USAWA

Look up ‘leadership’ in the dictionary and you’ll find “the action of leading a group of people or an organization”. This describes the Women’s 2026 USAWA Leadership Award winner, Jessica Hopps. She’s a competitor in any meet or quarterlies and has a couple meet wins this year, including the Second for Women Only meet back in May. She’s currently 9^th overall in USAWA women’s division records with 157. She even made the 1000+ mile trip to Columbia MO to compete at the 2026 USAWA Nationals. She’s also won USAWA Lifter of the Month. And in August of 2026, she will be inducted into the New England All Round Weightlifting Hall of Fame. But, there’s much more to Jessica than her athletic ability. To me a leader is someone who gives their time and energy to their unit without asking for anything in return. Jessica loves working with and challenging people and is very good at it. And the Frank’s Barbell Club members appreciate all she does for them. “She takes care of all of us with our lifting needs and paperwork, I can’t say enough about her”. She brings to the Club the great atmosphere that made Frank’s one of the club of the year winners last year. They all agree she is deserving. And she does all that while working a great many hours in her day jobs, one of which is serving the mental health community in the Boston area and the other is teaching at a local college in the same area. Congratulations to Jessica Hopps our Women’s 2026 USAWA Leadership Award winner.