The study analyzes benefits of the equivalent approach to the functional fitness model designs for categorical application in university sports. The approach gives the grounds to find similarities/ correlations of the objects/ processes subject to analysis. In the model piloting project, the following parameters were analyzed: Qualification rates for the sport titles and classes including the World Class Master of Sport, Master of Sport, Candidate Master of Sport and Class I-III Athlete; actual functionality rates of the qualified university athletes, i.e. the objective qualitative measures of their physical and mental performance to benchmark them versus the formal sport qualification standards; and the qualification rates were benchmarked versus the actual functionality rates to find the degree of their correlation/ equivalence. Furthermore, we offered categorical (skill-specific) model rates for the university athletes as the reference points for the individual functionality correction based on the actual functionality rates.