Obituary

Tzeno Tzenov, Longtime Bureau Member and President of European Council, Dies at 80

Monday, June 1, 2020 - 14:25 By United World Wrestling Press

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SOFIA, Bulgaria (June 1) - Tzeno TZENOV, a bureau member during some of wrestling's biggest moments, has died. He was 80.

Born in Markovo Village in 1939, Tzenov graduated from the “Kliment Ohridski” of Sofia University with a Master of Arts in History and Archeology.

The son of a former bureau member, Tzenov had an eye for the mats and ways to help the sport grow, starting during the 1980's during his tenure as Secretary of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation and later, vice president. Tzenov also briefly served as the President of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation from 1987-1989.

Away from wrestling, Tzenov was elected as Secretary-General of the Bulgarian Union for Physical Culture and Sport from 1989 to 1993. From there he transitioned into an important role as a Member of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee where he had remained since 1992. 

Tzenov was also the executive director of “Bulgarian Sport” Charity Foundation since 2004 and was the President of the Control’s Council at the Bulgarian Olympic Committee since November 2005.

Mr. Tzenov's impact on wrestling is well-known, becoming a member of the European Council of FILA/UWW in 1978 where he was later elected president in 1995. Tzenov was first elected to the FILA/UWW Bureau in 2002 and subsequently re-elected in 2008 and 2014. In 2016, Tzenov was named as a bureau vice-president.

“As a long-time serving executive in sports, and as a historian, Mr. Tzenov had a great knowledge of wrestling’s culture and heritage, in particular in the European context," said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. "Combined with his experience gained in the sport’s highest instances in Bulgaria and in the International Federation, he had a pivotal role in leading wrestling towards modernity while safeguarding the core values of our sport”. 

"He will be dearly missed by everyone in the wrestling community and our deepest condolences to his wife, friends and colleagues."

Further decisions about Mr. Tzenov's funeral will be made in the coming days.

#development

Wish Programme Cohort 4 wraps up in London

Wednesday, September 6, 2023 - 00:14 By Eric Olanowski

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LONDON, England (September 5) – Women in Sport High-Performance Pathway (WISH) kicked off the 1st Edition of the programme on May 23, 2022. 

Since then they have started 2nd, 3rd, 4th cohort to help develop more women coaches in sport. 

The WISH Programme is designed to equip women coaches, who have the potential and ambition, to succeed in gaining roles at elite coaching levels within their sports. The programme is specifically designed to help coaches develop their sport-specific skills, leaderships skills and behaviours, and build confidence. United World Wrestling is participating along with many other IF’s and is being support by Olympic Solidarity, University of Hertfordshire, and Females Achieving Brilliance (FAB).

United World Wrestling has had two additional coaches started the most recent cohorts. Teresa MENDEZ (ESP) and member of UWW Gender Equality Commission along with W.I.Lalanthi Disanayaka (SRI) are participating in the 4th cohort. A total of 124 coaches benefited from the programme which 12 are from wrestling. The coaches are from 60 nations representing the five continents and across the 33 Olympic sports.

 “I highly appreciate the opportunities provided by UWW to promote women wrestling. This week was amazing to be a group of women coaches from all Olympic sports. The programme and content prompted me to learn more about myself. I strengthen my self-confidence, learned positive thinking, how to better self-evaluate to improve, and to self-reflect to find a solution to any problem,” said Teresa Mendez.

W.I.Lalanthi Disanayaka “My country is facing so many economical and social issues but thanks to sport, we can promote a better society especially for the younger generations. Never in my dreams, I would have thought I would be selected for such scholarship. I am very grateful and will pursue the development of wrestling in my country”.

The residential session was a weeklong event where the coaches attended working sessions and participated in learning activities with over 20 coaches from other sports in attendance. Some of the key learning points included leadership skills, creative problem-solving, creating connections, mindset, having uncomfortable conversations, visualizing the future, etc.

“The WISH (Empowering Woman Coaches) is dear to me. Bringing women coaches, managers, administrators from around the globe to work on common challenges in sports is the only way forward to bridge the gap of gender equality," said Deqa Niamkey, UWW DD and WISH Strategy Chair. "We still have a long way to go before reaching the 50/50 gender equality but through such programmes, rest assured, we are on the right track. We are currently discussing with the University of Hertfordshire, WISH committee, IOC/OS to expand the programme to regional, continental level and in different languages.”

The WISH Programme is a 21-month programme. These coaches will continue meeting with the WISH Leadership Team, work with their leadership mentors, and sport-specific mentors. WISH was originally piloted as the WSLA High-Performance Coach Programme. UWW participated in the original pilot program with four coaches. After a successful experience, the WISH Programme was developed and expanded to include participation by more International Federations. UWW has renewed its participation to this outstanding programme.