Development

United World Wrestling Assists in Delivery of Mats and Equipment to Puerto Rico

Monday, December 17, 2018 - 00:14 By United World Wrestling Press

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (December 17) – United World Wrestling and USA Wrestling’s Wrestling4Peace initiative successfully delivered two new wrestling mats, two donated wrestling mats and a variety of training equipment and clothing last week to the Puerto Rico Wrestling Federation.

The donated mats and equipment were collected by USA Wrestling’s Wrestling4Peace with two new mats and delivery payments provided by United World Wrestling. The donations are part of an ongoing commitment by United World Wrestling to help the island in their recovery from hurricanes that pummeled the nation in 2017.

“Puerto Rico is one of the strongest wrestling nations in the Americas,” said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. “We are here to better serve our athletes, especially those who’ve had to overcome obstacles like the hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. This is just a part of what we’d like to accomplish, and it’s a great start.”

Lorraine RORABAUGH (USA) and Steve FRASER (USA) of USA Wrestling4Peace join Puerto Rico National Olympic Committee president Sara ROSALES (PUR), UWW Americas president Francisco LEE (GUA), and Puerto Rico national wrestling federation president Manual GARCIA (PUR) for a discussion of the recent donations (Photo: Luis Marin).

Puerto Rico has enjoyed plenty of wrestling success in recent years, with Jaime ESPINAL snatching Olympic silver with his runner-up finish in Beijing in freestyle at 86kg.

“We would like thank United World Wrestling for the coordination of the mats donated by USA Wrestling,” said Manuel GARCIA, president of the Puerto Rico National Wrestling Federation. “This donation has been a blessing to our island and act of kindness that you cannot find words to express how thankful we are.”

The donated mats were put to immediate use as 1984 Greco-Roman Olympic champion Steve FRASER (USA) put on a pair a clinics at local wrestling clubs in San Juan. Fraser taught a variety of techniques and talked with the young wrestlers about what it takes to win at the Olympic level.

“It was Wrestling4Peace’s pleasure to help Puerto Rico recover from the challenges it faced after Hurricane Maria,” said Fraser. “With the assistance of United World Wrestling, we were happy to collect over 1000 pieces of wrestling gear, including wrestling shoes, singlet’s, shorts, shirts, two wrestling mats and some strength training equipment and deliver to Puerto Rico Wrestling Federation.”

Development

Wrestling with Excellence: Armenia Upskills Coaches and Referees

Friday, April 18, 2025 - 11:59 By United World Wrestling Press

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YEREVAN, Armenia (April 18) – Looking for ways to improve their coaches and referees is very important to the Armenia Wrestling Federation. As a result, they organized a coaching and referee course around their national championships. The course was done in conjunction with Olympic Solidarity and United World Wrestling. The courses were organized between March 22-31 in Yerevan at the Olympic Centre. This was the second time that the Armenian Wrestling Federation organized education courses. Previously, they had organized a Level 1 Coaching Course and the Introduction to Referee Course.

The referee course was organized before their National Championship and started on March 22.  This course was the Level 2 – Referee Foundations Course and was led by Mr. Alexey BAZULIN (RUS). The first three days of the course focused on the theoretical content and included some practice on the mat.  This was held before the start of the championships. The 19 referee participants spent three days practicing their skills in actual competition.  “The seminar participants worked as one team, helping each other and were involved in the work process, analyzing and applying the knowledge gained,” said Mr. Bazulin. Following the competition, the referees and coaches worked together in a joint session led by both UWW Educators.

The Level 2 coaching course started on March 27, following the competition, and was led by Mr. Sergei KOVALENKO (RUS). The course had 14 participants, who covered numerous practice planning concepts in both theoretical and practical sessions. The seminar participants expressed the opinion that such seminars should be held regularly. This provides an opportunity to consolidate previously acquired knowledge, learn something new, share experiences, and analyze advanced teaching methods and other activities.