Development

Joint Referees and Coaches Educator Courses for Wrestling Hosted in Guatemala, Georgia 

Friday, November 30, 2018 - 12:40 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (November 30) – Oil and water. Cats and dogs. Referees and coaches. Some things in this world simply don’t mix.

In wrestling that conflict between referees and coaches may soon be improving. In an effort to harmonize the rule keepers and the men and women tasked with leading teams to victory, United World Wrestling has delivered a pair of educator courses in Guatemala and Georgia attended by both referees and coaches.

“The aim of the course is wonderful because the referees and the coaches learn new teaching techniques and debate on various areas to improve the sport of wrestling,” said United World Wrestling development director Deqa Niamkey. “It’s all about perspective and now they have shared experience and dialogue which will serve the sport.”

The courses were the result of the Referee Development Programme launched after the UWW Bureau Meeting in Paris 2017, with numerous educational courses organized to enhance and synchronize the courses provided by UWW. The first course was delivered in Manchester, Great Britain for English speakers in November 2017 and was available to referees and coaches from all five continents.

“We reached an important milestone in such short time,” said Niamkey. “Through the realization of these three courses, we transmitted andragogy teaching and pedagogies transmission to highly experienced referees and coaches that will deliver high quality courses worldwide to further develop wrestling.”

The 2018 Americas course was delivered at the Centro Alto Rendimentio (CARDA) in Guatemala City November 15-20 under the supervision of referee instructor Abraham GALVA (PUR) and development officer Vincent Aka .

“The course is fantastic. I feel part of United World Wrestling,” said Raul Diaz TRUJILLO (CUB). “I have been a coach for the last 40 years and never felt this much a part of this wrestling family. It is a dream come true.”

The Georgian Wrestling Federation hosted the Russian speakers course under the supervision of referee instructor Ibrahim CICOGLU (TUR) and Vaclav SCHEINER (CZE) and Vincent AKA (CIV) with the assistance of Petru TOARCA (ROM).

“The course was amazing. It is an eye-opener of new views, approach, philosophy of learning and transferring knowledge to younger generations,” said Davor PETANJEK (CRO) 1s Referee and instructor. “We need more collaboration and communication between the two groups. It is time that we assist our national federations in their development process and provide educational courses in the future with trained UWW Educators”

“My hopes are UWW continues in this path with joint courses for referees and coaches,” said Petanjek.

United World Wrestling will provide funding for the organization of the refereeing courses when the national federation hosts an Olympic Solidarity Technical Course for coaches. Additional assistance will also be provided for the developing nations that organize a competition right after the educational courses

Guatemala City, GUA:  November 15-20

COACHES:

Raúl Trujillo Díaz (GR) CUB
Aguilar Cañizalez Millie Mayola (WW) VEN
Néstor Almanza (GR) CHI
Filiberto Delgado (FS-WW) CUB
Pedro Rojas (FS + WW) PUR
David Gutiérrez (GR + FS) COL
Camacho Pedriquez Hector Luis (GR) VEN

REFEREES:

Carlos Garcia (ESP)
Juan Arturo Camacho (MEX)
Juan José Maldonado (CHI)
Eduardo Goncalves (BRA)
Ignácio D’Alessandro (ARG)

Georgia November 24-29

Referee

Norovard ARUSTAMYAN (RUS)
Alexey BAZULIN (RUS)
Levent SEN (TUR)
Karol LEBKOWSKI (POL)
Roman PAVLOV (UKR)
Edisher MACHAIDZE (GEO)
Davor PETANJEK (CRO)
Stanislav SERNEK (SLO)

Coaches

Anatoli GUIDIA (ROM)
David OTIASHVILI (GEO)
Yusup ABDUSALAMOV (POL)
Adem BEREKET (TUR)
Georgii SREDKOV (BUL)
Anzor TEMBOTOV (RUS)
Abdurozik OLIMOV (TJK)
Buyandelger BATBAYAR (MGL)

#development

Libya hosts its first coach and referee course

Monday, November 17, 2025 - 08:37 By United World Wrestling Press

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TRIPOLI, Libya (November 17) -- Libya hosted its first ever education courses for coaches and referees from October 27 to November 3 in Tripoli, Libya.

The courses were conducted in conjunction with United World Wrestling, Olympic Solidarity, Libya NOC and the Libya Wrestling Federation. The coaching course was led by Ahmed KHEDHRI. The referee course was led by Kamel BOUAZIZ.

"This course was considered a success, as we were fortunate to have tutors Khedhri and Bouaziz," Khaled EZANKULI, Secretary General of Libyan Olympic Committee, said. "These courses are a step in the Libyan Wrestling Federation's programs and is part of the joint work with Olympic Solidarity, United World Wrestling and the Libyan Olympic Committee. We consider it a step forward in developing the skills of local coaches, raising their level, and relying on their actual abilities to achieve fair competition."

Libya

During the first half of the program, the technical course for coaches was conducted from October 17 to 31. The course was attended by 21 coaches who participated in Level 1 Course [Introduction to Coaching and Safety]. The following topics were covered throughout the course: discovery games, introducing a new technique, coaching skills, giving feedback, risk management, age and developmental stage characteristics.

The coaches actively practiced and developed their skills through practical evaluations. There was special emphasis placed learning new techniques and applying them in a realistic training environment.

"The coaches in the course showed lot of enthusiasm, cooperation, and exchange of experiences which was reflected in the participants’ active engagement and positive interaction throughout both the theoretical and practical sessions," Khedhri said. "This contributed to enhancing the overall learning outcomes and helped participants acquire new knowledge and skills in a professional yet friendly environment."

The Introduction to Refereeing Course was conducted from November 1 to 3. This course was led by Bouaziz and had 18 participants. The participants learned the foundations of what it takes to be a great referee.

The areas covered during the course included: safety of the athletes, evaluation of holds, referee mechanics, positioning, and controlling the bout. 

"A good number of participants already had knowledge of wrestling," Bouaziz said. "They were very attentive to the explanations, which allowed me to pass on as much information as possible. The same was true for the theoretical part, where their participation and interest were remarkable."

The program was praised by the federation and the participants as well.

"I am very pleased with the success achieved by this course on both the technical and organizational levels. It represents an important step toward building a strong training foundation that will contribute to developing coaches and referees and raising the overall standard of wrestling in Libya," Nabil Abou CHAHMA, President of Libyan Wrestling Federation, said.