During the European Universities Combats Sports Championships held in the Albanian capital Tirana, EUSA Student Commission (STC) members met for their first in-person/hybrid meeting since appointment earlier this year.

Hosted by the Albanian Federation of University Sport (FSHSU), the STC members met on October 13 at the premises of the Freedom Building / Godina Liria in the City of Students Dormitories (Qyteti Studenti) in Tirana, where also part of the participants and volunteers of the EUSA Combat Championships were accommodated.

The meeting was led by Julia Zlatkova, EUSA Vice-President for Student Engagement, Youth and Volunteers – also in her role as the Chair of the STC; assisted by Andrej Pisl, EUSA Director of Projects and Policy, also serving as Secretary of the STC. STC members Franciska Coko, Gor Hambarchyan, Helena Kace, Wiktor Makowski and the new ESU representative Luka Lesic attended the meeting in person in Tirana, with Sofija Saric attending it remotely.

After the general introductions and updates from EUSA, the members focused on the STC tasks and opportunities. The discussions started with the traditional student What’s Up Column, and the new The Athletes initiative, launched at the European Universities Games in Salerno. Participants also discussed the recent participation in the FISU Forum and the FISU Student Ambassadors programme, as well as the European student network and partnerships, concluding with an overview and the opportunities related to EUSA-lead and engaged projects, co-funded by the European Union.

STC members also attended the General Technical Meeting (GTM) for Kickboxing, and checked out sports competitions in Judo and Kickboxing during their stay in Tirana.

Apart from the internal meeting of the commission and following the combat sports, a delegation was also received on Monday October 14 by  the National Youth Agency (AKR), welcomed by the Director Sara Bodo and her team.

The activities of the EUSA Student Commission will also be reported to the EUSA Executive Committee, and the STC will again meet online in November.