A.S.A.
A.S.A.
A.S.A. The Academic Sports Association (a.s.a.) of Israel was established in 1952 by the Sports Committee of the Hebrew University, the Technion in Haifa, and the Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics, but subsequently students from other Israeli institutions of higher learning (in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Reḥovot, and Beersheba) also joined. The Association stimulates interest in sports in an age group which generally tends to show no special concern for physical activity and promotes physical exercise among Israeli academicians.
a.s.a. activity focuses on four areas: physical education classes in the universities for students and academic staff; team sports at the national league level; a.s.a. championship competitions in 15 different sports; and participation in international competitions. The Association is a member of national sports institutions in Israel and since 1953 has been a member of the International Federation of University Sportsmen (f.i.s.u.), and as such participates in the "Student Olympics" (the Universiada) every two years. Each year a different university is chosen to host the a.s.a. International Games (since 1969), and in addition there has been an international championship for windsurfing (since 1985) and winter games (since 1997) in Elath.
[Yehoshua Alouf (2nd ed.)]