Latest News

Massey University is set to bring local and tertiary hockey communities together later this month in a unique Hockey 5's invitational tournament. Read more about the 2020 event here.

Since its onset, the COVID-19 pandemic has spread to almost all countries of the world. Social and physical distancing measures along with lockdowns of businesses, education institutions and overall social life are common strategies used to halt the spread of the disease. But these strategies have greatly disrupted many regular aspects of life, including travel and the opportunity for international sporting experiences. Why does this matter? What does the international sport experience offer our tertiary student athletes and what has been lost in 2020? Read more here to find out.

In just 20 days from now, university students the world over will step out and celebrate the International Day of University Sport (IDUS). In its fifth edition, IDUS has mobilised students and encouraged them to embrace physical activity as a part of their daily campus lives. Read more about the upcoming celebrations here.

The 2020 UTSNZ Esport Challenge Series will kick off this week with 32 students from across the country set to compete for the first ever national tertiary esport title. Seven of UTSNZ’s eight member universities will be represented in the FIFA 20 tournament with participants also coming from Otago Polytechnic, the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT), and the Universal College of Learning (UCOL).

The University World Cup format is set to be adopted for Rugby Sevens, Handball, Floorball, American Football and Cheerleading. The inclusion of new sports an effort by FISU to provide more international opportunities for student athletes who might not otherwise have an opportunity to compete on the international university sports scene. Read more here.

FISU announces the cancellation of its World University Championship events till the end of the year 2020, due to the prevailing global situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more on the latest announcement here.

UTSNZ this week opened registrations for its first ever national inter-tertiary esports challenge event. University esports are growing both internationally and here in New Zealand, and UTSNZ is jumping on-board with what is now a global campus phenomenon. Read more about the exciting new opportunities available for New Zealand student gamers here.

The UTSNZ Challenge Series, a new and exciting inter-tertiary competition, will be launched in July 2020 to boost participation and engagement of tertiary students in sport and recreation across New Zealand. Read more about the new events programme here.

The weekend of 27-28 June saw 35 students from across the Oceania region take part in the FISU Oceania qualifying competition for the inaugural FISU eSports Challenge Football. The FISU competition aims to provide a further opportunity for universities internationally to come together during these challenging times to compete against one another. Delivered by the Australian Esports League (AEL) and in partnership with UniSport Australia (UniSport), the Oceania qualifier saw the top two winning students (male and female) progressing through to represent their universities and the Oceania region in the international FISU competition taking place from 6-16 July. Read more about the Oceania Qualifier here.

University sporting rivalries are set to resume with confirmation that the National Tertiary Ultimate and Badminton Championships will go ahead in Semester Two.

UTSNZ is excited to welcome UC student representative Jacob Mulholland to it's Board of Directors following the recent AGM held 21 May. Read more about Jacob's recent appointment here.

The University of Auckland has finished runners-up in the League of Legends 2020 Oceanic University Championships hosted by Unisport Australia and Riot Games. In the final of the month-long tournament, they were defeated by the team from Queensland University of Technology in the best-of-5 series on Saturday.

Yesterday the government announced Alert Level 2 guidelines, including the opportunity for sport to resume at all levels. Read more here on what this means for UTSNZ and the inter-tertiary events programme.

University and Tertiary Sport New Zealand’s virtual competition may well become one of the first competitions amid the Coronavirus Pandemic to be contested on a regular Trans-Tasman basis, with the online challenge series set to be broadened to include their ANZAC comrades. Read more here.

FISU welcomed the announcement of revised dates for Tokyo 2020 this week and the prospect of an exceptional summer of Olympic sport in 2021. FISU will maintain the planned August slot for the Chengdu 2021 FISU Summer World University Games, with only a slight 2-day modification to the original dates, as per the request of the local organising committee. Read the full press release here.

The International Federation for University Sport (FISU) has been closely monitoring the current situation with regard to COVID-19. Unfortunately during this challenging period that most countries are facing today, FISU has made the cautious decision to cancel all World University Championship through until September in order to ensure the safety of all people involved in FISU events. Read more here for the specific events affected.

Refer here for an update on the status of UTSNZ National Tertiary Championship events for 2020.

Check out the latest article by FISU featuring FISU Oceania, Unisport Australia and UTSNZ. Advocacy, marketing and profile, dual career of athletes, research and healthy campus initiatives - read more about the key goals and aims for university and tertiary sport in 2020.

The new FISU Executive Committee members, elected in November 2019, convened for their first meeting on 21-22 February, to set the agenda for 2020 and beyond. FISU's vision is to lead the University Sport Movement, where the leaders of society are positively influenced by their University Sport experience. To help achieve this vision the FISU Steering and Executive Committees come together biannually to discuss the organisation’s recent events and to chart the year ahead. Read more including the latest news and official Press Release from FISU summarising key discussion points here.

University of Canterbury student Jacob Mulholland will represent New Zealand at the FISU Volunteer Leader's Academy in Kazan, Russia from the 10th to the 16th of June. His passion for volunteering within his university and community make him an ideal representative and he's excited about the opportunity to learn new skills that he can bring back and employ.

Further to its meeting held on 21 and 22 February 2020 in Lausanne, the FISU Executive Committee officially approved the new composition of the FISU Committees for the period 2020 – 2023, with three New Zealand candidates elected. Read more on these exciting and prestigious appointments here.