Pan American Cadets, Youth and Junior Sambo Championships Held in Bolivia

The first ever Pan American Cadets, Youth and Junior Sambo Championships were held in Bolivia on May 4-5. Medals were raffled off in Sport SAMBO among cadets, youth and juniors, as well as in Beach SAMBO among juniors. In addition to the bouts in the individual competition, there were also team tournaments.

The event began even before the first fights on the mats. On the eve of the start of the tournament in Bolivia, a referee seminar was held. Experienced Costa Rican referee Luis Bogantes focused the attention of the tournament referees on the key points that should be paid attention to during the competition. Thanks to this training, the referees were maximally prepared for work at the Pan American Cadets, Youth and Junior Sambo Championships.

“For us, this is the first experience of holding such a large-scale and significant SAMBO tournament. It was important for us to successfully prove ourselves both in terms of organizing competitions and in terms of sports results. I am sure that the level of the continental championship, as well as the results demonstrated by the sambists of the Bolivian national team, will not go unnoticed by both the sports authorities and all martial arts fans in our country. And this, in turn, will give a new impetus to the development of SAMBO in Bolivia,” said Cesar Castro, President of the National SAMBO Federation.

The desire of Bolivian sambists to demonstrate their skills was reflected in the format of the tournament. After the individual fights in all age and weight categories, team tournaments were held. The mixed teams of Bolivia and Pan-Americans measured their strength in competitions in both Sport and Beach SAMBO. The winners in both cases were the combined team of Pan America.

“We have witnessed spectacular fights. Unfortunately, coronavirus restrictions have left their mark on the transfers of athletes, and not all countries were able to bring full teams to the tournament. Nevertheless, a start has been made – we held the first Pan American Cadets, Youth and Junior Sambo Championships and will continue to develop this direction step by step,” - said Omar Lopera, President of the Pan American Sambo Union.

According to him, the general idea of the Continental SAMBO Federation is to hold as many international competitions as possible in Pan America.

“This will allow athletes to get the necessary practice of performing at the international level throughout the year. With such experience, Pan-American sambists will be better prepared for the biggest SAMBO tournaments, including world championships or multi-sport competitions,” added Lopera.

The Bolivian Sambo Federation (SAMBOL) together with the Pan American Sambo Union (UPASA) with the support of the Ministry of Sports of the Plurinational State of Bolivia became the organizers of the Pan American Cadets, Youth and Junior Sambo Championships. The competitions were held at the arena La Tamborrada Coliseum, which is part of the large sports complex Villa Sudamericana, built in 2018 to host the South American Games.

“Today UPASA received several applications from national SAMBO federations that want to organize the next Pan American Cadets, Youth and Junior Sambo Championships in their country. We will carefully study each of these applications, after which we will decide on the venue of the future tournament,” Omar Lopera said.

As for Bolivia, along with the holding of the first ever cadets, youth and junior championship of the continent, it also went down in history as a country where for the first time immediately after such a major tournament a large training camp was held for all its participants. Athletes and coaches trained under the supervision of the head of the UPASA technical commission, Mikhail Kozitsky.

“Over the course of several days, we held an open seminar, in which not only Pan-American sambists, but also representatives of other sports could take part. The news of this spread in the Bolivian sports clubs, and athletes involved in various martial arts came to our training. All together they got a good portion of theory, a good portion of practice, and were also able to spar with each other. The effect of the training camp turned out to be very good, this should be done more often,” said Mikhail Kozitsky.

As a result of the training camp, athletes and coaches received new skills and knowledge, which were documented by certificates issued to the participants. Perhaps for some of them this will be the key to future victories.