The International School Sport Federation (ISF) is an international

sports governing body A sports governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sports governing bodies come in various forms and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule i ...

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 athlete A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or element ...

s. It has 132 members, from five continents.Reaching new heights of development; 108 members from all over the world
ISF. Retrieved on 2018-07-12. ISF is recognised by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

since 1995, and is a member of

SportAccord Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) is the umbrella organisation for all (Olympic and non-Olympic) international sports federations as well as organisers of multi-sports games and sport-related international association ...

.About ISF
. ISF. Retrieved on 2014-04-01. Its headquarters are based in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. ISF limits itself to activities with school children between the ages of 13 to 18 (roughly contiguous with

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

age). This distinguishes its role from the longer-established

International University Sports Federation The Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU, en, International University Sports Federation) is responsible for the organization and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25 ...

, which governs student sport from the ages of 17 to 25. There are currently 45 recognised ISF sports, with many of them having their own World Schools Championship every two years. Other sport disciplines are part of the

Gymnasiade The Gymnasiade, or World Gymnasiade, or World School Sport Games, or ISF World School Sport Games is an international multi-sport event which is organised by the International School Sport Federation (ISF). It is the largest event among many o ...

, also known as School Summer Games, its winter edition School Winter Games or ISF Combat Games. The first official ISF championships were in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

, which both took place in 1972,

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

championships followed a year later. The foremost competition held by the ISF is the

– a biennial

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

first held in 1974 in Wiesbaden, Germany that featured

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

events. In reaction to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...

, 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.

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. In reaction to the

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.

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. Source :

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control International sports organizations Sports governing bodies in Belgium Sport in Antwerp High school sports Children's sport Under-18 sport Sports organizations established in 1972