Popular Fair Play stand at Gymnasiade

Normandy hosted the 19th Gymnasiade in mid-May. Under the auspices of ISF, which is one of the cooperative partners of CIFP, student athletes aged 16-18 competed in 20 sports. Some 3700 competitors from 69 countries competed in the eight-day competition.

This time the Gymnasiade was organized in an unusual way, as the competitions were held in 9 towns in Normandy, while the central venue was in Deauville. At the end of each day, the athletes were transported to this seaside-town for dinner, where the Fun&Skill Zone, including the Fair Play stand, was located for networking and entertainment. Here, children could try out a variety of recreational activities, including wrestling, ergometer kayaking, going in a wheelchair and Teqball-tables.

As usual, Fair Play stand welcomed the guests with a variety of games that conveyed Fair Play values, such as cooperation, listening to others and helping each other. According to many, including ISF representatives, the Fair Play stand was one of the most popular venues. This is confirmed by the fact, that 500 badges and 300 bracelets were distributed to visitors who tried out one of the activities on the stand. Among the guests were ISF President Laurent Petrynka, Secretary General Hrvoje Custonja, and Deputy Secretary General Kole Gjeloshaj, among many other students sport leaders, and we also had the opportunity to meet Olivier Girault, Head of the UNSS  (National Union School Sport in France) and former Olympic, World and European handball champion.

„We had a wonderful week behind all of us. It was a great effort from ISF and organizers to manage this giant and wonderful event. I congratulate for all of you. Gymnasiade is a unique and memorable event especially for the kids. I would like to thank you very much for the cooperation for the management of ISF, especially for President Petrynka and local organizers. For us, for the International Fair Play Committee it was a great pleasure to be here with you. We met with almost 1 thousand athletes, coaches and referees at the Fair Play stand here in the Fun & Skill Zone. Some of the kids have already heard about Fair Play, some of them met the expression ‘Fair Play’ for the first time, here in Normandy. We hope they understand now better what is Fair Play, what are the values of sportsmanship. Children played with us different games, it was wonderful to see when kids from different countries, continents built up together the Fair Play tower. It is a nice symbol of friendship, cooperation, peace and all together for the future.” – said Gabor Deregan, Head of CIFP delegation on the podium at the Closing Ceremony.

Gymnasiade, the World School Sport Games, has been held since 1974, with the last event taking place 4 years ago in Morocco, while the event in China, originally scheduled for 2020, was cancelled due to epidemic situation. In 2024, Bahrein will host the Gymnasiade.

More photo on CIFP Social Media channels

Gabor Deregan/CIFP