„Pur les jeunes, par les jeunes” – French student sports took centre stage of HSSF’s study visit
Between 10 and 13 March, 2026 four experts of Hungarian School Sport Federation (HSSF) took part in study visit to the Union Nationale du Sport Scolare (UNSS). The purpose of the visit was to learn about UNSS’s activities and its programs promoting recreational sports and a healthy lifestyle, as well as to identify best practices that could potentially be adapted.
Thanks to this study visit, we were able to gain insight into the French approach to school sport: „pur les jeunes, par les jeunes” (by young for young). Through the UNSS’s „Jeunes Officiels” (Youth Officials) Program, young volunteers involved in organizing school sport play a key role; they can choose for themselves what roles they would like to take on (youth organizer, referee, coach, reporter, rescuer etc). We had the opportunity to see the program in action firsthand: the La Lycéenne #ActiveGirls sports festival—designed specifically for girls—that we attended at Bernay was organized and run entirely by young volunteers; local UNSS representatives and their teachers merely provided them with supplementary support. It can therefore be said that the young volunteers organized and carried out a sports festival with 1,200 participants entirely on their own, as real grassroots event. The philosophy of education through sports permeates all UNSS programs. In their competitive and other sports programs, the emphasis is placed not primarily on individual achievements, but on the results achieved by the school team. The sports programs are supplemented with a variety of educational content (e.g., health awareness, sustainability).
In addition, thanks to our host organization, we were able to meet with a representative of the “Délégation interministérielle aux grands événements sportifs” (Interministerial Delegation for Major Sporting Events): during the meeting, we gained insight into their complex responsibilities (such as organizing the Olympics), which added a new perspective to our professional visit.
The in-person meeting allowed us to learn about the French School Sport Day, while also introducing the European School Sport Day (ESSD) initiative to our French host organization. As a result, we began exploring their participation possibilities in ESSD, which was one of key aims of the visit.
The meeting also provided an opportunity to lay the groundwork for cooperation between the organizations.
We will apply the experience gained to the development of HSSF’s priority programs—in particular, Diákolimpia (Student Olympics), the Active School program, and the European School Sports Day initiative.
The study trip was carried out within the framework of the Erasmus+ Program’s Mobility of Staff in the Field of Sport (KA182-SPO).
