SAFE WRESTLING Women in wrestling for equal opportunities

Wrestling is one of the oldest sports in the world, dating back to ancient times. Nowadays, there are more than 50 types of wrestling. The most known are folk style, freestyle, Greco-Roman, sumo, and professional wrestling. Wrestling is one of the most physically demanding sports. As expected in a physical contact sport, the athletes are prone to occasional injuries. It is important to find ways to prevent many of those injuries. To properly design the injury prevention methodology, one should take into account parameters such as injury characteristics, the mechanism of injury, and information about the sport’s physical demands. A key point in developing the methodology is to use proper technique during all of the exercises and intensive training program. As in many sports, the risk of injury increases due to many facts: age and size of athletes, style of play, contact forces. However, the risk of injuries can be reduced. Most common injuries of wrestlers during the training process and competitions are head/face injuries (nosebleeds, cuts or scrapes, concussion, cauliflower ear), shoulder injuries (acromioclavicular (AC) separation or clavicle fracture, anterior shoulder dislocation), elbow injuries (elbow dislocation, olecranon bursitis), knee injuries (prepatellar bursitis, patella dislocation, medial collateral ligament sprain, anterior cruciate ligament tears, meniscal tears) and back pain (muscle strains). Wrestling injuries can be prevented with proper supervision and compliance with the rules and safety guidelines procedures concerning the training space and training techniques. The general objective of the project is to prevent injuries and protect health of young wrestling athletes by improving training and competition conditions. The specific objectives of the project are: Development and implementation of enhanced wrestling training methodology for coaches/trainers – by organizing non-formal educational workshops in project collaborate countries with the presentation of the educational modules on prevention of injuries among young athletes Strengthening the awareness of key stakeholders (coaches/trainers, wrestling sport clubs, sport association, local or national sport authorities) about the importance of safe trainings, keeping exposures or the risk of a hazard as low as possible.