The International School Sport Federation (ISF) is an international

sports governing body A sports governing body is a sports organisation that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sports governing bodies come in various forms and have a variety of regulatory functions, including disciplinary action for rule infractions and dec ...

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 Student athlete (or student–athlete) is a term used principally in universities in the United States and Canada to describe students enrolled at postsecondary educational institutions, principally colleges and universities, but also at sec ...

s. It has 136 members, from five continents.
ISF. Retrieved on 2024-09-04 ISF is recognised by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

since 1995, and is a member of

SportAccord SportAccord is a global sports event organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, that is governed by stakeholders representing the Olympic and non-Olympic International Federations and has currently taken on some of the activities of the dissolve ...

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

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium. From January of 2024, its headquarters was moved to Lausanne, Switzerland. ISF limits itself to activities with school children between the ages of 13 and 18 (roughly contiguous with

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

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

International University Sports Federation The International University Sports Federation (FISU; ) is responsible for the organization and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25. It was founded in 1949 as the world governing body of ...

, 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 oth ...

, 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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 Summ ...

, 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), competitio ...

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 (appro ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor 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 thr ...

and

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

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 intern ...

first held in 1974 in Wiesbaden, Germany that featured

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

events. In reaction to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, 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 and 12-15. It is held every two (even) years, hosts between 12 and 25 different sport disciplines and welcomes over 3000 pupils from all over the world.

Regional

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

ISF World School Championships

Source: 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 haven't separate WSC. Note: In 2025, 45 sports are approved by this federation. Considering that the Under-18 Gymnaside games are held every two years and the Under-15 Gymnaside games will be held in odd years from 2021, since 2019, there have been very few individual world championship competitions, and only a few team sports are held. More than 20 sports have never had an independent world championship competition. Triathlon and Cricket now have left this federation. Results in previous sections. 1st World School Taekwondo Poomsae Virtual Championship was held in 2020. Also Online Chess was held in 2021 and 2023. Rugby in 2000 and 2006. Combat Games. Floorball. Gymnaside. Climbing remove ISF. Baseball. Educational Games. Source :

Members

Source:https://web.archive.org/web/20170729130053/http://www.isfsports.org/countries

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