#development, #WrestleBirmingham

UWW-KIMBA partnership helps Ahinsa win Sri Lanka’s first CWG medal

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (August 17): The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which concluded on August 8, saw some thrilling wrestling action, with athletes from 10 countries finishing on the podium. New rivalries were established in the process and history was rewritten, the latter being true in the case of one wrestler in particular.

Nethmi AHINSA (SRI) won the bronze medal in the women’s freestyle 57kg category, sharing the podium with Hannah TAYLOR (CAN), who also won a bronze, silver medal winner Anshu MALIK (IND) and gold medallist from Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR).

For Ahinsa and her country, though, the medal will hold a special significance. The bronze, after all, was Sri Lanka’s first medal in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games. And Ahinsa, only 18 years old, was the youngest to win a medal.

Ahinsa’s medal is also a testimony to the success of the UWW’s developmental programs.

Ahinsa had been a part of the Crysbro Next Champ Program, which is run by the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka. As a part of the program, the schoolgirl from the country’s North Western Province was sent to Hungary, where she got exposure to training and competing with some of the top-level athletes.

AHINSANethmi AHINSA (SRI) won a bronze medal in the 57kg weight class in Birmingham.

The UWW funded and supported her three-month training program at its partner center in Hungary, the Kozma István Hungarian Wrestling Academy (KIMBA), in collaboration with the NOC of Sri Lanka, which expressed its gratitude towards UWW and KIMBA.

The partnership between UWW and KIMBA came to fruition during President Lalovic’s visit to Budapest, Hungary, last year in December. During his trip, a partnership was initiated with KIMBA for the global development of the sport. Under the agreement, it was decided that KIMBA would host several international wrestling events, training camps, seminars and other programs.

The positive impact of the collaboration is for all to see, and Ahinsa’s medal at the Commonwealth Games underlines the importance UWW places on such developmental programs.

#development

UWW Academy launches three new courses aimed at sports administration

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 15) --- Continuing its efforts to educate the stakeholders and develop a workforce of skilled individuals, the United World Wrestling’s Development Department has launched three new programmes on UWW Academy.

The courses on the UWW Academy, the official learning platform that covers multiple aspects of sports administration. The latest educational programmes added to the portal on December 14 are Managing Finances, Managing Marketing and Organising a Major Sport Event.

The UWW Academy, established under the leadership of UWW President Nenad Lalovic, is an all-encompassing online portal designed to educate, provide information, necessary learning tools and resources to be able to assist different stakeholders and enhance the knowledge and value of wrestling.

As part of UWW commitment to good governance and transparency, we established these courses to provide educational programmes and tools to all affiliated national federations. We are excited to see the improvements made by our stakeholders in these last years. Thanks to the various continental workshops organised at the occasion of the continental championships, the NFs have established a mid-long term strategic plan with the support of other sporting and non- sporting entities such as the; European Union, Olympic Council of Asia, ONOC, OS, etc.

Apart from the three newly released courses, the UWW Academy had published three courses earlier in the year, covering a wide range of important topics from a sports administration point of view. They included: Organising an Olympic Sport Organisation, Strategically Managing an Olympic Sport Organisation and Managing Human Resources.

The addition of all these courses, relevant to global wrestling, will give members from all nations an equal opportunity to benefit from it and play a role in the continued growth of the sport of wrestling.