Supporting youth sport in Zhezkent

KAZ Minerals has provided support to a youth martial arts club, the AS Mansur Team, near its Orlovsky operations in the settlement of Zhezkent. In 2022 alone, 70 prizes in competitions at a national and regional level were won by the young athletes from the club.

The successful children won 25 gold medals, 25 silver medals and 20 bronze medals at jiu-jitsu competitions in Astana, Almaty, Karaganda, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semey. Four team members compete in the Kazakhstan national jiu-jitsu team. Most athletes who attend the jiu-jitsu club are children of employees at the Group’s Orlovsky operations.

To support these young athletes, the Group sponsored the purchase of tatami mats for the sports club.

“My sons Arman and Alimzhan have been doing jiu-jitsu since 2019. The training has had huge benefits for my children’s discipline. They really like this sport, and they often win awards at competitions,” says Aslan Aituganov, an electrician at the Orlovsky mine. Zhanarbek Arsakov, the coach of the AS Mansur Тeam jiu-jitsu club, shared the club’s plans to purchase exercise equipment to develop the children’s strength and endurance and shared his dream to become one of the top 10 best children’s clubs in Kazakhstan. “Having seen the positive and inspiring results of competitions, the management of AS Mansur Team decided to introduce free training sessions for children attending the club. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to express gratitude to KAZ Minerals for believing in our work and purchasing the necessary equipment,” he said.

In November 2022, the young athletes travelled to the World Youth Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Abu Dhabi. Three of the team’s members, Leila Sarapeiva, Nursat Kymbatuly and Yerkezhan Yerlanova, won bronze medals at the World Youth Championship.