This week was a first for Fermanagh and Northern Ireland Wrestling. Two of Erne Wrestling Club’s members, sisters, Cara McGuigan Leppard and Charlotte McGuigan have qualified as the first two female Erne Wrestling Referees. The sisters travelled to Manchester on October 9 to attend the British Wrestling Association (BWA) and United World Wrestling (UWW) Course held at Barton Athletic Club.

There, the wrestlers gained a greater knowledge of their sport from the referee’s perspective through the practical and classroom-based activities. They were taught the Wrestling Rules intricacies and how to apply them in a match. Females are currently under-represented in wrestling refereeing and the sisters wanted to combat this. The girls follow the ethos ‘this girl CAN wrestle’.

Charlotte McGuigan says, she wanted to “be a positive role model not just to females but to all young wrestlers wanting to expand the limits of our sport, showing the different pathways available - coaching, refereeing and competition”. In the coming year, Cara and Charlotte will be putting their newfound knowledge into practice on the mat in the United Kingdom and Ireland, hoping to become experienced referees and ambassadors for female wrestling.

Last weekend, October 16, the sisters first represented Erne Wrestling Club as referees at the Irish Wrestling Development Day in Sport Ireland, National Indoor Arena, Blanchardstown, Dublin as referees. This was their first time putting their new skills into action.

Erne Coach and Wrestling N.I. Chairman, Bruce Irwin also helped on the day with his unique set of coaching skills and wealth of experience. The club had a combination of grassroots and senior Erne Wrestlers in attendance at the event to improve their knowledge and strengthen their game.

The Fermanagh Club is certainly going from strength to strength with its newly qualified Level One Wrestling Coaches: Alex Edgar, Charlotte McGuigan, Darragh Love and Matthew Crozier.

The coaching course was another first for Northern Irish Wrestling. Previously, wrestlers had to travel to England for wrestling courses. However, this year, the Erne Wrestlers and seven members from wrestling clubs across Northern Ireland (NI) were able to attend the course in the new Erne Wrestling training space at The Creamery Business Park, Dromore Road, Irvinestown.

Now with Bruce as a new Level 3 Coach Assessor, it paves the way for more courses to be held in NI, making the coaching pathways more accessible for future budding coaches and growing the sport.

The newest Erne Wrestling coaches can be found on the mat teaching grassroots members on Monday, Wednesday and Thursdays evenings (6.30-7.30pm). 13 years through adults train from 8-9pm. All, in their new full time facility in Irvinestown, The Southwest Academy of Sport.

The aim now is to keep building upon the successes of Erne Wrestling and NI Wrestling, creating new firsts where possible. As part of the NI national squad, Erne Wrestlers will be competing in the British Seniors Competition in late October and The Helsinki Open in November for the first time since Covid. The future is looking bright for Erne Wrestling as it continues to strive for new standards of excellence as it rises to new challenges and achieve new firsts.