The World University Games started in Naples, Italy, two weeks ago and will draw to a conclusion on Sunday night. It has brought together nearly 6000 athletes from all over the globe in 18 different sports.

It's a major event that means so many different things to different people. The Americans for example seem to make an art-form out of staying away from it. Whether that's because the genesis of the Games was in Europe particularly from the old Iron Curtain nations or because they reckon their own NCAA programs are better anyway, they seem reluctant to embrace.

From Australia's point of view it's a mixed bag - some national sporting organisations grasp the opportunities provided eagerly. Basketball for example has no reservation about naming its participating teams the Emerging Boomers and Opals.

For athletics, the Games team is now the sport's principal espoirs program - transitioning junior talent into senior competition in the most appropriate way. Perfect for a later bloomer like Catriona Bisset who won the 800 metres track gold on Wednesday night.

It doesn't however work for other sports - like swimming which in 2019 for example has a major clash with its world championships which started in Korea on Friday. For others the Pacific Games, which began a week ago, provided a better fit.

This time around there's just one Tasmanian on board for the Games. Hobart's Tanner Krebs was part of that Emerging Boomers outfit which bounced back to take the bronze medal over Israel after losing its semi-final in a nail-biter to the Ukraine by just two points.

Like many of his teammates, Krebs is based in the US, in his case at the successful Californian basketball college - St Mary's.

It's a bit of a mecca for young Australians seeking a strong pathway in basketball. Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova were both stars with the Gaels.

But so too has been being a part of the Summer Universiade.

The full UniRoos team in 2019 numbers 184 - coming from 65 different universities in Australia and overseas. We are represented in Naples in 15 of those 18 sports - giving a miss only to rugby sevens, soccer and volleyball.

They are part of an overall entry of 5971 athletes - nearly 3000 of whom are housed on a cruise ship during their Games stay.

They represent 112 countries and are contesting 222 medal events.

And it's not a bad place to start out.

Shirley Strickland, Ralph Doubell and more recently Cate Campbell each won gold at their respective Universiade appearances.

And Tasmania's 2012 London Olympian Tristan Thomas had been a double champion three years earlier in Belgrade.

The Americans might already believe they have got things under control. And it's true because no other country does college sport in quite the same way as the US.

But now might just be the right time for the rest of the world, especially Australia to get on board with similar programs.

While giving a keynote address at the Sport Decision Makers Summit in London last week, World Athletics chief executive Jon Ridgeon expressed his dismay at research suggesting that 81 percent of adolescents aged between the ages of 11 and 17 fell below the World Health Organisation's recommended minimum of physical activity to maintain good health.

As it happens, while studying at Cambridge, Ridgeon was Universiade champion in the 110m hurdles. And in his case within six weeks it had become a stepping stone to a world championship silver.

Like their counterparts in Australia, British universities provide support to talented students through their sports unions and annual championships.

But neither has a program anything like the US where currently 400 Australians are on basketball scholarships and an ever-increasing number - now around 350 - are supported through their degrees on the back of their track and field prowess.

If society and schools are indeed failing in delivering better health outcomes for teenagers, then what better place to immediately redress that than by making our universities a cauldron of physical activity both for the elite performers and recreational participants.