The Salvadoran national wrestling team completed its first work week in the training camp with Cuban Alexander Alemán Osuna as part of their preparation for the Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023.
Alemán, coach of the Cuban women’s wrestling team, explained that the training camp with the Salvadoran national team, which is being held at the INDES headquarters on Calle Arce, is a continuation of the work that began in December.
“We have been collaborating with the Salvadoran Wrestling Federation since December 2022, so the team can prepare more efficiently and effectively for the Central American and Caribbean Games, we are also strengthening bonds with this country. We feel great, and they have provided us with all the conditions”, said the Cuban coach who was a wrestler for 12 years during which he was national champion several times.
Alemán did not come together, he was accompanied of the Cuban team members Yosenky Castañeda and Leonel Valiente, who support the technical work of the Salvadoran team.
“We came with a Cuban team that will help and work with the Salvadoran athletes. We are working on the technical aspects, some of them were in a training camp in Cuba for a month. They participated in a control check where Andrea Hernández participated in 12 matches, and Noel Erazo in three”, the coach explained.
On Thursday, it was Erazo’s turn, athlete of the 97 kg category, and the sisters Jacqueline Andrea and Karla Hernandez, of the 57 and 50 kg categories respectively; these athletes, who are also part of the Effort & Glory program by the El Salvador National Institute of Sports (INDES), and also part of the selection process, trained with the Caribbeans.
Analysis and correction of technical skills, elements of tactics and strategy in combat were some of the aspects that Alemán worked on the mat at the INDES headquarters on Calle Arce.
“We are working very hard on the technical part. We also have to work a lot on the physical and psychological aspects as well. We have diagnoses on Andrea and Noel, so we can support them with the planning until the Central American and Caribbean Games. My idea is to contribute to the maximum so that the Salvadoran wrestling can make a worthy performance”, he said.
For Jacqueline, the camp with the Cubans is a good experience, which allows her to fine-tune her strategy to face the San Salvador 2023 competitions in the best way possible.
“It’s another learning experience with lots of discipline involved, it makes you open your mind. We have to do our best on each session. The camp is helping us greatly in the technical aspects. My expectation for the games is to earn a gold medal, I know there will be strong competitors, and now it’s our time to give our best”, said Jacqueline, an athlete with a 13-year career.
Alemán has 30 years of coaching experience and was one of the promoters of women’s wrestling in Cuba; he coached the Dominican national wrestling team from 2011 to 2014 and in 2015 was appointed technical advisor to the National Sports Directorate of the Dominican Republic.
According to Carlos Barahona, technical manager of the Salvadoran Wrestling Federation, the camp with the Cubans is part of the preparation for the San Salvador Games.
“The work is theoretical, technical, tactical, and physical. The athletes continue with their preparation in all aspects. We are preparing to fight for one or two medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games”, Barahona said.