Wrestling for schools: UWW, ISF take steps to encourage students
Thursday, December 14, 2023 - 13:51 By United World Wrestling Press
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (December 14) -- United World Wrestling and International School Sport Federation entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate and facilitate collaboration between ISF and UWW for the promotion of wrestling and beach wrestling in schools.
The two federations will strive to establish wrestling and beach wrestling as recognized sports among National School Sport Federations and strengthen overall cooperation and partnership between the two organizations and their members.
UWW President Nenad LALOVIC and ISF President Laurent PETRYNKA, along with other representatives from both organizations, met in Lausanne during the International Federation Forum to ink the cooperation.
"Wrestling is a sport that prepares you both physically and mentally," Lalovic said. "It is a sport that transcends the lessons learned on the mat to those needed through life. This is why it is important to have the opportunities the sport of wrestling provides embedded in the school curriculum."
In the heart of Lausanne, as we ink the agreement with @Wrestling. It's more than a sport; it's a journey of character-building that begins on the mat. Together, we're ready to inspire a generation at #ISFGymnasiade2024 with the true spirit of wrestling. #ISFWrestling pic.twitter.com/hNiC0fZ95v
— @isfsports (@ISFsports) November 13, 2023
UWW and ISF will now work on similar lines and look to bring wrestling into education at both local and international levels, attracting school-age enthusiasts of the sport and fostering cooperation between UWW and ISF with local authorities.
"Wrestling provides a pathway that can uniquely prepare the youth of tomorrow by building their confidence, improving their self-esteem and sense of belonging, and creating mental and physical discipline from a young age," Lalovic added. "Wrestling is a sport that continues to stand the test of time and I am confident the more people who wrestle the more we prepare youth to have a bright future."
The focus will also be on promoting girls' school sports and encouraging students of all genders to practice wrestling, on the mat and the beach.
The cooperation will extend to the field of play as well and both organizations will work to identify and implement synergies, establish a training and assessment unit for International/National Technical Officials, promote sustainability, the principles of fair play and integrity, and join the fight against all forms of racism in sport.
School wrestling can be used as a development platform for experimenting with new rules and formats or any other innovation as well.
Off the mat, both UWW and ISF will work to organize workshops, seminars, and other educational events for technical officials and teachers, especially PE teachers and a Technical Officials Education Program, specifically targeting youth, will be developed and implemented. This program will aim to ensure the future participation of youth officials at various events.
To help countries that suffer from a lack of school sports, UWW will provide experts for teaching and coaching sessions for the School Sport Foundation to promote wrestling in such countries. It will also define an educational calendar with ISF before the ISF competitions to provide experts to deliver education courses.
The partnership is a step towards taking wrestling to a wider sphere, especially at the school level.
Gold medalist at 79kg in 2024, Nan CAO (CHN) will be wrestling at 86kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov) 
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) is the defending champion at 87kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)
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