#development

Guenat presents UWW’s IT success at ASOIF workshop

Wednesday, May 24, 2023 - 08:51 By United World Wrestling Press

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LAUSANNE, Switzerland (May 24) -- ASOIF’s Sport Development and Education Workshop brought together 50 experts from 29 Summer and Winter Olympic International Federations (IFs) earlier this week. Organized by the ASOIF Sport Development and Education Group (ASDEG), the workshop focused on the common challenges and opportunities related to digitalization, the centralization of information, the evaluation of return on investment of IF development programs, new revenue sources for such programs, and sport initiations at multi-sports events.

The event was held on May 16 and 17 in Lausanne, Switzerland, led by the Chair of ASDEG Deqa NIAMKEY, Development Director at United World Wrestling.

Several representatives from ASOIF member federations presented case studies and shared best practices, while a number of external experts provided additional insights into the topics addressed.

UWW IT Director Sébastien GUENAT presented the Athena and Arena system during the workshop explaining how technology can help ease the work of any IF.

“It has been a pleasure to show what we have been working on at UWW for the past 10 years and discover that other IFs are on a similar path with not only questions but also interesting ideas on how to make technological tools more engaging for everybody," Guenat said.

Cynthia Amami and Margaux Kaltenbacher from Olympic Solidarity shared their experience on successful methods and tools to centralize information, whereas Jonas Gredenhag from PGA Tour explained how new ways of data collection have helped to enhance professional golf tournaments.

Katie Brazier from Birmingham City Council and Lilia Barieva from the International University Sports Federation (FISU) then presented successful examples of innovative sports initiations at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the World University Games respectively.

During another session, Elena Portas and Patrick Massey from Portas Consulting discussed social return on investment with the Forum participants.

Development and education are crucial to solid foundations and the healthy future of every sport. It's great to see that each year, our workshop attracts more IF colleagues and the discussions and outcomes are really constructive.

The workshop facilitates a united approach of a large number of IFs in the implementation of their sport development and education projects. This allows efficiencies in terms of human and financial resources, ensures a certain consistency across the sports and thereby maximizes the impact of the related IF activities overall.

#development

Qatar hosts Regional Coaching and Referee course

Thursday, June 29, 2023 - 12:23 By United World Wrestling Press

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DOHA, Qatar (June 29) -- Qatar Wrestling Federation hosted its first-ever Regional Coaching Course and an Introduction to Refereeing Course. The courses were conducted between May 29 and June 3 in Doha and had participants from seven different countries namely Qatar, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Brazil, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

These courses were conducted in conjunction with United World Wrestling, Olympic Solidarity, Qatar NOC and the Qatar Wrestling Federation.

The coaching course was led by Mohamed ADBELFATTAH. The referee course was led by Kamel BOUAZIZ who is the vice-president of the Referee Commission and President of the Arab Wrestling Federation.

Arsen JULFALAKYAN, President of the Athletes Commission and former world champion and Olympic medalist, assisted in the delivery of the courses.

The Regional Coaching Course was conducted over a five-day period with 20 coaches -- 18 men and two women. They participated in a Level 2 Course [Introduction to Practice Planning].

The course focused on basic video analysis, the development of effective training sessions, the mental development of wrestlers, and coaching the seven basic skills of wrestling. 

ARSParticipants go through a practical training session with Greco-Roman legend and world champion Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) (Photo: United World Wrestling)

During the course, the coaches actively practiced and developed their skills through practical evaluations. The coaches also had the chance to work with Julfalakyan. The participants were able to learn valuable Greco-Roman techniques from both educators.

"The course in Qatar was interesting and eventful. Coaches and referees from the region participated in it," Julfalakyan said. "We carried out productive work both in theory and in practice. You could notice that the Qatar federation is determined to develop wrestling in the country."

“The course went very well. We had representatives from many countries," Abdelfattah said. "It is clear that Qatar is committed to growing the sport.” 

The Introduction to Refereeing Course, led by Bouaziz, was conducted for five days and had five participants who learned the foundations of being a referee.

The areas covered during the course included: the safety of the athletes, evaluation of holds, referee mechanics, positioning, and controlling the bout. The participants also worked directly with the coaches during a session to learn common areas of mistakes from referees and coaches. 

TUn
Kamel BOUAZIZ (TUN) leads the five-day Introduction to Refereeing Course in Qatar. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

"During the theoretical courses, most of the participants eagerly received the information, asked the questions, and wanted to know the latest changes to the rules. They are passionate about refereeing," Bouaziz said.

"We express our deep gratitude and appreciation to UWW Bureau Member, Head of Athletes Commission Arsen Julfalakyan, Vice-president of UWW Referee Commission-Educator Kamal Bouaziz, UWW Educator Coach Mohammed Abdelfattah, and UWW Development Department for invaluable support in helping us achieve this remarkable growth," Sheikh Fahad bin Hamad Al Thani, President of Qatar Wrestling Federation and Member of Qatar Olympic Committee, said.

"The wealth of knowledge and impactful teaching style of the UWW experts empowered coaches and referees with insight and experience that resonated profoundly."