The past, the present and the future of the ISF / Jean-Louis Boujon, President                    

By the occasion of the opening of the ISF Technical Committee Seminar at Loches / France on 15th October 2008, Jean Louis Boujon, President of the ISF, gave a very interesting overview of the past, the present and the future of the ISF.

So much ground has been covered by ISF since it was created in 1972 thanks to the commitment of the managers of each affiliated country, thanks to the incessant action of ISF leaders and thanks to our numerous organisations worldwide.

The ISF has become a huge international federation; its official recognition by the International Olympic Committee and its president Jacques ROGGE today places it at the heart of the world sporting movement.

For this reason the ISF has joined the World Anti-Doping Agency and has started to bring itself up to code more according to prevention than control.

In the past 35 years the ISF has on the one hand been looking to increase the number of affiliated countries and to accentuate its development in each continent on the other; in other words, to have world coverage of all of its projects.

But more importantly we also think that sport is a remarkable way of educating the youth of today towards mutual understanding, the spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. This is how ISF is putting sport at the service of Peace.

Our championships in schools represent an extraordinary platform of peaceful and multi-cultural events, which forces us to take concrete initiatives aiming at peace through sport. We are a genuine world network of players of peace and sport. In the past few years we have deployed a lot of energy to consolidate our organisation, get it known and present its philosophy and organisations.

The ISF today is a world reality: it's the first international instructional, sporting, educational and event-linked movement. It has a duty to meet its triple vocation of federator, regulator and initiator to be the real leader.

Promoting sport in schools is an international necessity:

It aims at preparing children for a healthy lifestyle and concentrates on their physical development and self-discipline, solidarity, team spirit, tolerance and fair-play.

It allows for cooperation, exchange and encounters between countries and between young people.

It encourages the promotion of a positive attitude regarding regular physical activity that can have a positive effect on the psychological well-being of children and young people.

The ISF, which is a federation on a global scale, is committed to the following three action principles:

1. In its educational aspect, sport at school must be protected in the compulsory school curriculum of young people during PE and sport.

2. In its social aspect it mustn't only encourage the greatest number of young people and young girls to have access to practising sport but also develop exchanges between countries.

3. In its sporting aspect sport at school must accept competition as a progress driving force, favour without reserve the quality of matches and the respect of game rules, fair play, partners of always and adversaries for a day.

While in its international coverage ISF has assets with its organisations integrating sporting competitions and refereeing protocols, opening and closing ceremonies as well as the cultural discovery of the host country, we must admit that it also has its weaknesses, particularly the differences between each country's organisation systems as well as the different attitudes of governments with regards the place of PE and sport in schools.

To increase the number of affiliated countries and ensure the promotion of sport in schools within a country the ISF needs to clearly identify the NATIONAL HANDOVER at the heart of the organisation of each country.

This handover must:

• Be dynamic and enthusiastic, with the desire to act in ones own country with authorities paying attention.

• Share the principles of the ISF and find in ones organisations the continuation of the action developed within ones own country.

• Be surrounded by an active team in the field to mobilise all the necessary forces and search for assistance from everybody.

To increase its credibility and the notoriety of sport in school, the ISF has a duty to pay considerable attention to the quality of the organisation of the ISF World School Championships, to the excellence of the welcome, the stay, the accommodation and the catering and above all the respect of the commitments undertaken by the organisers and the participating countries.

For all of the above reasons, the ISF must maintain the following priority objectives:

• To give the ISF a genuine international structure and solid operating rules.

• To get the ISF known among International Federations and governments.

• To register the ISF policy in the international chorus.

• To introduce our points of view and our leanings with regards fundamental questions to our international contacts.

Concerning all the organisations of the ISF, we must:
- create conditions of excellence and quality;
- standardise the writing of specifications for the organisation of each sport;
- respect the rules of commitment, welcome and financing;
- impose in a strong and lasting way the outline combining sport, culture, fair play, conviviality and sharing;

Concerning the duty of all our organisations:
The time has come to clarify our working methods, notably in terms of structure and each of our level of responsibility.

The final accomplishment is often the result of a very strong local mobilisation relying notably on the know-how and the people network of the receiving structure.

The international recognition of events is achieved through a demand for excellence for all members of our technical committees and its presidency.

From this viewpoint, there is a need to distinguish the roles, attributions and responsibilities of:
• the trusteeship, in other words the ISF and the General Secretariat; it has a duty to coordinate, validate, record, cover and choose.
• the organisation, in other words that which is the responsibility of the General Secretariat, the ISF Representative and the presidents and members of the technical committees. The organisation under the authority of the ISF Representative implements the general specifications and under the authority of the President of the Technical Committee and its members the technical specifications and the event's complete sporting management.
• the organiser, in other words the structure designated by the ISF to satisfy the contractual obligations; it receives from the trusteeship the definitive validated commitments, the securities and the list of countries retained for the drawing of lots if needs be; it provides the additional human, material and financial resources; it guarantees the financial, logistic and administrative management…

• the participants, in other words those people designated by their country and retained by the ISF.
4 stages:
1. Intention of participating, participation confirmation and payment of the deposit sent to the General Secretariat according to the schedule and the determined modalities.
2. Participation and respect for the organisation and the organiser according to specific rules.
3. Respect for organiser instructions and organisation rules
4. Total responsibility of the teams assumed by the Delegation Head who signs an undertaking on arriving at the competition.

Concerning the technical committees:
The ISF has a duty to spur on a new dynamic with experts recognised nationally and internationally if possible, with a regular addition of new members and with a desired parity. This essential device must be evaluated regularly, and the members of the technical committees have a duty not only to provide expertise and skills, but also to respect the political and technical directions of the board and the executive committee, and finally to have the organisers work in the best conditions with regards the event's specifications.

To conclude, I wish to express how grateful the ISF is for your investment and the support that each of your country contributes on participating.
Furthermore, I wish to officially give my thanks on behalf of the ISF and the president to Patricia DELESQUE for the important work she has done in her close and continuing collaboration with the regional UNSS (national union of sports in schools) of Orleans-Tours.
Finally I hope that Norbert KEVER, Executive Director finds the necessary elements in your remarks to build a solid, homogenous base for all our international organisations.
Together, let's tighten the ties that bind us together.
Together, let's work in the interest of the ISF.
Together, let's make the most of the present, it's the guarantee for the future.
Excellent seminar everybody.