# Universidad Deportiva del Sur
**Wikidata**: [Q5690215](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5690215)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/universidad-deportiva-del-sur

## Summary
Universidad Deportiva del Sur is a Venezuelan public university founded in 2006 that specializes in sports-related higher education. Located in Cojedes state, it is the country’s only institution whose academic programs are built around sport science, physical education and athletic development.

## Key Facts
- Inception: 2006 – created by presidential decree as Venezuela’s first sports-focused university
- Country: Venezuela; campus coordinates 10.4892° N, 66.8911° W
- Legal status: Public university (instance_of: university)
- ISNI: 0000-0004-1774-6239
- Ringgold ID: 274306
- Official website: http://www.uds.edu.ve (archived snapshots cited 2020-03-12)
- Twitter handle: @uds_oficial, created 2012-10-16; 3 773 followers as of 2021-01-05
- RSS news feed: http://www.uideporte.edu.ve/rssUID.php
- Wikipedia sitelinks: 2 (Spanish and Commons category “Universidad Deportiva del Sur (Cojedes)”)

## FAQs
### Q: What kind of degrees does Universidad Deportiva del Sur offer?
A: The university delivers undergraduate licenciaturas and postgraduate programs centered on sport science, physical education, coaching, recreation and allied health disciplines; curricula are accredited by the Venezuelan Ministry of Higher Education.

### Q: Is Universidad Deportiva del Sur open to international students?
A: Yes; as a public Venezuelan university it accepts foreign applicants through the same national admission system, but all instruction is in Spanish and prospective students must validate prior studies through the Venezuelan consulate.

### Q: Where exactly is the main campus?
A: The central campus sits on the outskirts of Tinaco, Cojedes state, on the Carrera 3 with coordinates 10.4892° N, 66.8911° W; satellite facilities for high-performance training are scattered across the state.

### Q: How can I keep up with university news if I don’t use Twitter?
A: The institution publishes an RSS feed at http://www.uideporte.edu.ve/rssUID.php and posts official announcements on its website http://www.uds.edu.ve.

## Why It Matters
Before 2006 Venezuela lacked a dedicated academic hub for elite athlete development and sports research. By creating Universidad Deportiva del Sur, the government filled that gap, giving coaches, physical-education teachers and sports managers a place to earn specialized degrees without leaving the country. The university underpins national programs such as “Deporte para la Vida” and feeds graduates into the National Institute of Sports, school districts, military academies and professional teams. Its existence also means local athletes can pursue tertiary study aligned with their training schedules, reducing the historic brain-drain of Venezuelan talent to foreign colleges. In a broader sense, the institution symbolizes Venezuela’s effort to use sport as a vehicle for social inclusion and national identity, mirroring regional initiatives in Cuba and Brazil but adapted to Venezuelan administrative and cultural realities.

## Notable For
- First and only Venezuelan university whose statutory mission is exclusively sport-related
- Operates the country’s largest academic exercise-science laboratory complex outside Caracas
- Houses the National Repository of Sports History, an archive of Olympic and Pan-American documents dating to 1938
- Hosts the annual “Jornadas de Alto Rendimiento” conference that draws coaching professionals from across Latin America
- Maintains partnership agreements with more than 30 municipal sports institutes for student practicums

## Body
### Founding & Legal Framework
Universidad Deportiva del Sur was decreed into existence on 27 September 2006 (Gaceta Oficial 38.440) as part of the government’s “Revolución Educativa”. The statute designated the new institution as a “universidad experimental” under the Ministry of Higher Education, giving it curricular autonomy to design competency-based programs aligned with international sports-federation standards.

### Campus & Infrastructure
The 42-hectare main campus lies 8 km south-east of Tinaco, Cojedes. Facilities include:
- A 400-m eight-lane athletics stadium certified by the Venezuelan Athletics Federation
- Indoor arena seating 2 000 for basketball, volleyball and handball
- Olympic-weightlifting training hall with 20 platforms
- Biomechanics and exercise-physiology labs
- Residence halls for 400 scholarship athletes

### Academic Organization
As of 2020 the university offers six undergraduate licenciaturas:
1. Lic. en Educación Física
2. Lic. en Entrenamiento Deportivo
3. Lic. en Recreación
4. Lic. en Gerencia del Deporte
5. Lic. en Nutrición Deportiva
6. Lic. en Psicología del Deporte

Master’s programs launched in 2017 in High-Performance Sports and Sports Management; doctoral program in Sports Science entered the National Registry of Postgraduate Studies (RPG) in 2021.

### Governance & Quality Assurance
The university is governed by a University Council chaired by the Minister of Higher Education. Internal quality control follows the CEACES evaluation grid; the most recent institutional self-study (2019) reported 78 % of faculty holding postgraduate degrees and a 9:1 student-teacher ratio in practical sports courses.

### Student Life & Athletics
UDS teams compete in the Venezuelan University Games (JUV) under the colors garnet and gold. The men’s futsal squad won national titles in 2015 and 2018; the women’s softball team placed third in the 2019 Super Universitaria. All full-time students must complete 120 hours of community sport service in barrio-based programs before graduation.

## References

1. Aligned ISNI and Ringgold identifiers for institutions
2. [Source](http://www.uds.edu.ve)