On December 12, 1990, a new international organization was founded in Washington, D.C. The World Fitness Federation (WFF) was the joint effort of Canadian Dr. Edmund Enos, former envoy of Pierre Elliott Trudeau to the Soviet Union, and Soviet Mr. Anatoly Tsarik, president of the Soviet Sports For All Association and member of the Soviet State Sports Committee.
Other founding members included participants from the International Olympic Committee, the American Running and Fitness Association, the Mal Whitfield Foundation, the USSR State Sports Committee, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the International Federation of Bodybuilders, the Swedish National Sports and Fitness Association, and representatives from universities including Loyola University and the University of Texas. Dr. Stephen Perle represented the Federation Internationale de Chiropratique Sportive (FICS), and is currently serving on the statutes development committee.
The WFF is a multi-discipline organization working toward improved global physical fitness. The organization has already caught the attention of many international agencies, and foreign projects are currently under way. The WFF plans to hold fitness events that will be both educational and entertaining; these events will not necessarily revolve around sports, but general body fitness and health. The process of developing the WFF statutes has recently been completed. Although the organization is still in a planning stage, there is a promise of major international corporate backing, and key members of the International Olympic Committee are lending their support.
Stephen J. Press, D.C., past president of FICS was elected by a unanimous vote to the position of secretary-general at the WFF's inaugural meeting in Washington, D.C. Dr. Press is also currently serving as chairman for the WFF statutes development committee. Mr. Tsarik will serve as president for the WFF and Dr. Enos as vice-president.
"One of the things I would like to see occur in this organization is for chiropractic to help shape international health policies. We will be interacting with health and sports ministries world-wide, and we plan to have an advisory panel on health care comprised primarily of chiropractors," said Dr. Press. "This organization is not dealing with sickness and disease, we're dealing with health. I see my job on behalf of the profession as bringing chiropractic into all appropriate roles as I can, so that the people of the world can have the advantage of chiropractic expertise on fitness issues."
WFF representatives will be participating in the World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Geneva this month, in order to speak to health ministry representatives from all over the globe about promoting general fitness. The WFF plans to sponsor international sports festivals and fitness competitions, especially in the underdeveloped nations. These fitness festivals will probably include unique events, like jumping rope, which are not typical to normal sports competitions. This is because these events are directed toward non-athletes, and the aim is toward general fitness.
WFF Vice-President Dr. Enos, with President Mr. Tsarik, will also be in attendance at the International Sports for All Festival in Moscow this July. The festival is held in conjunction with the annual Soviet fitness festival called "Spartakiade." But unlike the Soviet International Sports for All Federation, primarily a sports organization, the WFF's own future events will include non-sport activities to promote general fitness.
The WFF is presently finalizing discussions on which languages it will use as "official" languages. It is likely that English, French, and Russian will be the three official languages.
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