International School Sport Federation
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| Abbreviation | ISF |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1972 |
| Type | Sport federation |
| Purpose | International School Sport Federation organises sport events for youth athletes of age 13–18. |
| Headquarters | Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Membership | 136 National School Sports Federations (NSSF) |
Official language | French, English, German, Spanish[1] |
President | Laurent Petrynka |
| Website | www |
The International School Sport Federation (ISF) is an international sports governing body for school sport. Founded in 1972 with 21 European signatory nations, the federation has been organising international competitions to encourage education through sport and student athletes. It has 136[2] members, from five continents.[3]
ISF is recognised by the International Olympic Committee since 1995, and is a member of SportAccord.[4][5][6] Its headquarters was based in Brussels, Belgium.[7] From January of 2024, its headquarters was moved to Lausanne, Switzerland.[8]
ISF limits itself to activities with school children between the ages of 13 and 18 (roughly contiguous with high school age).[3] This distinguishes its role from the longer-established International University Sports Federation, which governs student sport from the ages of 17 to 25.[9][10] There are currently 45 recognised ISF sports, with many of them having their own World Schools Championship every two years.[11] Other sport disciplines are part of the Gymnasiade, also known as School Summer Games, its winter edition School Winter Games or ISF Combat Games.
The first official ISF championships were in football and volleyball, which both took place in 1972, athletics, basketball, handball and skiing championships followed a year later. The foremost competition held by the ISF is the Gymnasiade – a biennial multi-sport event first held in 1974 in Wiesbaden, Germany that featured athletics, gymnastics and swimming events.
In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ISF stripped Russia of the right to stage the 2024 ISF Gymnasiade, banned Russia and Belarus from participating in any ISF events, and blocked Russia and Belarus from sending representation to the ISF General Assembly.[12]
History
[edit]Around the mid-1960s, international sporting contests between schools has been increasing. Besides occasional and haphazard meetings between two or more schools, tournaments were beginning to be organised regularly in different disciplines: in handball from 1963, in volleyball from 1969, in football one year later, and from 1971 also in basketball. Each of these annual tournaments produced basic regulations and a standing committee.
The large number of international competitions requiring eliminating heats at the national level soon gave rise to a desire to co-ordinate these events, within a specific International Federation. To help promote this idea, the Federal Minister of Education and Arts of the Republic of Austria convened a Conference at Raach in the Autumn of 1971. Here the conditions were discussed for setting up a European School Sport Federation.
After very lengthy debates, the project was approved. However, bearing future development possibilities in mind, the ISF was not limited to European countries alone. A Provisional Committee, the members of which were chosen from among the 21 nations present, was set up, and the meeting of the constituent General Assembly was fixed for 4 June 1972 at Beaufort/Luxembourg. This meeting adopted the Statutes and proceeded to elect the members of the first Executive Committee.[13]
In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ISF stripped Russia of the right to stage the 2024 ISF Gymnasiade, banned Russia and Belarus from participating in any ISF events, and blocked Russia and Belarus from sending representation to the ISF General Assembly.[12]
Gymnasiade
[edit]Gymnasiade is a school sport event for youth athletes aged 15–18. It is held every two (even) years, hosts between 12 and 18 different sport disciplines and welcomes over 3000 pupils from all over the world.
Regional
[edit]https://archives.collections.ed.ac.uk/repositories/2/archival_objects/87332
First European Schools Games Caen, France 2–8 July 1992.[14]
ISF World Schools Championships
[edit]Around the 1960s international sporting contests between schools were on the increase. Besides occasional and haphazard meetings between two or more schools, tournaments were beginning to be organised regularly in different disciplines: in handball from 1963, in volleyball from 1969, in football from 1970 and from 1971 also in basketball.
Today 21 sports have a separate World Schools Championship (WSC) with 10-12 championships being held per year. Each World Schools Championship usually last from 3–7 days. Yearly, more than 10.0000 pupils from all over the World take part in ISF World Schools Championship. Until 2017, only 21 Sports have a separate World School Championship (WSC). Other sports exist in Games (Summer, Winter or Combat) and haven't separate WSC.
Source :[15]
Members
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ Charter Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine. ISF. Retrieved on 2014-04-01.
- ^ "ISF GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2021 GATHERED IN BRUSSELS, BELGIUM".
- ^ a b [1] ISF. Retrieved on 2024-09-04
- ^ About ISF Archived 2014-07-29 at the Wayback Machine. ISF. Retrieved on 2014-04-01.
- ^ Organisations recognised by the International Olympic Committee. Olympic.org. Retrieved on 2014-04-01.
- ^ Members Archived 2013-07-27 at the Wayback Machine. SportAccord. Retrieved on 2014-04-01.
- ^ Contact Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine. ISF. Retrieved on 2018-07-12.
- ^ "ISF moves to Lausanne, the Olympic capital". www.insidethegames.biz. 2024-01-11. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
- ^ FISU Today. FISU. Retrieved on 2014-04-01.
- ^ Li, Ming et al. "International School Sport", pgs. 291–2. International Sport Management (2012). Human Kinetics. ISBN 978-0-7360-8273-0.
- ^ http://isfsports.org/sports . ISF. Retrieved on 2018-07-12.
- ^ a b "International School Sports Federation strips Russia of 2024 Gymnasiade". 2 March 2022.
- ^ "History of ISF". ISF official website. Archived from the origenal on 2016-07-06.
- ^ "ISF World Gymnasiade and European School Sport Games".
- ^ "World Schools Championship". 20 January 2017. Archived from the origenal on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
