

“This is not about us, but all about the athletes,” explains sports editor and FESSAP marketing director Henry Liao. “Now that we have some experience under our belts, we know we have a product to sell to sponsors.”

“This is a rare experience, especially for the youth,” adds swimming coach and former Olympian Susan Papa. “There were also a lot of cultural shows meant to educate the youth about other countries and people. It was exciting to be able to meet with and talk to so many of these great athletes and coaches during breakfast, lunch or dinner. It really opened our kids’ eyes.”

Seeing the level of preparation and commitment necessary to keep participating, the next agenda for FESSAP is to recruit more members and examine the calendars of all the different school sports events. Since the games coincide with the international summer (which is the start of the Philippine school year), there may be conflict with first-semester sports of the big school leagues such as the UAAP and NCAA.

“That will be our next job, coordinating,” adds FESSAP vice-president Robert Calo of TUP. “There are many good athletes out there who can represent the country. It’s like being in the Olympics at a young age, and we want to give more youth this kind of experience.”

Another challenge will be dealing with the different national sports associations and national agencies involved in sports, since the Universiade athletes’ age range also matches those of national athletes. How will FESSAP work with the Philippine Olympic Committee members, and will the Philippine Sports Commission help, since the FESSAP athletes are heading their way, anyway?

“We’re hoping they will help, since once the athletes are done with us, they will end up on the national team, anyway,” Ong concludes. “In a way, we’re helping develop the athletes for them. We are also developing training programs for the student athletes to be able to invite other athletes to visit the Philippines and discover our culture as a help to tourism. Not everyone can get into the Olympics, but we can get more Filipino youth into the Universiade.”

Perhaps, FESSAP may find its way into the grand scheme of Philippine sports some day.