Professor Vladimir Avagimyants honoured for contribution to university sports

Professor Vladimir Avagimyants of the Chair of Physical Education and Sport has been awarded a certificate of appreciation and a YSU-branded watch in recognition of his significant contribution to the development of sport and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle at Yerevan State University, as well as his 42 years of service to the university.

Since 1984, Avagimyants has served as coach of the YSU shooting team. He holds the title of Master of Sport of the Republic of Armenia and has devoted many years of his professional career to advancing university sports.

YSU Rector Hovhannes Hovhannisyan noted that Avagimyants' contribution has long extended beyond the responsibilities of a lecturer or coach. Over the years, he has helped organise the university's sporting life and strengthen the role of sport as an important component of the educational environment.

"Unlike many masters of sport, he has achieved progress in several sporting disciplines, become a member of international associations and used his professional experience in service of the university. This is a case in which many years of consistent work have become an important part of university culture," the YSU rector said.

Thanking the university for the recognition, Avagimyants said his years at the university had been among the most important periods of his life. For him, the university has been not only a workplace, but also an environment that has shaped his values, human relationships and professional development.

"Over the years, the university changes all of us. For me, it has always been an important part of life, and I can say one of the best parts. It gives us not only knowledge, but also values: mutual respect, support, a culture of human relationships and the opportunity to discover new heights," Avagimyants said.

Professor Avagimyants emphasised that working with students over the years had been not only an opportunity to pass on knowledge, but also a process of mutual growth and a way of keeping pace with new generations.

"Every year, new students come to the university with their own distinctive ways of thinking, approaches and goals. They come to acquire knowledge, build a professional path and maintain their physical fitness and health. Through interacting with them, I have also always gained something new: new ideas, new perceptions and new perspectives. Every generation has its own characteristics, but in all of them I have seen the same important aspiration: to see the university strong, established and leading," he said.

Avagimyants noted that his work in physical education and sport had always been guided by one principle: alongside education, to help shape healthy, informed and responsible citizens.

"Our primary objective has always been to have high-achieving, healthy students. It is important that the university provide the country not only with good specialists, but also with healthy, thoughtful and responsible individuals. Knowledge and profession are very important, but they must be founded on health and responsibility towards one's own life and country. We have always sought to instil this awareness in students," he added.

From 2014 to 2023, Avagimyants won shooting tournaments at the inter-university Universiade organised by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and at the Armenian Student Sports Games. Since 2008, he has received numerous medals and awards, including the YSU Gold Medal.