RIYADH: The Saudi Sports for All Federation has kicked off a new initiative with the Saudi Universities Sports Federation to promote physical activity at tertiary institutions across the Kingdom.
The initiative, known as the University Sports Group Program, started in February and will take place until August this year. It seeks to establish 120 new sports groups and support 80 other established community bodies during this first period.
The SFA will support the initiatives of students, faculty, and staff at seven universities and several vocational and training colleges. The institutions include King Saud University and Princess Nourah bint Abdul Rahman University (both in Riyadh), Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University in the Eastern Province, Taif University, University of Hail, Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies in Jeddah, Riyadh College of Technology, and Jeddah College of Technology.
The president of the SFA, Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al-Saud, said: “We are proud to once again work closely with our colleagues at the Saudi Universities Sports Federation to launch this latest far-reaching initiative.” He said the SFA and SUSF first collaborated in 2019 in an initiative targeting students at tertiary level.
“Now, the University Sports Group Program will re-energize our efforts in the student sector to bring health and wellness to the forefront at campuses across the country,” Prince Khaled said. “We expect it will contribute significantly to achieving our 2030 target of raising physical activity levels in Saudi to 40 percent.”
The president of the SUSF, Dr. Khalid Almuzaini, said the joint collaboration with the SFA would motivate students to adopt healthy lifestyles that would aid them in their studies.
The program builds on the success of previous SFA initiatives catering specifically to the higher education sector. During the lockdown period in 2020, the SFA launched the Baytak Nadeek Challenge and partnered with the SUSF to encourage university students to remain active at home.
Another significant SFA program was the Sports for All Challenge that saw teams from 18 universities across the Kingdom and the US develop campaigns to encourage their local communities to stay active.
