#development

Uruguay hosts pair of Coaches Courses, Introduction to Refereeing

By United World Wrestling Press

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (November 11) --- Keeping with the series of UWW courses that are taking place in the American continent, on this occasion was the time of Montevideo from November 1 to 7. The courses were: Coaches Course Level 1 and Level 2 and Introduction to Refereeing. A total of 31 participants took part in the course. The majority of the coaches were from Uruguay, but there also were participants from six other countries.

This course is part of the UWW's education program, and the purpose is to provide the coaches with tools to strengthen their professional work. The course consisted of several sessions between theoretical and practical, structured in such a way that what was learned in the classroom was applied on the mat.

This course was made with the support of the Olympic Solidarity, the Uruguayan Olympic Committee, and the Uruguayan Wrestling Federation.

URUParticipants from the Uruguay courses gather for a photo. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

All the activities were held in the brand-new Combat Sports Training Center, founded in 2019, with two mats and a classroom that makes it easy to take the course.

The opening ceremony was held on November 2 and was attended by distinguished personalities such as the President of the National Olympic Committee, Julio C. MAGLIONE, the National Secretary of Sports, Sebastián BAUZÁ and the President of the Uruguay Wrestling Federation, Dante STEFANO.

We had the educators Pedro ROJAS (PUR) for the coaches and Ignacio D'Alessandro (ARG) for the referees. 

"We are very pleased with the outcome of the course. We found a group of participants with a basic level of knowledge of the sport but who were willing to learn and make the most of the concepts and tools provided. We had five days of very fruitful work, and we went back home knowing that we had left the bases for Uruguay to start implementing a successful development program. We want to come back in a while to help them take it to the next level". say Ignacio D’Alessandro, Referee Educator.

The Uruguayan Wrestling Federation is starting to work very hard in the development of the sport in its country. And from the UWW, we hope to continue working in this way with them and accompany them in their growth and institutional strengthening.

#UnitedWorldWrestling

International Women's Day: Women ITOs, coaches, members rise at UWW

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 8) -- United World Wrestling has made significant towards encouraging women's participating in spheres of wrestling, whether on or off the mat.

  • In 2024, United World Wrestling sent its highest number of female International Technical Officers (ITOs) to 2024 Paris Olympic Games, marking 22 percent of the total wrestling ITOs.

Referee

  • It also amended its constitution to reserve two more seats for women in the Bureau, thereby bringing the minimum number of women Bureau members to five. The number of vice presidents was also increased from the current number of five to six, including a minimum of two women vice presidents.

Read Full Report: Good governance at UWW - most women ITOs at Paris 2024, reserved seats in Bureau

Marwa AMRI (TUN)

United World Wrestling has been one of the most active international federation in the Women in Sport High-Performance Pathway (WISH) program.

  •  Out of the 124 coaches that benefited from the program, 12 are from wrestling. The coaches are from 60 nations representing the five continents and across the 33 Olympic sports.
     
  • Three WISH alumni -- Happiness BURUTU (NGR), Marwa AMRI (TUN) and Jessica MEDINA (USA) -- made it to the Paris Games as coaches.

Read More: WISH Program in London

UWW

At the Bureau level, a historic milestone was achieved in women wrestling leadership in 2024. There were seven female candidates for the UWW Bureau, the supreme body of wrestling, marking the highest-ever participation by women in the process.

Kuniko Tanioka (JPN), Annette Kure (NOR), Lise Legrand (FRA), Cholpon Sultanbekova (KGZ), Buyana Peljee (MGL), Nadine Pietschmann (SUI) and UWW Vice-President, Natalia Yariguina (RUS) took part in the race for the Bureau role.

This was the first time that Women Lead Sports alumni being elected to NF president positions and the highest registered female candidates for the Bureau in the history. Rodica YAKSI (TUR) was promoted to Vice-President and Ye ZHANG (CHN) has two years left in her term.

Read Full Report: Big step in women’s wrestling leadership with new members in UWW Bureau

In different countries, women have take the leadership roles. The most significant among others is the appointment of Nadine PITSCHMANN (SUI) and Lise LE GRAND (FRA) as the presidents of Swiss and French federations, respectively.

Among other achievements, a women's wrestling camp was organized in India with Olympic champion Erica WIEBE (CAN) offering a masterclass. Young wrestlers from Jordan, Estonia, South Africa, Mauritius, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and hosts India attended the camp.

Read about the IIS-UWW camp: Wiebe inspires next gen at UWW-IIS camp in India