Sports groups urged to consider hosting FISU event

Russ Quinn serves during his and Dave Rillera’s game against Bruce Berline and Dan Westphal during the 2016 Endless Summer Beach Volleyball Classic held at the Hyatt Regency Saipan. Beach volleyball is one of the sports that will be played in the 2020 FISU World University Games. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire has started its search for host countries for the 33 competitions in the 2020 FISU World University Championships.

An invitation to bid has been sent to FISU member-nations, including the CNMI and Northern Marianas Sports Association president Michael White is encouraging local sports federations to consider submitting a bid to host a few contests for the WUC.

“The CNMI is capable of hosting events like these. In particular, I want to urge beach volleyball, baseball, and golf to consider submitting bids,” White said.

“These are the sports in which we have excellent facilities, good organization, and experience in hosting large events. We can do this,” the NMSA head added.

The CNMI, for more than a decade, has hosted the Marianas Beach Volleyball Cup, which has drawn participants from Japan, Korea, U.S., China, Guam, and Australia. In baseball, the Commonwealth hosted the inaugural Micronesian Baseball Classic this year, while there are a lot of world-class golf courses here that could accommodate entries in the WUC.

Golf, beach volleyball, and baseball are among the 25 regular sports to be played in the FISU event four years from now. The list also includes American football, canoe, cheerleading, cross country, cycling, equestrian, floorball, futsal, handball, modern pentathlon, orienteering rugby 7s, rowing, sailing, shooting, ski orienteering, speed skate, sports climbing, squash, triathlon, waterski, and weightlifting. FISU is also looking for host countries for the combat sports cluster (boxing, karate, Muay Thai, sambo, wrestling, and wushu) and mind games cluster (chess and bridge).

Application for bid and all other supporting documents must be turned in on or before Sept. 29, 2017, while the winning bids will be announced on Dec. 1, 2017. The bids will be analyzed by FISU’s Technical Delegate and WUC Evaluation Commission, while applicants will be invited to present their bids to the commission in October next year.

The WUC is a biennial event for athletes in the 17 to 25 age group and enrolled in a post secondary university/college/institution. In 2018, the 33 events in WUC are spread across 29 countries, including FISU’s newest members Argentina (for rowing), Indonesia (wushu), and Namibia (rugby 7s). Beach volleyball will be held in Munich, Germany, while the Philippines and Chinese-Taipei are hosting the golf and baseball tournaments, respectively.

Hosting an event in the 2020 FISU World University Championships will be a good dry run for the CNMI as it holds the Pacific Mini Games on Saipan the following year.