2010 Annual Report Palau Wrestling On behalf of Belau Wrestling Federation (BWF), I would like to provide an update report on all activities taken place during 2010. Coaching / Sports Development Officer (SDO) – With the approval from FILA and Palau’s National Olympic Committee (PNOC), John Tarkong Jr. became the SDO for Palau. By doing so, I was able to review and make some changes in our coaching structure / strategies and develop programs for our coaches, referees, and athletes programs as well. As in the past, I attended meetings and stayed in touch through email and correspondence with FILA, Oceania members, PNOC, ONOC, our athletes and coaches. Reports were also provided to PNOC, FILA, and ONOC. Budgets preparations and reports were provided especially for our teams that took part in regional events such as the Oceania and World Championships. Throughout the year, I was able to coordinate our wrestling program in the schools with the PE Teachers and continue coaching our wrestling team in preparation for the 2010 Oceania Championships and the 2010 Micronesian Games. Practices and preparations were also held for those athletes attempting to qualify for the 2010 Youth Olympics Games Qualification. A curriculum was prepared for Palau High School before we could begin our school program early in the year for their students. Some of the key challenges this year and next year will be to focus our attention in developing combat sports such as grappling, pancreas and other non-Olympic disciplines in order to achieve the main missions set out by FILA. Beach Wrestling has already been introduced in Palau and for the first time, we were able to have it in the Oceania in 2009 and in the 2010 Micronesian Games for both men and women. We also have 3 women wrestlers, 1 of which won the gold medal in the 2010 Micronesian Games. I also had the privilege to speak to Ngaraard State Elementary School early in the year and plans are to have me as a guest speaker in the first week of December. Every year I speak to the elementary students in Ngaraard since i am from that state and because I serve as a role model for wrestling I hope that what I can share in terms of my practical experiences with them will serve as an inspiration to them so that they can also do better in school and within our community. Oceaniasport.com & FILA Wrestling Website Throughout the year, I have been able to update the wrestling website for Palau Wrestling and Oceania Continent on Oceaniasport.com. I also urged and helped some of the members to input recent information on their website as well. I find that updating the website and also having members refer to the FILA Website will help reach many people and countries that are interested in what is happening in our sports and countries. There is a wealth of information on the FILA website. Other websites that I have been most active in visiting has also been the USA Wrestling website. Practices Wrestling practices continued throughout the year at the Palau National Gym twice a day from Monday through Friday. On Saturday, practices were held in the mornings at the Track & Field Venue especially in preparation for the Oceania Championships and Youth Olympic Qualifications. We had a lot of new and young wrestlers over the past year that took part in our regularly scheduled practices. From Monday through Friday, practices were held twice a day. In the morning, practices were held at the Track & Field from

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6:00am to 7:00am. Morning practices would consist of running and cross training workouts. In the afternoons, practices were held on the mat from 5:30pm to 8:00pm. On Saturday, practices were held in the morning from 6:00am-7:30am at the track and field. We have approximately 10-15 wrestlers currently in our practices and we hope to attract more wrestlers through the year. I was responsible for coaching the team throughout the year. In preparation for the 2010 Micronesian Games, we had practices in the morning at the Track & Field, weight training in the mid-afternoon, and mat training in the afternoon. School Program – As in the past, we were able to include wrestling as part of the schools PE Program. In March and April 2010, I conducted practices for Palau High School 4 times a week from Monday through Thursday. There were approximately 12 students that attended the wrestling class. A lesson plan was provided to PE Teacher Dean Terry of Palau High School. A physical fitness evaluation was also done on the students who took part in the physical education wrestling program that was designed for Palau High School students. The program involved level 1-physical fitness and basic training for the Junior and Senior students. On October 25, 2010, practices began everyday from Monday to Friday at Palau High School from 3:30 to 4:30pm. A curriculum was developed for PE Teacher and Coach Eric Carlson who is coaching the team for Palau High School. I was able to work with Mr. Carlson on providing coaching support for his wrestling class and will continue do so till the end of the year. On November 15th, practices began for Mindszenty High School for the 9th grade class. I was able to coordinate the practices through the schools PE Teachers. Practices are held ever Monday and Wednesday and is currently ongoing at this time with more emphasis on technique, drills, fun/games. I can honestly say that since day 1 when we first started working with the students it has been both fun and most enjoyable to see them develop and learn new methods and skills of warming up, stretching, drills, playing games, techniques and other physical fitness activities. I believe they have learned much over the time spent with them and are in better shape with regards to their flexibility, balance, endurance, and strength. I hope that this evaluation provides a clear view on the progress that each student made over the past few months and I wish them much success despite whatever sport that may take part in the future. I can only imagine that such program will allow them the opportunity to use this experience to stay healthy and acquire some level of fitness in the future. ISL Beach Wrestling – The ISL Beach Wrestling competition for the High Schools was held on December 18, 2009 at Long Island. The next ISL Beach Wrestling will be held in December 2010 and the Greco Roman and Freestyle events is scheduled for January 2011.

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Coaching Clinic / Training Camp After seeking approval from FILA and ONOC, I was able to organize the Coaching / Training Camp in Apia, Samoa prior to the Oceania Championships. This was a great success for all the countries that participated. Palau’s wrestling team arrived in Samoa on March 30, 2010. We were able to take part in the Coaching Clinic and Training Camp held from April 01-05, 2010. Conducting the course was FILA Instructor Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria. The course was held throughout the day and involved lots of coaching techniques, physical training workouts, games, drills and activities. There were approximately 13 coaches that took part in the course to include Franson Gibbons, Ismael Aguon and myself. There were also about fifty athletes including Palau’s team that were involved in the training. The training was also intense and exciting. I want to thank FILA and ONOC for providing the necessary support. 2010 Oceania Championships (Apia, Samoa) Palau’s wrestling team competed in the Oceania Championships held in Apia, Samoa. The team consisted of 5 athletes, 1 referee and 1 team leader. Elgin Elwais led the team by winning Gold Medals in Freestyle and the Greco-Roman Style in the 55kg division. 2010 Youth Olympic Qualifications (Apia, Samoa) Among the athletes that competed in the Cadet Olympic Qualifications were Ismael Falik Aguon and Rengiil Ueki Jr. Both wrestlers won medals at the Championships but fell short of qualifying for the Youth Olympic Games. Our wrestlers had lots of competitions especially considering this was Ismael and Rengiil’s first time to compete. Although they fell short of winning the gold, I am proud to say that they did exceptionally well considering this was their first time to compete internationally. Referee – Palau now has 2 international referees. During the 2010 Oceania Championships, I was re-certified while Mr. Ismael Aguon was certified as a new international referee. Having an international referee is a real benefit to our wrestling program especially with new rules and local competitions taking place year round. We hope to develop more referees in the future. Throughout the year, I was able to explain the new rules and regulations to our athletes, coaches and referees. Support Grants – Elgin Elwais Elgin Elwais, Palau’s elite athlete, continued to train at the U.S. Olympic Education Training Center (USOETC) in Marquette, Northern Michigan University, USA in the Greco Roman Style. Elgin was selected by PNOC as Palau’s nomination for the 2012 London Olympic Scholarship and recently was awarded the scholarship in September. The scholarship allows Elgin to receive some funding assistance to continue his training at the USOETC and competitions in preparation for the London Olympic Games. Page 3 of 5

Elgin competed in the 2010 Micronesian Games held in Palau from August 3-5, 2010. Elgin won 2 gold medals in the 55kg Greco Roman Style and the Freestyle competition. Elgin also had the privilege to compete in the 2010 World Championships in Moscow, Russia. Elgin recently competed in the 2010 Sunkist Kids International Open held on October 22, 2010 at the Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Arizona in Greco-Roman and also the 2010 NYAC Holiday International Wrestling Championships that was held on November 06, 2010 at the New York Athletic Club (City House) in New York. Immediately after the tournament, Elgin returned to USOETC and will continue to remain there to train. Training Camp (Palau & Chuuk , FSM Team) Early in the year FSM sent 1 wrestler, Mr. Keitani Graham, to Palau to train about 1 month prior to the 2010 Oceania Championships in Samoa. Keitani stayed at my house at no cost to him. Once again, Keitani returned to Palau in June 2010 to prepare for the Micronesian Games and during the month of July 2010, the Chuuk, FSM Wrestling Team which had approximately 15 athletes arrived in Palau to train 2 weeks prior to the Micronesian Games. Aside from training twice a day, we were able to have 2 competitions were held prior to the Micronesian Games between Palau and Chuuk and this also gave us the opportunity and chance for our wrestlers to get a feel of what to expect in the competitions. We also used the Heracles Software Program as practice prior to the Micronesian Games. 2010 Micronesian Games The 2010 Micronesian Games for wrestling was held in Koror, Palau from August 03 – 05, 2010 in the Senior Greco Roman (Males only), Senior Freestyle (Males and Females) and Beach Wrestling (Males and Females). There was a total of seven (7) Micronesian Islands that competed in wrestling during the Games. The teams included Guam, Marshall Islands, Chuuk (FSM), Yap (FSM), Kosrae (FSM), Ponape (FSM), and Palau. Kiribati, CNMI and Nauru was unable to attend. A lot of preparations, training and organizing of the games was done. In preparation for the Games, our wrestling team trained 3 times a day. We ran in the morning, lifted weights during mid-afternoon, and practiced on the mat in the afternoon. Elgin Elwais returned during the summer from USOETC to train with out team. Mr. Young Ho, Ko was also asked to assist our wrestling team in preparation for the games despite his busy schedule in the private sector. Aside from coaching our team, I was also responsible for working with the Tournament Director, Mr. Eric Carlson, in ensuring the venue, equipment, supplies, volunteers, officials, and all other preparations were ready for the games. I was able to use the Heracles Software Program to help us manage the events especially for the accreditation, weigh-in / draws and the competition. A team leaders meeting was held on August 02, 2010 and a Page 4 of 5

referee’s clinic was done for all the teams and officials. Overall, the Micronesian Games was a huge success and I wish to thank FILA for their support and assistance as well as PNOC and our organizers, sponsors, volunteers and, most of all, our coaches and athletes for making this competition to be at its best. It’s my understanding that the next Micronesian Games will be held in Pohnpei, FSM in year 2014 which is every 4 years. 2010 World Wrestling Championships (Moscow, Russia) Elgin competed in the 2010 World Championships held in Moscow, Russia in the 55kg Greco Roman weight class. Elgin's first match was against Gyu-Jin Choi of South Korea. Elgin wrestled both periods of the match and proved to be very strong but it was Choi who eventually won the the match. Choi went on to win the silver medal after losing to Hamid Reihanpour Soryan of Iran who won the Gold Medal in the finals. Elgin also wrestled Elchin Aliyev of Azerberjain in the repechage match but lost during the 1st period by 1 point and during the 2nd period by 6 points after Aliyev scored to win the match. Although Elgin ranked 33 out of 34 wrestlers, the World Championships allowed Elgin the opportunity to wrestle against the worlds best and to help him return and prepare even harder for the upcoming future competitions. 2010 FILA Bureau Meetings I also had the opportunity in my capacity as the President, OCAWS to attend the following meetings hosted by FILA this year and they included the FILA Bureau Meeting held on June 05, 2010 at the Hotel Astra in Geneva, Switzerland and the 2010 FILA Bureau Meeting / World Congress Meeting held in Moscow. I can’t tell you how important it is to attend these meetings not only on behalf of the OCAWS but also for Palau. To represent Palau and the Oceania makes me feel very proud and to have access to information and updates on developing programs and other issues is something of great importance that I hope I can to share with my fellow colleagues so that we can move forward in developing our sport not only in Palau but also for the Oceania region. Summary I would like to take this time to thank FILA President Raphael Martinetti for his continued support to Palau and the Oceania region. I would also like to thank PNOC and ONOC for their strong support over the past year as well. I would also like to recognize our coach, sponsors, volunteers and, most of all, our athletes and their families for their strong support, contribution and dedication to our program. Please accept this report and the activities that took place and I hope to build and develop our programs to be even stronger in the future to come. Respectfully yours,

John Tarkong Jr. Secretary General, BWF

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