International University Beach Games

The International University Beach Games is an event that combines university sport and beach sports.

The Brazilian University Sports Confederation (CBDU) started the process to organise the event in 2015, four years after staging the inaugural Brazilian University Beach Games. 

Competition sees teams representing their universities from around the world. 

The age bracket for participation is the same as in any other International University Sports Federation (FISU) event - 17 to 28-years-old. 

Inaugural edition in 2015

Brazilian city Aracaju hosted the first edition of the International University Beach Games in 2015.

The Brazilian champions of the National Beach Games League competed against teams from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay.

They contested three sports - beach handball, beach soccer and beach volleyball.

The official opening took place in the competition arena, located in Orla de Atalaia, on December 1.

The event was powered by the CBDU and the Brazilian Sports Ministry with support from the Student Athletic Federation of Sergipe and the Aracaju Government. 

It concluded on December 5. 

Second edition in 2017

Brazilian city Maceió, the capital of the Alagoas state, hosted the second edition of the International University Beach Games in 2017.

The event, which featured men’s and women’s competitions in beach handball, beach soccer and beach volleyball, saw 250 athletes take part with hosts Brazil among the nations to compete along with the likes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Brazil were represented by universities of the Alagoas state and by the winning teams from the 2016 edition of the country’s national University Beach Games. 

An African team from a student internship in Brazil also competed, contesting the beach soccer competition.

The 11-strong outfit comprised athletes from Benin, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe.

They study in the Federal University of Roraima in Boa Vista and the invitation to participate in the competition was part of the CBDU programme to approach and promote sports, cultural, social and academic relations among Brazilian university athletes and those from other countries.

In 2016, the internship students participated in the 64th edition of the Brazilian University Games, which took place in the Mato Grosso state.

The CBDU also invited Federation of Africa University Sports President Michael Malumbete, who signed a cooperation agreement for Brazilian and African athletes to make sporting internships.

The second edition of the International University Beach Games was organised by the CBDU, the FISU America and the University Sports Federation of Alagoas, with the seal of the FISU.

Set on the sands of Pajuçara beach, the 2017 event’s arena was designed to offer the best structure to athletes and the general public.

The space consisted of two blocks and had the capacity to receive 3,000 people.

Students from Alagoas state’s public schools, with which the CBDU has signed a partnership to publicise sports practices, were among those in attendance.

All 78 matches were shown live on the CBDU’s Facebook page.