Meet Your Team

Coach Farid - Head Coach

  • British Wrestling Coach
  • British Wrestling Course Tutor
  • United World Wrestling Coach
  • England Boxing Coach
  • British Gymnastics Tumbling Coach
  • British Weight Lifters Certificate
  • Qualified Personal Trainer
  • MMA Fitness Instructor
  • BA Degree in Sports Coaching and sports development
  • Counselling Diploma

“I  know how it feels to be the child who couldn’t sit still and was always looking for a fun outlet for all the pent up energy i had growing up.  I was definitely an individual who craved boundaries, discipline and self confidence. Wrestling and MMA provided me with all of that and much more.”

I gained:

  • The CONFIDENCE to come out of my comfort zone and pursue my dreams
  • The DISCIPLINE to never give up when life gets tough
  • The MOTIVATION to always want better in life
  • The ABILITY and AWARENESS to remain HUMBLE even after building the above skills and strengths
  • The gift of RESPECTING myself and others

Coach Atiq - Assistant Coach

Coach Atiq has over a decade of experience in the MMA scene. He has trained under Coach Farid for many years but admits to having been hesitant to take up wrestling. However since diving in, wrestling has allowed him to excel and achieve gold medals in the British NoGi submission tournament, amongst others.

“I started wrestling under the tutelage of coach Farid many years ago with the initial goal of keeping fit and learning some basic self defence moves. I quickly found that there were disciplines from wrestling that were helping elsewhere, developing transferrable skills in other aspects of my life. Impact has allowed me to practice and develop my skills while enjoying it in the process.”

Coach Atiq now passes on these skills to our young athletes

  • British Wrestling Coach
  • England Boxing Coach

Coach Haniyah - Assistant Coach

Coach Haniyah is the first muslim female wrestling coach ever in the uk. She has always had a passion for sports, participating in almost any sport you can think of. Wrestling was a sport that fell into place and quickly became a big part of Haniyah’s life, piquing her interest and taking over her weekends. She is determined to increase female participation in the disciplined sport, running female only classes to entice a wider community.

Haniyah’s journey began as a volunteer, contributing to the organisation of the annual SLAM competition. An interest in the sport started to form and so when the opportunity to join the team at Impact arose, she started attending classes and learning more in depth about Wrestling.

“Wrestling has opened up a world of opportunities for myself and could create a legacy that affects generations to come. With support from the team at Impact we can really change the sport and make it better and more inclusive.”

British Wrestling Coach

Sahara - Club Manager

Sahara became involved in wrestling by accident as this was never her sport of choice. This was and is very much a family sport. However over the years she has become a true ambassador of the sport and the transferable life skills it teaches everyone from all backgrounds.

In addition to her many achievements as the club manager for Impact, Sahara is the current Midlands Chair for British Wrestling and since June 2019 has driven the region forward establishing better communication links and re-establishing the Midlands closed competition in 2022. Most recently she has been appointed as the Legacy Project Officer, working for British Wrestling Association to increase an understanding of female wrestling and support engagement in wider communities. Through her work, she has allowed for muslim women to get involved in the sport, gaining qualifications and becoming officials.

“My journey with Impact Fitness Academy has inspired me and seeing the organisation grow from strength to strength has really encouraged me to further develop certain combat sports within our communities.”

British Wrestling Coach

Celina Hanif - Club Referee

Celina first came to know about Impact Academy 7 years ago and was very keen to get her children involved in the sport. Over the years her children’s involvement in the sport on a competitive level has led to other opportunities for Celina too. In 2019 Celina was able to qualify as a BWA Referee and become a club referee.

Naseem Mughal

Naseem Mughal – Club Safeguarding Officer