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Women in Sport: WISH Programme kicks off Cohorts 2 & 3

Tuesday, March 7, 2023 - 17:14 By United World Wrestling Press

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LONDON, England (4 March) – Women in Sport High-Performance Pathway (WISH) kicked off the 1st Edition of the programme on May 23, 2022. Since then they have started 2nd and 3rd cohort to help develop more women coaches in sport. The WISH Programme is designed to equip women coaches, who have the potential and ambition, to succeed in gaining roles at elite coaching levels within their sports. The programme is specifically designed to help coaches develop their sport-specific skills, leaderships skills and behaviours, and build confidence. United World Wrestling is participating along with many other IF’s and is being support by Olympic Solidarity, University of Hertfordshire, and Females Achieving Brilliance (FAB).

United World Wrestling has had three additional coaches start the most recent cohorts. Happiness Burutu (NGR) is participating in the 2nd cohort. That programme started on August 10, 2022 with a residential session at the University of Hertfordshire on October 24-28. The 3rd cohort started on November 30, 2022. Participating in this cohort includes Marwa Amri (TUN) and Yaima Payne (BAR). They recently completed their residential session at the University of Hertfordshire on February 20-24, 2023. “For met it was a distinguished week with a distinguished group of women coaches. The atmosphere prompted me to learn more about myself. I strengthen my self-confidence, learned positive thinking, how to better self-evaluate to improve, and to self-reflect to find a solution to any problem,” said Marwa Amri.

WISHWrestling's WISH attendees pose for photos. Top (right to left) Marwa AMRI (TUN) and Yaima PAYNE (BAR). Bottom (right to left) Edit DOZSA (ITA) and Happiness BURUTU  (NGR).

The residential session was a weeklong event where the coaches attended working sessions and participated in learning activities with over 20 coaches from other sports in attendance. Some of the key learning points included leadership skills, creative problem-solving, creating connections, mindset, having uncomfortable conversations, visualizing the future, etc… “This course helped me in many ways. It has made me have more self-confidence, to be creative, work as a team to achieve a goal, resolve conflict, handle challenges, better interact with the team, solve problems, and how to better train high-performing athletes,” said Happiness Burutu.

“The WISH (Empowering Woman Coaches) has been one of my favorite programs in terms of professional development for women coaches, managers, administrators and as a person," said Yaima Payne. "It also empowers you with educational knowledge, leadership and team work etc. This program will definitely helped me a lot to be a better coach and leader."

United World Wrestling also had Edit Dozsa (ITA) participate in the 2nd cohort. She was assigned to help with the delivery of the programme to the coaches. With her experience as a former athlete, coach, referee, and work within her Federation, she was able to provide valuable assistance to all the participants in the programme.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Marwa Amri (@amrimarwa)

The WISH Programme is a 21-month programme. These coaches will continue meeting with the WISH Leadership Team, work with their leadership mentors, and sport-specific mentors. WISH was originally piloted as the WSLA High-Performance Coach Programme. UWW participated in the original pilot program with four coaches. After a successful experience, the WISH Programme was developed and expanded to include participation by more International Federations. UWW has renewed its participation outstanding programme.

International Athletes’ Forum 2023 concludes with focus on upcoming Olympic Games

Tuesday, October 3, 2023 - 11:49 By International Olympic Committee

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LAUSANNE, Switzerland (October 3) --- Over the past two days, the 11th International Athletes’ Forum (IAF) brought together over 400 athlete representatives in Lausanne to discuss the most important issues for athletes across the Olympic Movement.

United World Wrestling's President Nenad LALOVIC (UWW) was in attendance, alongside wrestling participants: Mia AQUINO (GUM), Romio GOLIATH (NAM), Lowe BINGHAM (NRU), Yoon Suk KIM (KOR), Arsen JULFALAKYAN (UWW) and Deqa NIAMKEY (UWW).

The two days of discussion and debate resulted in a series of outcomes, announced by the IOC Athletes’ Commission (AC) today.

AC members from 181 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), 54 International Federations (IFs), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), Organising Committees for the upcoming Olympic Games (OCOGs) and Continental Associations, as well as members of the Athletes’ Declaration Steering Committee and representatives from the World Olympians Association (WOA), were present in Lausanne for the two days.

The IAF ended with an in-depth, two-hour Q&A session with the IOC President, Thomas Bach. In typical IAF fashion, the IOC President took to the stage and engaged directly with the athlete representatives to answer their questions – no topics were off limits. Safe sport, the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024, the participation of individual neutral athletes with a Russian or Belarussian passport in international competitions during the qualification period, and the mission of the Olympic Games to unite the world in peaceful competition and contribute to peace and understanding were all part of the discussion.

OLYParticipants of the 11th International Athletes’ Forum (IAF) pose for a photo together in Lausanne. (Photo: Olympics.com)

Other topics raised and addressed by the IOC President were: the situation of athletes from countries and regions affected by the too many wars and conflicts around the world; the digitalisation of sport, with Artificial Intelligence on the rise; the growing popularity of esports; the inclusion of AC chairs in the NOC delegations at the Olympic Games; the inclusion of new sports in the Olympic programme; cooperation with the Deaflympics; the length of the stay of athletes in the Olympic Village; the support of the IOC for the Olympic Community of Ukraine; the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 as an event for the entire African continent; and safeguarding and protection for athletes. 

“You can all look forward to the Olympic Games Paris 2024, which will be the Games of a new era,” the IOC President said. “They will be the first Olympic and Paralympic Games to be planned and delivered in line with the reforms of our Olympic Agenda. They will be sustainable, urban, inclusive and youthful Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will also be the first-ever Olympic Games with gender parity. The IOC has allocated exactly the same number of quota places to female and male athletes.”

Summarising the Forum, IOC AC Chair Emma Terho said: “Over the past two days, we’ve covered topics ranging from what it takes to build an effective AC to what it means to be an Olympian. We’ve looked ahead to Paris 2024, Milano Cortina 2026 and LA2028, highlighting the huge number of programmes and initiatives in place to support athletes on their journeys. We’ve discussed how to support a safe space for us to speak openly about the issues that matter most to us as athletes and athlete representatives.”

She continued: “On a personal note, I’ve been touched by the honesty and courage so many of you have displayed during these sessions, particularly in our discussion on neutral athletes. This remains a difficult topic, but I come away from this Forum inspired and with very valuable feedback.”

Click here to see the key points that emerged from the various discussions and sessions in three areas on Olympics.com.