Up for Bid: Three International Multi-Sport, Multi-Disciplinary Events

Want to dive back into the hosting pool? How about making a swan dive with a triple backflip and a big splash? The Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) has RFPs for three multi-sport, multi-disciplinary events: The World Combat Games, The World Urban Games and The World Mind Games. Each attracts contestants from around the world – and garners media coverage and economic impact. And one of them (at least!) would be a perfect fit for your city.

In the World Urban Games, it’s action sports all the way: 3x3 Basketball, BMX Freestyle, Break Dancing, Roller Freestyle, Parkour, Flying Disc Freestyle, Laser Run and Indoor Rowing. Because almost all events take place in a compact area, there’s no need to disrupt traffic.

Because this is a youth-centric event, with a fun, adrenaline-fueled vibe, you could add in a music festival or other side events to bring in even more people. Additionally, it’s a great outreach project for local clubs in sports like Ultimate and Disc Golf – as well as basketball event owners who could set up demos of sports like 3x3.

The brochure describing the event can be found here, and the application is here.

The World Combat Games need almost no explanation: they are based on sports where hand-to-hand individual competition is key. Three indoor multi-sport venues are required, and the sports to be contested include Aikido, Arm Wrestling, Boxing, Judo, Ju-Jitsu, Karate, Kendo, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Sambo, Savate, Sumo, Taekwondo, Wrestling XIANGQI and Wushu.

It’s a great opportunity in the youth of the community, with demos from local boxing, wrestling and martial arts clubs in the area – as well as to talk about the discipline and values that each sport espouses.

The brochure describing the event can be found here, and the application is here.

The World Mind Games represents a number of sports that blossomed during 2020: Chess, Bridge, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi – games that were played with one other player, either in person or online.

The popularity of the show, The Queen’s Gambit, bumped up the profile of chess till further, making it cool to sit in front of a chessboard (or online in front of one) and ruminate on the next move.

And come to think of it, that’s not the only mind sport that grew when people had time to concentrate on them: crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, cube sports (includes Rubik’s Cube) and SCRABBLE ® (as well as a multitude of others) also experienced unprecedented growth, as did the classic board games.

The World Mind Games allows users to experience the excitement of international competition, with an easy access point for users at any level. Local clubs in chess, bridge, Scrabble® and even poker can help bump up interest and show how fun the world of mind sports can be.

The brochure describing the event can be found here, and the application is here.

Timing of Events

The second edition of the World Urban Games is scheduled for 2023 after it debuted in the Hungarian capital of Budapest in 2019.

A total of 15 martial arts combat sports are included at the World Combat Games, which have not been held since 2013 in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, while Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, was awarded the 2023 edition back in May.

The World Mind Games include members of the International Mind Sport Association in bridge, chess, draughts, go and Chinese chess, and were held annually from their incarnation in 2011 to the Beijing edition in 2014.

Deadlines, according to GAISF manager Nis Hatt, are variable; for 2023 events, the deadline for application would be March of next year, while for events in 2024, the deadline is anytime before November 2023.

Those who want to apply for any (or all) of the above events can fill in the appropriate applications and send them to games@gaisf.sport. Specific questions regarding the process can be directed to Nis Hatt at nis.hatt@sportaccord.com.