International School Sport Federation

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 132[2] members, from five continents.[3]

International School Sport Federation
Fédération Internationale du Sport Scolaire
AbbreviationISF
Formation1972
TypeSport federation
PurposeInternational School Sport Federation organises sport events for youth athletes of age 13–18.
HeadquartersBrussels, Belgium
Official language
French, English, German, Spanish[1]
President
Laurent Petrynka
Websitewww.isfsports.org

ISF is recognised by the International Olympic Committee since 1995, and is a member of SportAccord.[4][5][6] Its headquarters are based in Brussels, Belgium.[7]

ISF limits itself to activities with school children between the ages of 13 to 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.[8][9] There are currently 45 recognised ISF sports, with many of them having their own World Schools Championship every two years.[10] 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.[11]

History

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.[12]

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.[11]

Gymnasiade
Main article: Gymnasiade

Gymnasiade is a school sport event for youth athletes aged 15–18. It is held every two (even) years, hosts between 12-18 different sport disciplines and welcomes over 3000 pupils from all over the world.

Regional

https://archives.collections.ed.ac.uk/repositories/2/archival_objects/87332

First European Schools Games Caen, France 2–8 July 1992.[13]

ISF World Schools Championships

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 havent separate WSC.

NumberEventFirst EditionLast Edition
Main Sports
1World School Athletics Championship197324th (2017)
2World Schools Cross Country Championship197523rd (2018)
3World School Swimming Championship199112th (2017)
Combat Sports
4World School Sambo Championship20181st (2018)
Team Sports
5World School 3x3 Basketball Championship20143rd (2018)
6World School Basketball Championship197324th (2017)
7World School Beach Volleyball Championship20114th (2017)
8World School Cricket Championship20181st (2018)
9World School Flying Disc Championship20191st (2019)
10World School Football Championships197226th (2017)
11World School Futsal Championships20075th (2018)
12World School Handball Championship197324th (2018)
13World School Volleyball Championship197223rd (2018)
Winter Sports
14World School Alpine Ski Championship197323rd (2016)
Other Sports
15World School Badminton Championship199818th (2018)
16World School Orienteering Championship198717th (2017)
17World School Sport Climbing Championship20191st (2019)
18World School Table Tennis Championship199115th (2018)
19World School Tennis Championship19959th (2017)
20World School Triathlon Championship20133rd (2017)
21World School Chess Championship20191st (2019)
22World School Flying Disc Championship20191st (2019)
23World School Taekwondo Poomsae Virtual Championship20201st (2020)

Source :[14]

References
  1. Charter Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine. ISF. Retrieved on 2014-04-01.
  2. "ISF GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2021 GATHERED IN BRUSSELS, BELGIUM".
  3. Reaching new heights of development; 108 members from all over the world. ISF. Retrieved on 2018-07-12.
  4. About ISF Archived 2014-07-29 at the Wayback Machine. ISF. Retrieved on 2014-04-01.
  5. Organisations recognised by the International Olympic Committee. Olympic.org. Retrieved on 2014-04-01.
  6. Members Archived 2013-07-27 at the Wayback Machine. SportAccord. Retrieved on 2014-04-01.
  7. Contact Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine. ISF. Retrieved on 2018-07-12.
  8. FISU Today. FISU. Retrieved on 2014-04-01.
  9. Li, Ming et al. "International School Sport", pgs. 291–2. International Sport Management (2012). Human Kinetics. ISBN 978-0-7360-8273-0.
  10. http://isfsports.org/sports . ISF. Retrieved on 2018-07-12.
  11. "International School Sports Federation strips Russia of 2024 Gymnasiade". 2 March 2022.
  12. "History of ISF". ISF official website. Archived from the original on 2016-07-06.
  13. "ISF World Gymnasiade and European School Sport Games".
  14. "World Schools Championship". 20 January 2017. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
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