site.btaBulgarian Sports Academy Joins Regional Network for Sports Education

November 14 (BTA) - Rectors and deans of twelve sports
universities in eight Balkan countries gathered at the National
Sports Academy (NSA) Friday to sign a framework agreement for
cooperation between sports universities and departments and for
establishing a regional network for sports science and
education. Albania's representatives are expected to join the
meeting a day later.

The agreement was signed in the run-up for the Second
International Scientific Congress "Applied Science in Sports"
and the First Balkan Scientific Congress "Physical Education,
Sports, Health" that will mark the Academy's foundation
anniversary, November 15.

In his welcoming speech, NSA rector Prof. Pencho Geshev outlined
 the ideas behind the creation of a regional network and
expressed his belief that cooperation is the right way to
elevate the quality of sports science in the Balkan region. "As
a first step in our cooperation, we suggest that on a rotation
principle each of our universities host an annual congress where
 we can invite top experts in sports science to present their
best work. The second important step would be using these
occasions to promote student and teacher exchange among our
institutions," said Prof. Geshev.

The NSA initiative to rotate annual congress venues received
immediate support from the delegates, and the first four
editions of the congress will take place as follows: Belgrade
2020, Nis 2021, Rijeka 2022 and Bucharest 2023.

The Bulgarian institutions that signed the framework agreement
are: Sofia University, Southwestern University and Shoumen
University. RY/MT


/СН/