It’s back: youth athletes invited to grasp 2021 Virtual Youth Festival opportunity

UIPM has invited young athletes from across the world to grasp the opportunity to get involved in the second Virtual Youth Festival.

After the successful first VYF, broadcast from Bangkok (THA) to a global audience, Saudi Arabia will host the 2021 event with the finals, awards and closing ceremonies taking place online from November 20-27.

More than 100 international federations and organizations will take part in a hybrid workshop and conference in Riyadh (KSA).

The 2020 Festival saw the global UIPM community claim nine medals (three gold, one silver, four bronze and one special award medal for IF Ambassador) thanks to youth pentathletes representing Guatemala, Israel, South Africa, Egypt, Uzbekistan and Singapore.

The UTS event, like UIPM’s #LaserHomeRun and #LaserAllStars, was originally intended to provide opportunities for the multi-sports community community during the pandemic. The VYF organizers have decided to extend the online event beyond the pandemic, bringing together young people in the spirit of sport on a virtual platform.

The VYF is accessible to youths in categories from U10 to U18, with each age group having different fitness exercises to accomplish. UIPM athletes can participate in the Max Fit competition, which focuses on the contestants’ strength, power and stamina using standardised exercise and fitness drills across five age groups for boys and girls: U10, U12, U14, U16, U18 (according to ages on August 1, 2021).

Any UIPM youth athlete can participate by sending a competition video to projects@pentathlon.org by November 6. Before sending any videos we kindly ask to study the Max Fit Handbook carefully. Applications with not correct videos will not be accepted. 

The VYF also offers the following opportunities to the global UIPM community:

• Participating in IPC Inclusive Challenge
• Becoming a VYF Youth Ambassador following the steps of last year success of Kyra Seow from Singapore and representing UIPM throughout the festival. Candidates must:
  
  • Be aged 10-18
  • Speak English to a high level
  • Be active as athletes in UIPM sports
  • Have comprehensive and active social media accounts
  • Be available for the festival activities in November 2021
• Applying to be a VYF Technical Official – following the brilliant judging in last year’s Festival by certified UIPM Judges Agnese Tomassi (BEL) and Isamu Nogami (JPN). Candidates must:
  
  • Be older than 18
  • Be a UIPM certified judge (any level)
  • Study the Max Fit Handbook before applying
  • Be available for the festival competition days (November 22-25).

Athletes who would like to take up any of the opportunities should send a letter of intent to projects@pentathlon.org by October 30, 2021.

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: “I am happy to hear that the Virtual Youth Festival continues this year. It is a very exciting event and I encourage all youths to join in and test their skills with young people from other sports.

“Our sport is focused strongly on education, which is a cornerstone of the VYF. It is more important than ever at this still difficult time that we provide opportunities for youth and engage the athletes of tomorrow.

“Working hand in hand with other organisations, we can also continue to use our sporting movement as a vehicle for ideals of education, peace, democracy, tolerance and humanity.”

Key dates for the Festival (November 20-27) are as follows:

• Educational workshops (Nov 20-24): Live and are all open to the public, pre-registration needed
• Welcome ceremony (Nov 20): Youth-oriented performances and talent from across the globe
• Opening conference (Nov 20): International sport leaders sharing powerful messages of hope
• Conference sessions (Nov 20-26): Addressing current topics with sport leaders, champions, and experts
• Final competitions (Nov 22-25): Competition finals streamed online
• Awards ceremony (Nov 25-26): Medals presented virtually to the winners
• Closing ceremony (Nov 27): A spectacular closing virtual party beamed out from Saudi Arabia with performances, music and cities coming together
• Medals and certificates (Dec) will be posted to the winners through their Federations or organisations. All participants receive a digital certificate.

Find out more about the UTS World Virtual Youth Festival 2021 by following @unitedthroughsports and #united4thefuture on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter or visit the event web page.

The VYF was introduced by the Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport & UTS (United Through Sports) with the patronage of some of the world’s biggest sports organisations, including the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, Special Olympics, Sport Accord and the Global Association of International Sports Federations.

The VYF integrates Olympic sport with the values of the Paralympic and Special Olympics movements. The 2021 festival will be organised under the supervision of the Riyadh Asian Games 2034 Organizing Committee.