An extraordinary one-time APB/WSB Certification Course for Coaches, Referees & Judges (R&Js), Supervisors, ITOs, and Ringside Doctors was wrapped up recently in Havana, Cuba, and is currently taking place at the acclaimed AIBA Boxing Academy in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan.

More than 160 participants from over 15 different countries have come to the Academy for the course, which is one of the most progressive and detailed in all of sport, encompassing many aspects of boxing.

The courses have been arranged by AIBA in order to meet a constantly rising demand in the sport worldwide in view of the launch of AIBA Pro Boxing (APB), the increase in the number of World Series of Boxing (WSB) Franchises and the continuous popularity of grassroots level boxing programs and include both theoretical and practical classes. The certified participants will earn the right to officiate at all AIBA Competitions including the upcoming APB.

This course is being supervised by Mr Terry Smith of Wales, the Chairman of the Coaches and R&J Commissions, and Poland’s Mr Adam Kusior from Poland, while the technical instructions are being given by experts from Argentina.

While the students learn in Kazakhstan continues until September 8th, the APB/WSB Certification Course for the American Continent was held in Havana, Cuba on August 20-27.

The many aspects of the course that took place included:
A lecture consisting of technical and competition rules, as well as best practices and procedures
A coaches course which focused on various coaching management systems, training planning, fitness preparation, methodology, plus boxing videos which displayed the key differences between AOB and Professional Boxing.
Studying practical sparring in the gym, and practical judging in the conference rooms.
Practicing video judging.
Individual Training, Competition planning and Psychological training.
General fitness and specific preparations.
A guest talk from AIBA Medical Commission member Dr. Cabrara (concerning the medical aspects of APB/WSB.
Full explanations of the specifics of hand-wrapping, developing training plans, and attending to boxing injuries during bouts.
A physical fitness exam as well as a written exam to finalize the course.

After two days of course lectures covering all technical details, Supervisors and ITOs joined both R&Js and Coaches in the gym for a simulated event, with each group responsible for their role as it took place.

The instructors used this simulated event to evaluate the participants knowledge and reactions as close to a live situation as possible.

Altogether, the final number of participants in each course was as follows:
48 R&Js
44 Coaches
10 Supervisor’s R&Js

After the success of the Cuba and Kazakhstan courses, new editions of the course will take place throughout September due to popular demand.

Europe/Africa 1 (Assisi, Italy)
R&J: 69 participants (September 11 – 18)
Coaches: 62 participants (September 11 – 18)
Supervisors & ATO: 20 participants (September 13 – 18)

Europe/Africa 2 (Siracusa, Sicily, Italy)
R&J: 62 participants (September 19 – 26)
Coaches: 74 participants (September 19 – 26)
Supervisor & ITO: 25 participants (September 21 – 26)
Ringside Physicians: 70 participants (September 21 – 26)

Click HERE to see the gallery of the APB/WSB Certification Courses.

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