#development

Baattiah first female member of Saudi Wrestling's board

Sunday, June 12, 2022 - 11:36 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (June 10) -- In a significant step forward for women’s wrestling in Saudi Arabia as well as the United World Wrestling’s push for gender equality, Amal BAATTIAH has been elected as the first female member of the Saudi Arabian Wrestling Federation’s executive board.

Baattiah’s election is part of the wider strategy for wrestling in Saudi Arabia, which has witnessed rapid growth in the last few years thanks to the support and cooperation between the Saudi Wrestling Federation and UWW.

It also underlines the importance of the UWW’s development programs, which are providing immediate results in improving gender equality in wrestling. Baattiah was a participant in the Women Lead Sports Master Program, which was spearheaded by world-renowned expert Gabriela Mueller.

The Women Lead Sports Master Program has been designed to empower participants to shape the future of wrestling as a global sport, learn effective leadership strategies and techniques, and increase a diverse leadership talent pool within all levels at the UWW.

Baattiah graduated from the program in January 2022. And earlier this month, she broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first woman to get elected to the Saudi Arabian Wrestling Federation board. Her election marks another landmark moment for the development of the sport in Saudi Arabia.

In the last few years, with support from the UWW, the country has taken important initiatives to educate its coaches and referees, developed infrastructure and focussed on the grassroots.

Since 2017, the Saudi Arabian Wrestling Federation has held coaching and refereeing courses every year, except for the break forced by the pandemic. These courses were held under the supervision of UWW-certified educators.

In January 2021, the first-ever introduction to refereeing course was conducted for women and later that year, in December, a similar course for women coaches was organized.

Olympic bronze medalists Marwa AMRI (TUN) and Clarissa CHUN (USA) attend the introduction of coaches course in Saudi Arabia, (Photo: United World Wrestling)

The country’s wrestlers have also been a part of the UWW’s More than Medals program every year for the last five years. As much as sporting skills, the workshop teaches the wrestlers life skills, which help them prepare for a career after sport.

At the same time, there have been constant efforts to improve the wrestling infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian Wrestling Federation established three training centres in 2015 and one in 2018. These centers are situated in Riyadh, Dammam, Makkah and Jeddah. Over the years, the UWW has donated six wrestling mats to Saudi Arabia while the national federation has imported four more mats. In the first six months of this year, 10 new mats have already arrived in Riyadh.

On the administrative front, Saudi Arabian Wrestling Federation President Fahad ALFARRAJ was elected as a vice-president of the Arab Wrestling Federation.

All these developmental activities have shown results on the mat.

Wrestlers from Saudi Arabia participated in the World Championships for the first time in 2017. It was also the first-ever world-level participation by the country’s wrestlers since 1980.

Since then, Saudi wrestlers have been a constant presence at junior and senior international tournaments and have started to make their presence felt on the podium as well. In 2019, the country won a bronze medal at the World School Combat Games in Budapest. In the same year, four Saudi Arabian wrestlers won bronze medals at the U15 Asian Championships in Chinese Taipei.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia won its first-ever Arab Championship gold medal, with five wrestlers finishing on top of the podium at the U17 and U20 Arab Championship in Makkah. Saudi Arabia was ranked second in the championship where 12 Arab countries participated.

In 2023, Saudi Arabia will host the U17 and U23 Asian Championship and will also host the Arab Championships for both age groups for the first time ever.

Development

Iraqi Wrestling Federation host 2nd course for Coaches and Referees

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 - 12:56 By United World Wrestling Press

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Baghdad, Iraq (June 17) – The Iraqi Wrestling Federation continues to look to provide education for their coaches and referees. From May 25-30, the IRQ Federation hosted a Level 2 Coaching Course and the Introduction to Referee Course.  These were conducted in conjunction with Olympic Solidarity and United World Wrestling.  The coaching course was led by Mr. Hassan Madany (EGY) and the referee course was led by Mr. Hadi Hasan Ismael (IRQ).  

The Level 2 coaching course focused on the designing and implementing of practice plans.  There were 25 coaches that participated in the course.  The participants The following topics were covered throughout the course: seven basic skills of wrestling, introduction to performance analysis designing effective practice sessions, and technical session. During the course, the coaches actively practiced and developed their skills through practical evaluations.  “The atmosphere was comfortable and collaborative, creating an excellent learning environment. Everyone was eager to engage with the course content across various topics, but there was particular enthusiasm for match performance analysis and practical application.  Notably, most participants were former international players, including some who competed in the London 2012 Olympics in the 130 kg Greco-Roman category, such as Coach Ali Nazem. Their presence significantly enhanced the course level, especially in the practical aspects.  In the end, I was pleased to be part of this course and to work alongside such a distinguished group of coaches.” Said Mr. Madany.

The Introduction to Refereeing Course was the first-ever women-only course in Iraq.  This course had 17 women who were new to refereeing.  The participants learned the foundations of what it takes to be a great referee.  The areas covered during the course included:  safety of the athletes, evaluation of holds, referee mechanics, positioning, and controlling the bout.  The participants were active during the course and were able to practice their skills through practical evaluations.  “The course was conducted successfully and demonstrated strong organization throughout. The participants showed a high level of enthusiasm, which was clearly reflected in their active engagement during the sessions. Despite all attendees having no prior experience in wrestling, their overall performance was commendable. Several participants displayed exceptional comprehension and aptitude, which was evident in their practical application of refereeing skills during the championship held the day after the course concluded.” Said Mr. Hadi Hasan Ismael.

At the conclusion of the courses, the Iraqi Wrestling Federation organized a competition. The competition allowed the coaches and referees to directly practice the new skills that they learned.

“First of all, I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the International Wrestling Federation and the Development Committee of the Federation for their continuous support in developing wrestling in Iraq. Regarding the training and refereeing course, which concluded with great success, the lecturers Hassan Madani and Hadi Hassan presented valuable and useful expertise and information, which was well received and appreciated by all participants”. said Mr. Shaalan Abdulkadhim, President of Iraqi Wrestling Federation.

IRQParticipants gather for a group photo following the conclusion of the Level 2 Coaching Course in Baghdad. (Photo: United World Wrestling) 

Quotes from some of the participants:

“The course was of great importance, particularly due to the inclusion of practical applications, which proved to be the most engaging and beneficial aspect for the participants. These hands-on sessions complemented the theoretical lectures, which focused on thoroughly studying the core materials and concepts before transitioning to their practical implementation.” – Hoyam Jazea

“The course was very enjoyable and rich with valuable information that has already benefited us and will certainly be useful in the future. Although the duration of the course was short, the knowledge we gained was impactful and left a lasting impression. For future, I hope there will be more courses, as it would allow us to deepen our understanding and expand our knowledge of refereeing.” – Saja Tariq

"The overall impression of the Level 1 Wrestling Refereeing Course was very positive. It was a well-structured and fruitful course that provided a solid introduction to the fundamentals of wrestling, including basic techniques, refereeing principles, mat movement, and scoring methods. The theoretical component was clearly presented, and the instructor’s approach to delivering the material was excellent, making the information easy to understand and absorb.” – Rusul Falah