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British Wrestling Association Hosts Two-Day Referee Conference

Wednesday, April 27, 2022 - 14:10 By United World Wrestling Press

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MANCHESTER, United Kingdom – The British Wrestling Association (BWA) recently hosted an inaugural Referee Conference in Manchester, UK on April 9-10. This seminar was done in conjunction with the UWW Development Department and conducted by Mr. Carlos Garcia (ESP). The course had 16 participants from the BWA and included four current UWW referees and 12 national referees, with four of them being new. 

“With some of our UWW Officials seeking upgrades in the near future, the conference provided a fantastic opportunity to learn from Carlos Garcia who was a key feature in making the whole weekend a success. The conference was incredibly well received by our officials, and it is our intention to make this an annual activity following UWW's annual publication of rule changes," said Craig Anthony, CEO of the British Wrestling Association.

GBRParticipants of the British Wrestling Association's (BWA) two-day course go through a practical training session. (Photo: David Morgan)

The goal of the course was to provide training on the new rules and focus on some of the more challenging areas for referees. The referees participated in theoretical and practical sessions during the two-day course that included the work in the following areas:  the new 2022 rule changes, takedown and control, out of bound situations, risk vs no risk, passivity, fleeing the mat/hold, referee mechanics, positioning during a bout, and mat chairman responsibilities.

“All participants showed great interest and commitment during the course. They asked many great questions and collaborated with the other participants.  All in all, it was very pleasant to work with them” said Carlos Garcia.

"British Wrestling's inaugural Referee Conference was an important step in our continued growth and efforts to build back better from the Coronavirus pandemic. After such a long time off the mat for many of our domestic referees, it was important for us to schedule an update on rule changes as well as to continue their development and raise officiating standards as a key part of the competition experience,” said Craig Anthony.  This seminar is part of their 2021-'25 strategic plan to “Develop the wrestling workforce to deliver the best combat sport experience in the UK.” 

This is just one of the many activities that have helped BWA grow over the past few years. “Since British Wrestling started its new strategic plan 2021-'25, everybody seems to be fully committed to further developing wrestling in the UK.  And you can see it and feel it in the way everybody performs and collaborates with the same goal:  compete at the highest level,” said Carlos Garcia.

Photos were taken by David Morgan (On the Mat | Flickr/On The Mat (@onthematuk) • Instagram)

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Cambodia hosts educational activities in lead up to Southeast Asian Championships

Monday, January 16, 2023 - 22:09 By United World Wrestling Press

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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (December 20) -- In a move to strengthen wrestling in Southeast Asia, United World Wrestling (UWW) organized a series of educational activities in Phnom Penh, December 8-15 before the 2022 Southeast Asian Championships.

These activities included: a Training Camp, a Level 1 Coaches Course, an Introduction to Refereeing Course, Level 1 UWW Referee Course (obtain category III referee license), and a UWW Event Organization – IT course.

A total of 80 participants including athletes, coaches, referees and IT specialists took part in the events. The educators were Zach Errett (USA), Igor Ligay (KAZ), Vincent Aka (CIV/FRA) and Youssef Bouaziz (TUN). 

These courses were held with the support of the Olympic Solidarity, the Cambodia Olympic Committee and the Cambodian Wrestling Federation. “The 2022 Southeast Asian Wrestling Championship is the largest ever international senior wrestling tournament in Southeast Asia. The participating countries’ participation and preparation for this competition will help grow wrestling in the region for years to come," said Casey Barnett, VP of the Cambodian Wrestling Federation and SEA President. "It has been successful with the support of the amazing United World Wrestling development team and technical officials who conducted training to Southeast Asian federations prior to the competition. Before the competition, UWW trained dozens of referees, coaches, athletes and IT officials to provide critical human resources to grow the sport in our region.”

CAMParticipants from five nations attended the seven-day training camp. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Training Camp – 8-15 December 2022
A total of 40 participants from 5 countries took part in this training camp. Training sessions were led by UWW Educator, Vincent Aka (CIV/FRA). Training included learning new and different techniques, games, match conditioning, and discussions on the preparation for competitions. Also, during the camp, Komeil GHASEMI (IRI), a 2012 London Olympic champion, was able to show techniques and serve as a role model for the athletes. “It was a good camp!  The wrestlers were committed and willing to learn to improve their level.” said Mr. Vincent Aka.

CAM1Two Coaching Courses took place in Cambodia over three days. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Coaching Course – Level 1, 12-15 December 2022
This course is part of UWW’s educational program that paves the way towards improving coaching skillsets and facilitating delegates with tools to strengthen their professional work.

The Coaching Course Level 1 was divided into two sessions: theoretical and practical. The structure of this course was designed in a way that any lesson learned in the classroom was applied on the mat.  The main topics covered in the course were the implementation of discovery games, introducing new techniques, improving coaching skills, giving feedback, age group characteristics, Anti-Doping and athlete safeguarding. The course was conducted by UWW Education Manager, Zach Errett (USA).  “It was great working with coaches from the Southeast Asian region.  They worked very hard, and we saw them grow during the course.  It is exciting to see the direction they are headed in this region.” said Mr. Zach Errett

Introduction to Refereeing, 12-15 December 2022
The course was conducted by UWW Educator Igor Ligay (KAZ). Referees had theoretical sessions and practical sessions on the mat. They studied the evaluation of actions, referee mechanics, the start and end of matches, and referee positioning during the match. The participants also had an opportunity to practice their skills with simulation matches prior to the start of the competition. After the Introduction to Refereeing Course, all attendees took part in the 2022 SEA Championships and participated in the Level 1 UWW Referee Certification Course. This will allow them to become licensed UWW referees. “It was a very good course. In this group, all the participants were young and inexperienced.  However, they were eager to learn and improve.  This was a good course to have before the competition started,” said Mr. Igor Ligay.

CAM2Participants of the IT Course gather for a photo. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Event Organization – IT Course, 14-15 December 2022.
The IT course was conducted by UWW’s IT Specialist Youssef Bouaziz (TUN). A total of 8 participants from 6 countries participated in the course. The participants were provided a hands-on experience using different tools - Arena, UWW timing and LGTV software. The course consisted of theoretical and practical parts and had 3 main chapters.  First, how to create and manage competitions. Next, how to manage UWW timing. Lastly, how to stream and record an event. “I am very happy that this region has a good young generation that wants to improve the event level in their country. They were excited and asked many questions on how to improve. It was great to see them look to the future and how they will improve wrestling for their federations.” said Mr. Youssef Bouaziz

CAM3Wrestlers drill during one of the training session. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Words of Participants
“Training camp was a great opportunity to learn new techniques, and exchange experience between different athletes. We had a great time and hope to participate in such events in the future. I want to thank the Cambodian Wrestling Federation and United World Wrestling for this great opportunity to grow,” said Dorn Srors, a Cambodian female athlete.

"Learning is a lifelong process. Therefore, I am thrilled to be part of the United World Wrestling course on coaching. It was a great opportunity for me to learn and unlock new skills with other coaches from Southeast Asian regions," said Komeil Ghasemi, the Head Coach for Cambodia.

“I take this opportunity to share my big thanks with the organizing committee and all involved in this course for giving me a chance to witness the value/gratefulness of the Introduction to Refereeing course in Cambodia from December 12-19, which was conducted with the support of Olympic Solidarity and United World Wrestling. Without any doubts, this course helped me to enlighten my knowledge in referee duties which come in any forum and to face them with much more confidence than yesterday,” – said Piyumi Lakshika, a women's referee from Sri Lanka.

“The UWW IT Training Course by Mr Youssef Bouaziz was incredibly informative and interactive. This training has equipped me with lots of tangible and professional tools to leverage on and use in achieving excellent desired results. With the help of the practical sessions during the training, now I know how to utilize available resources to get ahead of any issues that may arise,” - Chen Weiming, Wrestling Federation of Singapore.

Cambodian Wrestling Federation is working very hard to develop wrestling in its country and the region.  UWW is committed to working alongside them in this journey to help them grow and strengthen the whole Southeast Asian region. This event had a record number of participants, and UWW is excited about the growth of wrestling in Southeast Asia.