Turkish Wrestling Federation Chairman Musa Aydın announced that wrestling, an "ancestral sport" in Turkey, will soon be taught at "wrestling high schools."
"Wrestling high schools will be a bridge between Boarding Elementary Schools and Turkish Olympics Training Centers. Our children will be able to ascend to national teams without their talents being wasted. I think Turkish wrestling's future will be secured this way," the wrestling chairman said.
Aydın, who spoke to Anatolian Agency, announced that the first wrestling high school will be put into action in Sivas as a pilot area in the 2017-2018 school year. He underlined that Turkish Olympic champion wrestlers Ahmet Ayık, Hamza Yerlikaya and Taha Akgül are all from Sivas and so Sivas province was chosen considering its athletic history.
"The National Education Ministry and Sports and Youth Ministry adopted the idea over sports-related high school branches and signed a protocol. If we, as federations, can be successful with these kinds of schools, the other high schools will be transformed as sports schools and it will be extended to other Olympics branches," he said.
Emphasizing that they have been working hard for wrestling high schools, Aydın said, "We think the sporting high schools will raise Olympic athletes. We want to raise new champions for Turkey with these kinds of schools. I attach great importance to thematic sports schools especially in order for us to be successful in the Olympics. Our athletes have difficulties over continuity with their current schools. The hours of training and their classes in their schools are clashing. This will end thanks to branched sports schools. The necessary regulations will be made for raising successful athletes."
