THE Fiji University Sports Association (FUSA) is lobbying the proposal to start regional tertiary games in a bid to help make Oceania sporting teams stronger at international meets.
Following the completion of the national inter tertiary games over the weekend, FUSA executive member Gabrieli Qoro raised concern over the widening gap between the junior and senior level in sports.
He said they needed a medium to provide athletic students a platform to continue participating in a competitive environment while at tertiary institutions.
Qoro, the former national netball coach, said a regional event would be the best possible solution to breach this gap.
"There is a huge gap between secondary school and tertiary level. The students, who are actively involved in sports while in secondary school, are unable to play competitively at tertiary level because they lack a medium to channel them through to the national level.
"While the national inter tertiary games do help them to keep fit and healthy, it isn't enough to help in the transition of the players from one level to another."
FUSA and Oceania University Sports Association vice president Albert Miller shared similar sentiments, adding they were working on the proposal for a regional meet.
"We have seen some very good athletes or players from secondary school level fade away when they come to universities," Miller, a former national athlete, said.
"They are talented but unfortunately they get involved in social activities and lose interest in sports.
"There has to be some ways to keep them involved in sports and we have been talking about the need to have a regional inter tertiary games for some time.
"Nations like the US are best sporting countries because they have an inter-collegian system where the students are exposed to competitions on a regular basis."
Miller said plans were in pipeline to start the concept with a regional tertiary sevens and FUTSAL competition.
He said with rugby 7s being included in the 2016 Rio Games, the start of the regional university 7s tournament as early as next year would be timely for nations in contention to participate at the Olympics in Brazil.
"We have identified rugby 7s as one of the sports to start the regional university games with because it's very popular in this region," Miller said.
"The idea is just floating around and we need to basically finalise the dates and other finer details."
Fiji participates in the annual Australian University Games and the World Universiade Games, which is held every two years.
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