UWW/ISF U15 World School Sport Games
UWW/ISF U15 World School Sport Games
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ISF was hosting this event for the very first time. ISF coordinated with the Serbian Ministry of Sport, the Serbian School Sport Federation and the local National Federations to organize these games for 14 sports. The overall event was a combination of competitions and education activities. The Wrestling Federation of Serbia helped organize the wrestling competition and assisted in the education activities.
UWW Development Department helped coordinate the education activities for the event and specifically for the wrestlers attending the competition. This was led by a 3-person team of Zach Errett (UWW Education Manager), Diletta Giampiccolo (HUN National WM Coach), and Georgi Sredkov (UWW Educator from BUL). With the help of the Wrestling Federation of Serbia, the team was able to provide educational activities for the wrestlers and introduce the sport to other athletes from around the world.
The event comprised of two parts. One part was the Fun and Skills Zone that was organized by ISF. This was organized in a historic part of Belgrade called Kalemegdan. Athletes from all the sports would come there to experience and learn new sports and to learn about many of the Olympic values. During this time, the Development Team organized wrestling games to introduce the sport of wrestling. We had many athletes from around the world come and participate during those 3 days.
The second part of the education activities was focused on the wrestlers that attended the event. Throughout the week, those wrestlers participated in different activities that will increase their knowledge of the sport and to help them be successful, not only on the mat, but in life. The first training for them was educating them on the job of the referee. They reviewed the basics of scoring points and then they had to referee simulated matches working all three positions of the referee team. This allowed some of them to experience how difficult the job of the referee team is during a match. We further added to that training by having them play a game to test their knowledge of scoring situations. The next training was centered on Athlete Safeguarding and Anti-Doping, which are two of the values ISF had for this event. The wrestlers learned about abuse and consent, negative impacts of doping, and played the Youth Quiz on the WADA website to test their knowledge on doping. Following that training, they focused on the process of setting goals and the steps it takes to accomplish them. Lastly, they finished with technical training in their specific style. A training session was held at the competition venue for each FS, WW, and GR. The wrestlers were able to train and learn wrestling techniques from an all-start coaching staff that included Mr. Habibollah Akhlaghi (IRI – 2x GR Olympian), Ms. Diletta Giampiccolo (HUN National WM Coach and ITA Olympian), and Mr. Georgi Sredkov (Former BUL National FS Team).
“The U15 World School Games is a great event as it combines competition with education. The focus of the event is learning the values of fair play, integrity, athlete safety, and cultural acceptance. These are the same values that United World Wrestling is committed to in their educational programmes. It was a natural fit for United World Wrestling to help assist with the organization of the activities.” Said Zach Errett. “Watching the athletes interact with the coaches during the training session and seeing athletes from different countries working together were two of best moments of the event.”
“The first world U15 competition for schools was very good. There were education activities and competition over 6 days. We had 111 participants from 11 countries competing in the competition. The numbers were lower because of Corona virus and it was the first event. This event will be also take place in Brazil for Rio 2023 and we expect to have more countries and more participants. This first event was great and it introduced to the world this type of program. I would like to thank ISF, Wrestling Federation of Serbia, Mr. Karol Lebkowski (POL – UWW Referee Delegate), Mr. Milenko Perkic (UWW – Technical Delegate) and especially the UWW Development Team of Mr. Zach Errett, Georgi Sredkov, and Diletta Giampiccolo for their perfect activity programs.” – Mr. Habibollah Akhlaghi (ISF TC President for Wrestling)
“The idea for such event is wonderful. The opportunity the children to meet other children and adults from different nations, to compete and learn together is more than useful. It gives them a sense of security because they get know athletes from other nations and become friends.”
“The educational lessons, done during the event, provided information to help wrestlers improve on and off the mat.”
“With the Fun and Skills Zone, this is what children need, to try different sports, to have fun and to smile.
I am sure they will never forget this U15 School Sport World Games.” – Mr. Georgi Sredkov (UWW Educator)
“This wonderful week made me remember why I loved sport from an early age, it made me remember the happiness that sport can give beyond the result. My whole sporting life has gone from being a professional athlete to becoming a national team coach, so my only goal has always been the result.
Over the years I have forgotten the educational and personal growth value that sport can give. These days working with Zach and Georgi I have found happiness simply by sharing content or playing with these young athletes.”
“I think that events like this must be absolutely valued because not all athletes will be champions, but with the right educational inputs it will be possible to create a thinking generation capable of bringing news and changes to every sport.”
“It was also very nice to see how our President, Nenad Lalovic, was present at the competition, and not only in the stands, in the VIP area, but with the boys, together with the athletes, approaching two worlds that are often too distant.” – Ms. Diletta Giampiccolo (HUN National WW Coach)
Here is the media person for ISF. You can contact him if needed too.
ISF Media – Romain Fermon – romain.fermon@isfsports.org