#development

Niamkey elected to Advisory Board of the International Council for Coaching Excellence

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 2) -- Deqa NIAMKEY, United World Wrestling's Development Director, has been elected as a Board Member of the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) by the ICCE General Assembly during the 14th ICCE Global Coach Conference in Singapore.

"I am honored to join such a distinguished organization, working to enhance the coaching education pathways with renowned experts. UWW is working to establish a coaches certification program in collaboration with worldwide universities. Being a member of the ICCE advisory board will provide me with the tools to implement this exciting project," said Niamkey. "I would like to thank our President, Mr. Nenad Lalovic, for his trust and endorsement and ASOIF for their continued support."

Niamkey will serve in office for two years (2024-2025), with an option to be re-elected by the General Assembly in Athens in 2025.

More information on ICCE:
The mission of the ICCE is to lead and support the development of sport coaching globally.

The ICCE is a not-for-profit, global organization that aims to lead and develop sport coaching globally. ICCE members seek to enhance the quality of coaching at every level of sport.

The International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) was established on September 24, 1997, by delegates representing 15 countries during the second International Coach Education Summit held at Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel. The idea of creating an international body to represent coaches and coaching was discussed by Uri Schaefer from Israel, Jurgen Kotzel from Germany and Sue Campbell from UK at the 1994 meeting marking the 20th anniversary of the Trainerakademie in Cologne, Germany.

Akgul elected President of Turkish Wrestling Federation

By Eric Olanowski

ANKARA, Turkiye (December 18) --- Taha AKGUL (TUR) today was elected the President of the Turkish Wrestling Federation at the 6th Regular and Financial General Assembly of the Turkish Wrestling Federation held at the Anadolu Hotels Esenboğa Thermal in Ankara.

Akgul retired from his wrestling career four short months ago at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after successfully winning his third Olympic medal. The 34-year-old native of Sivas, Turkiye, won Olympic gold in Rio 2016 and then back-to-back bronze medals at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics. Akgul is also a three-time world gold medalist and 11-time European champion.

"I am very happy to have been elected president by the representatives. Together, with my team, I will do my best for the sport of wrestling with passion and hard work,” Akgul stated to United World Wrestling shortly after the elections.

According to the Turkish Wrestling Federation’s Instagram page, Akgul received 189 out of 288 votes. Former three-time world champion Celcuk CEBI (TUR) received 92 of the remaining 99 votes, while the remaining seven were nullified.

“The full members of the new board of directors of the federation under the presidency of Akgul are as follows: Mesut Ozarslan, Abdullah Şanli, Arslan Narin, Murat Şahin, Huseyin Kaya, Şems Sezal, İsmail Yagbat, İhsan Gurol Guey, İbrahim Demirturkoğgu and Ahmet Yildirim,” stated the TWF.

For more information regarding Akgul's election and other news from Turkiye, see the Turkish Wrestling Federation's Instagram page.