American Football heading East

HARBIN – Nine years on from the 24^th Winter Universiade, the city of Harbin will again receive an official FISU event, this time the young student-athletes will be competing for the title of World University Champions in American Football. The sport, which debuted in FISU in 2014, has enjoyed two solid events in Uppsala (SWE) and Monterrey (MEX), but the third edition already looks set to raise the bar to new heights.

The event is set for 14-24 June, 2018 and will welcome up to 8 teams from all over the world. The FISU delegation was made up by Paulo FERREIRA (WUC Director) and Mr Shigeyuki WATANABE (FISU Technical Delegate for American Football), who were accompanied by Mr DONG Xiaohua (Deputy Director Federation of University Sports of China).

The delegates were warmly welcomed by the local authorities, indicating not only the importance being given to this event but also the respect for FISU following the 2009 Winter Universiade. The President of the Harbin University of Commerce, Mr XIN Baozhing, was accompanied by Mr LI Yunzeng (Education Department Heilongjiang province, Educational Administrative unit), Mr ZHANG Runlin (Education Department of Heilongjiang Province, Physical, Health and Arts Education Division, Director) and Ms LI Xiaomei (Party Committee Standing Committee, Chairwoman of Trade Union).

Meetings with the local authorities and functional area representatives took place at the Harbin University of Commerce, site of the event – in a 1 km radius, as the accommodation will be in the university’s student dormitories and university hotel, meals will be at the university canteen and, most importantly, the competitions and training will take place in the university stadium and on the 9 training fields located within the campus. The delegates discussed the event preparations, covering many technical and logistical details. Amongst the main items, the team’s participation was addressed and a detailed strategy was prepared to attract maximum attendance. The initial preparation certainly indicate an exceptional event in the mix.

(WUC Department)