Monthly Archives: October 2014

Joe Garcia Appreciation Award

by Al Myers

Joe Garcia's Appreciation Award

Another USAWA appreciation award was given to another great contributor to the USAWA.  Joe Garcia has been the USAWA Records Director/Record Keeper for the USAWA since the very beginning, and just recently stepped down from this position.  Joe’s efforts single handedly are the reason we have a very comprehensive record list in the USAWA.  We owe him eternal thanks for this, as the Record List is a very important entity within our organization.  It has been kept up to date with diligence for over 25 years, consisting now of over 10,000 records. That’s a lot of records!!!  Joe has undoubtedly spent thousands of hours  of work on this.  It also requires that things are done with perfection to prevent wrong information incorporated into our official Record List.  Not very many people would have the energy  and persistence to keep a list like this up to date!!!!

Again, I had hoped to present this Appreciation Award firsthand to Joe, but could not get something worked out in a timely manner so it was mailed to him.  Joe contacted me immediately by phone upon receiving this award to give his thanks to the USAWA for it.  He seemed very surprised and moved by this. I’m hoping at a later date to interview Joe to highlight his accomplishments and efforts as the USAWA Record Director/Keeper.

Congrats Joe!!!

John Wilmot Appreciation Award

by Al Myers

John Wilmot's Award

The strength of the USAWA is made up by the contributions of our membership.  One individual who has made powerful contributions to the USAWA was recently recognized by the USAWA Executive Board and the USAWA membership.  This man is John Wilmot – who spear headed the beginning of the USAWA Postal Meet Series.  John began promoting postal meets within the USAWA in 2007, which eventually became adopted officially as the USAWA Postal Series.  This consists of 4 quarterly postal meets, culminating with the USAWA Postal Championships in December. John’s efforts with this has allowed many lifters to enjoy the participation in these postal meets. After several years of having the responsibility of directing these meets John has stepped down, passing the job off to Denny Habecker as the USAWA Postal Director.

On behalf of our organization, John was sent this nice plaque in recognition of his efforts.  We had hoped to present this award in person, but was unable to make the arrangements.  I recently received this letter from John which I would like to share, “Thanks for the very nice USAWA plaque.  In 2007, I started directing postal meets to continue the tradition of the International Postal Championships.  You helped me by lifting in the postal meets and encouraging other USAWA members to compete.  The postal meets were successful because of the participation of a great group of athletes!  Thanks again, John Wilmot.”

Congrats again John – your contributions have been very much appreciated by the USAWA!!

New England Gold Cup

by Frank Ciavattone

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT

This meet will be the same as Art’s, a limit of 5 lifts for records.  This meet will have no entry form to fill out or need an entry.  Just an email or a call to me. The date of the meet is 11/29/2014 at the Norwood Recreational Center, 165 Nahatan St., Norwood.

E-mail: fdc2955@aol.com

Home Phone: 508-668-5200

Cell Phone: 508-801-6279

Entry fee of $20 will help cover cost of awards, insurance, etc.  This can be given at weigh in.

Entry deadline by phone or email November 22nd, 2014.

Also, there will be a pioneer meet for a trial of wheelchair lifts by Paul Dallalis!  The town of Norwood is again helping us out with a venue.  Pizza to follow the meet!

IAWA Annual Meeting

by Steve Gardner

A brief run down on business at the 2014 IAWA Council Meeting…..

2014 IAWA Council Meeting – 8pm Friday 26th September – Norwood, Massachusetts USA

Members Present: Frank Ciavattone, Colleen Lane, Dave Ellis, Frank Ciavattone Jr., John Mahon, Sam Trew, George Dick, Denny Habecker, Paula Thompson, Art Montini, Steve Gardner, Chris Bass, Frank Allen, Dick Durante, Judy Habecker, Janet Dick, Chad Ullom, Dennis Mitchell, Flossy Mitchell, Al Myers, Steve Sherwood, Paul Dallalis, Karen Gardner

Minutes of the 2013 Meeting: IAWA General Secretary Frank Allen took the meeting through the minutes from last year’s AGM. All agreed they were a true and accurate record.

Confirmation of International Vice Presidents: All current International Vice Presidents for England, USA and Scotland remained in position. Confirmation for Australia was received as: Robin Lukosious and Peter Phillips, New Zealand as Cliff Harvey and Spain as Jose Jara.

Rule Change / Addition: On safety grounds, IAWA Technical Committee proposed that the rules for the Shoulder Drop be amended to allow the lifter to bend the legs during the lift, giving the lifter a safer position to catch the weight. After discussion amendment accepted!

New Lift for Approval: The Domal Squat had been proposed by Aqeel Afzal and supported by IAWA UK and the Technical Committee. After further discussion the lift was accepted. (the lift is: one arm locked out overhead with barbell, kettlebell or dumbbell, the lifter then performs a full squat!) Rules of performance and full description of the lift will be circulated!

IAWA International Development: Steve Gardner reported to the meeting that two Nations are currently getting organised as full IAWA Member Nations: New Zealand and Spain. Both Countries have already organised their initial board of officers and are working on establishing officials etc as we speak. This is great news for the development of all round weightlifting in IAWA. More details will be circulated at a later date!

A report on the 2014 World Postal Competition: The Meet Director for the World Postal Steve Gardner informed the meeting that the event had been an overwhelming success, with 32 teams representing 8 Nations taking part, 78 Individual lifters in all, and including Juniors Open and Master lifters from the Men’s and Women’s Divisions. All present agreed the event should take place again in 2015, lifts will be 3 from the 2015 IAWA Worlds!

An Update on the World Championships for 2015: The event to be promoted by David McFadzean will take place on weekend of 10th /11th October at the Castlemilk Community Centre in Glasgow, Scotland. The lifts Proposed were – Day One: Clean & Push Press, Cont. Snatch, Pullover & Press, One Hand Deadlift – Day Two: One Hand Zercher, Dumbbell and Barbell Anyhow, Straddle Deadlift. All details of venue date and the lifts were agreed!

An update on the IAWA Gold Cup for 2015: John Mahon and Sam Trew will be promoting the Gold Cup in Perth, Australia on Friday November 27th at the Belmont Recreational Centre. There will also be a Highland Games event next day – all agreed venue and date!

Finalisation of Agreement of IAWA Gold Cup 2016: Al Myers will promote this event in Kansas USA!

Finalisations of Agreement of World Championships 2016: Clive Madge will be the promoter of this event which will take place on the North Island near to the Capital City of Wellington!

Applications for Promotion of IAWA International Events
IAWA World Championships 2017: Application from Mark Haydock for Manchester, England was accepted!
IAWA Gold Cup 2017: Application from George Dick for Glasgow, Scotland was accepted!

A proposal for Wheelchair Disability All Round Weightlifting within IAWA: A presentation was put to the meeting by Paul Dallalis. After discussion the meeting agreed that Paul will look further into the matter over the next 12 months to see what can be achieved, Al Myers proposed that Paul liaise with another lifter in the US and report back at the next IAWA Council meeting. All agreed.

World Championships

by Steve Gardner

2014 IAWA World All Round Weightlifting Championships

Norwood, Massachusetts USA September 27th and 28th

Promoter: Frank Ciavattone Snr

Group picture from the 2014 IAWA World Championships.

The 28th Annual IAWA World Championships was an outstanding success, due in no small part to the work undertaken by the promoter ‘Big Frank’ and his willing team of supporters and helpers…known as ‘Franks Barbell Club’. After a wonderful get together on the Friday evening the IAWA World Council Meeting took place at the Old Colonial Hotel in Norwood, where all the business of IAWA was addressed in good fashion with IAWA International President: Al Myers Chairing the meeting. At 8am on Saturday morning the weigh in was open with Steve Gardner, Denny Habecker and George Dick taking care of business in that Department. When all at the score table were ready (where Steve Gardner and Al Myers performed the announcing duties, assisted with scoring by Judy Habecker and Chris Bass) the lifters for Group One were introduced to the audience and the lifting began at 10am sharp. Group one sailed through and at 1.30pm Group two were introduced, and the lifting was completed by 4.30pm. That the lifting went through so smooth was also aided by the great job undertaken by the loaders! Day two’s lifting followed the same format and lifting was complete by 4pm.

The lifting over the weekend was absolutely fantastic. A mix of new lifters to the IAWA platform alongside seasoned World Championships proved to be a winning formula with many outstanding performances. The Junior ranks were represented by two young men that I cannot say enough about, Matt Triatti and Matt Hancock lifted ‘out of their boots’ and were a credit to coach Frank C. Two young men with a big future in all round lifting for sure. The ladies division was exciting too, Paula Thompson lifted very well and showed great form as she went on to score the best amended total followed by Karen Gardner. I can say (and I know this for sure) it is the best performance Karen has put on since her Breast Cancer Surgery and as she continues her recovery treatment it is great to see her getting back closer to her previous lifting ability. Jessica Hopps was great, very keen and a strong girl too, in her first major tournament she lifted like a seasoned professional, with Susan Sees lifting stronger than ever, it was great to see Bob Geibs gleaming face as he said ‘shes a strong girl aint she!’. Colleen Lane looked so happy as she performed, smiling through out and putting on a good display, as well as being there to help partner Frank in running the whole show!

The Senior Masters showed everyone the way to go, with superb performances from our 80 plus lifters Dennis Mitchell and Dick Durante, and of course the ever impressive Art Montini still forging ahead at 86 years young. Denny Habecker and Bob Geib represented the 70 plus division with style and several new records between them. In the 60 plus division there was also great lifting from George Dick and Steve Sherwood, and Steve just rolls on like a machine putting out great numbers and to good effect too! In the 50 plus groups we had Dave Ellis, it was great to see him back lifting after 18 years, and Big Frank the promoter pulled some big lifts to please the crowd, and Steve Gardner took to the platform in a rare appearance these days to support his friend Big Frank (and despite lifting in a lesser capacity these days, got to say I really enjoyed it). The 40 plus Masters were a real hot bed of power, we had Joe Ciavattone Snr putting it out there along with the very strong trio of James Fuller, Al Myers and Chad Ullom who put together the biggest total of the meet. The Open Division was a strong contest between John Mahon, Sam Trew, Frankie Ciavattone Jnr, Jim Delaney, Jeff Ciavattone and Joe Ciavattone Jnr, with Joe Jnr coming out on top ahead of Jeff Ciavattone, with great lifting from all. The 2014 World Championships was ‘one of the best’ Well done big Frank!

The presentation of the Awards took place at the Old Colonial Hotel on the Sunday evening following a sumptuous Banquet, it was a terrific occasion with such a lot to applaud, Frank had one of the Town Selectmen there to assist him and Colleen, and also Kathy Triatti who had been a big support to Frank. After the Championships Awards there was a very special presentation, as two IAWA members received the coveted ‘IAWA Award of Merit’ this had only been presented twice before, and it is IAWA’s highest award. The Awards were made for personal endeavour, continued hard work and support of the organisation over many years. The first award was presented by Steve Gardner to Frank Allen from Liecester, England, and the second award was presented by Al Myers to Frank Ciavattone Snr. Of East Walpole Massachusetts, USA. After the speeches and presentations were made, there was not a dry eye in the house as the occasion touched everyone emotionally. A truly inspiring occasion. I for one will not forget our weekend in Norwood, and the IAWA family now looks ahead to Scotland in 2015 – Long Live IAWA!

MEET RESULTS (PDF) – IAWA 2014 WORLD RESULTS

BEST LIFTERS (PDF) – HONOURS BOARD

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