#development

UWW donates mats to Panama Wrestling Federation

By United World Wrestling Press

PANAMA CITY, Panama (June 16) -- United World Wrestling donated two new wrestling mats for the development of wrestling in Panama.

With excellent management from the Panama Olympic Committee and the Panama National Wrestling Federation, together with the Development Department of the UWW, these mats were delivered to Panama.

One of the mats was given to the Barraza Pitbull Club, affiliated with the Panama National Wrestling Federation, and to celebrate such an important contribution to sports development; the club held sports gathering with athletes from the provinces of Cocle, Colon, and Panama at the Jesus Master Gomez Gymnasium in the popular Barraza neighborhood in Panama City.

The new mat will be available for the benefit of children and young sportsmen and athletes of the community. President of the Panama Olympic Committee, Damaris Young was also present at the occasion.

The second donated mat was donated to the Provincial League of Herrera, which will make it available to the wrestlers of the region at the Pepe Osorio Gymnasium in Chitré.

These actions taken by the UWW are an incentive to continue promoting wrestling in countries that do not have significant development in the sport.

All mats in the development mat program are a benefit of the partnership between United World Wrestling and Taishan. For Taishan mats, please contact taishan@taishansports.com.

#development

Brazil hosts women’s coaching course

By United World Wrestling Press

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (9 February 2023) - The Brazilian Confederation of Wrestling (CBW) organized a Women’s Coaching Course from 25-28 January in Uberlandia, Brazil. This course brought women coaches from different regions to learn and develop as a wrestling coach.  Many of the coaches came from other backgrounds that included Ji Jitsu and Judo and all had athletes competing nationally. The course was designed to help improve their technical knowledge of wrestling.

The course was led by Jessica Medina (USA Wrestling National Developmental Coach). Jessica has been coaching at USA Wrestling since 2019 and was the coach for the 2021 U17 and U20 world championship teams. “It is great to see other federations provide opportunities for female coaches. President Flavio Neves and the group of coaches were welcoming and excited to bring wrestling to Uberlandia, Brazil," said Medina. "The participants traveled from different regions of the country to focus on their development on and off the mat. They had great enthusiasm, questions, and a hunger to learn. It made me enjoy the experience even more.” 

This course was organized by Flavio Neves (President of CBW) and Aline da Silva (Vice President of CBW). “We expect in a few years to have more female coaches in the national team, more female athletes competing, and therefore more women in leadership positions in Brazil in Wrestling,” said Aline da Silva. 

Aline was a 2014 world silver medalist and competed in the two Olympic Games. She is also a current participant in the WISH (Women in Sport High-Performance) programme. Jessica Medina was a graduate of the WISH (formally known as WSLA-HPC).  The WISH Programme is designed to equip women coaches to succeed in elite coaching and leadership roles within their sports. 

“I am grateful that UWW is a federation that is looking to empower more female athletes and coaches. Because UWW gave me an opportunity to be a part of the WISH program, formerly WSLA, I can apply my leadership skills in mentoring others," said Medina. It was great to travel to another country and collaborate with other female professionals of different cultures. I am confident these women can make an impact in their federation.”