This year’s Seminar and General Assembly of the European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation (ENGSO) was held in the Norwegian capital on June 13 and 14. European University Sports Association (EUSA) was represented at the event as well.

Hosted by the Norwegian Olympic & Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF), the event kicked off with a welcome session where ENGSO President Stefan Bergh, the Mayor of Oslo Anne Linboe and NIF board member and IOC board member Kristin Kloster welcomed the participants, pointing out the significance of the event and sport development.

The content part of the seminar started with a session on ecology of talent development in sport, by Christian Thue Bjorndal from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. He presented his research focusing on talent development, coaching, and athlete learning across grassroots and elite sport.

Iver Godal Stolen from Norwegian Handball Federation (NHF) presented Temaserie development-focused tournament concept, holistically promoting sports for children and youth.

A session Leading with Purpose: Empowering Youth participation in Sport followed, focused on practical strategies meaningfully involving young people in sports leadership, with a strong focus on promoting equality and inclusion. Moderated by Ugne Chmeliauskaite from ENGSO Youth, the contributors were Luca Wernert from DSJ, Tarja Krum from ENGSO’s Equality Within Sport Committee (EWS) and Marco Rizzi from the Council of Europe’s Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS).

Last session of the first day was focused on addressing Financial barriers in grassroot sports. Norwegian sports' vision "Joy of sports for all" was presented by NIF representatives Linda Hamiwe Jacobsen and Havard B. Ovregard from their department for grassroots sports, organization and development.

Saturday’s part started with a session on E-sports and Grassroots Sport: A Dialogue for the Future, exploring the growing intersection of e-sports and traditional grassrootssport. Moderated by Petra Ganterova from ENGSO, the speakers contribution was made by Sammi Kaidi & Elin Yoojung Moen from the European Esport Federation and Christian Cramer Schou as esports expert from Denmark.

Matjaz Pecovnik from the European University Sports Association (EUSA) presented the organisation experiences with volunteers as a crucial force for sport. He presented different types and opportunities of volunteering within EUSA and its activities, expanding also on the importance of proper management and recognition.

Last session of the Seminar was devoted to ENGSO Policy Programme, collecting feedback and input from members. Key developments and priorities were presented by ENGSO Secretary General Sara Massini and Chair of the ENGSO EU Advisory Committee Theo Neyenhuis.

After lunch, the governance part of the ENGSO activities in Oslo started with the 33rd ENGSO General Assembly. Opening and welcoming addresses was done by ENGSO President Stefan Bergh, as well as NIF representative.

EUSA President Adam Roczek also addressed the participants, reflecting on long-term cooperation between EUSA and ENGSO, and on common priorities and values of the organisation.

After accepting the minutes of the past General Assembly, held in June 2024 in Vienna, ENGSO President Stefan Bergh and Vice-President Filipa Godinho presented the activities of the organisation, with highlight from the annual report and financial report.

Chairs of the three ENGSO Committees presented activities in the respective areas. Ugne Chmeliauskaite presented highlights from ENGSO Youth Committee; Tarja Krum presented highlights from Equality Within Sport Committee and Theo Ney shared the highlights from the EU Advisory Committee.

Assembly were also acquainted with the EU projects ENGSO is leading and partnering in, confirmed the strategic direction of the ENGSO Policy programme, presented by the Secretary General Sara Massini, and welcomed Liechtenstein Olympic Committee as its new member.

Election of Auditors and part of the Executive Committee members for period 2025-2029 was also held, re-electing Filipa Godinho from Portugal as Vice President and Magnus Sverdrup from Norway as Treasurer, also electing Stanislav Horuna from Ukraine as a new member of the board.

Also ENGSO Youth Assembly was held in Oslo, attended on behalf of EUSA by its Director of Project and Policy Andrej Pisl. 

ENGSO Youth mandate report 2023-2025 was done by Ugne Chmeliauskaite, ENGSO Youth Chair. ENGSO Youth working groups overview 2023-2025 were presented by ENGSO Youth Committee Members, followed by ENGSO Youth Committee elections for the mandate 2025-2027.

Alessia de Iulis from Italy is the new Chair, with Luca Wernert from Germany as the new Vice Chair. Jan Fiala from Czechia, Jonathan van Dongen from the Netherlands, Maria Lescovec from Croatia and Siiri Turunen from Finland, Olesia Shevchuk from Ukraine and Augustine Libert from France have been elected as Committee members.

On the occasion of this visit in Oslo, EUSA President, Adam Roczek and Secretary General Matjaz Pecovnik, had the opportunity to meet with Amalie Husby, President of the Norwegian Association of University Sports, and Yngvild Schei Larsen from their International Relations team.

European University Sports Association (EUSA) with its EUSA Institute are long-term partners with European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation (ENGSO), and especially with ENGSO Youth have partnered in several projects. Currently active joint initiatives are EUYouSport (European Youth and Sport Together) and YouMind (Youth Individual Sports Mindset) projects, co-funded by the European Union.

ENGSO members and partners will meet again this year in Barcelona for the European Sport Platform (October 23-25), while next year’s General Assembly will be held in Budapest in Spring 2026. More information: https://engso.eu