Author Archives: Al Myers

Club of the Year Award

By Al Myers

The nomination & voting period is over  for the 2021 USAWA yearly awards, to be awarded at the National Championships in several categories for outstanding performances within the USAWA.  I have just finished the tabulations and I am getting ready to contact the awards shop to get the awards made up.  So – I KNOW who the winners are but that’s still a secret until the awards presentation time!  But there is ONE AWARD that is announced ahead of time – the USAWA Club of the Year.  The reason it’s announced early is that it is really not a mystery as to who the winner is as this is the one award that is based on generating points instead of votes.  I have outlined this point system several times in the past so I won’t rehash all that now.  What I’m trying to say is this – anyone can add up the points on their own as ALL of the information is available on the website to do so, thus this winner is “no mystery”. No club can win an award like this based on one individuals performance or effort.  It takes the contributions of several.

I’m proud to announce the USAWA CLUB OF THE YEAR FOR 2021……THE WINNER GOES TO THE DINO GYM.  The Runner Up Club of the year was Frank’s Barbell Club.

The final standings for Club of the year (only top 5 listed) were:

1. Dino Gym – 57 points

2. Frank’s Barbell Club – 34 points

3. Habeckers Gym – 28 points

4. Clark’s Championship Gym – 25 points

5. KC Strongman – 21 points

As per the original rules for the Club of the Year, the defending USAWA Club of the Year is not eligible the following year, and instead is responsible for “passing the title” at the next year’s awards presentation.  All past USAWA Club of the Year are archived on this website.

Clark’s Record Day

By Bill Clark

CLARK’S RECORD DAY AND FUN DAY

What was expected to be a big crowd proved to be a very small crowd of five gym members. Not a single soul from outside Clark’s Gym entered.

Since it was the first sanctioned meet in 14 months, plans had been made to match the county health protocol and an anticipated crowd of at least a dozen.

The five local lifters all checked in with their vaccination cards and two – Nick Frieders and Tony Hose – did their USAWA second quarter postal lifts six weeks early.

We were long gone by noon.

MEET DETAILS

Clark’s Record Day
Clark’s Gym
Columbia, Missouri
Saturday, May 22nd, 2021

Meet Director: Bill Clark

Officials (1-official system used): Bill Clark, Dave DeForest

Lifters:

Tony Hose, 52, 229 pounds
Fulton bar bench press – 300.
Reverse grip bench press – 235.

Nick Frieders, 20, 157 BWT
Bent over row – 205.
RH 1-inch vertical bar deadlift – 192.
LH 1-inch vertical bar deadlift – 192.
Reeves deadlift – 275.
Kennedy lift – 535.

Dave DeForest, 61, 194 bwt.
Neck lift – 450.
Deanna lift – 405.
Habecker lift – 275.
Peoples deadlift – 435.
2H, 2-inch vertical bar deadlift – 2×125 – 250 total.

John Carter, 62, 213 bwt
2H Ciavattone deadlift – 365.
2H deadlift – heels together – 365.
Zercher lift – 255.
Reeves deadlift – 265.
Straddle lift – 320.

BILL CLARK, 88. 203 BWT.
RH i-inch vertical bar deadlift – 107.
LH 1-inch vertical bar deadlift – 132.
RH 2-inch vertical bar deadlift – 82.
LH 2-inch vertical bar deadlift – 82.
Kennedy lift – 275.

Note: The fifth lifter above was not planning to lift. But he did – and may have become the first in USAWA history to lift wearing a catheter and an adult diaper.

USAWA Award Nominations

by Al Myers

It’s that time of the year again to nominate deserving lifters for the yearly awards!  The USAWA award program was started in 2009 to honor those individuals that displays outstanding achievements throughout the year in different categories.  I have been the USAWA Awards Director that entire time and was the one who started the USAWA Awards Program.  Part of the USAWA budget goes to these awards, which means that part of your membership dues support this program. These awards are awarded at the Annual General Meeting of the USAWA, which occurs at the same time as the National Championships.  Usually the USAWA Awards are “yearly” – meaning they are for the previous year’s accomplishments – but because of the COVID interruption last year please take that into consideration and “cast your vote” for efforts/performances over the last two years.    Now for a little “overview” of the rules for nominations:

  • You  must be a USAWA member to make a nomination or cast a vote
  • Nominated individuals must be a USAWA members to be eligible
  • Only one individual may be nominated per person per award
  • Two nominations for each award may be submitted, one for your choice of the Winner and one for your choice of the runner-up.
  • The awards are for the calendar years 2020-2021
  • An individual may be nominated for more than one award

These are the different awards for which you should chose your nominations for:

 Athlete of the Year – This award is for the individual who has accomplished the most athletically within the last year in the USAWA. Top placings at the Nationals and World Championships should figure in high. Also, participation in other Championship  Competitions such as the Heavy Lift Championships, the Grip Championships, the Club Championships, the OTSM Championships, the Team Championships, or the National Postal Championships could factor in.  Participation in elite IAWA events such as the Gold Cup should make an influence on earning this award as well.

Leadership Award – This is for an individual that has shown exceptional leadership qualities within the USAWA during the past year. Things that should be looked at are: going above the level expected of an Officer position, promoting sanctioned events with emphasis being on promoting National or World Competitions, promoting the USAWA by developing a strong club, writing articles for publications about the USAWA, or through other means.

Sportsmanship Award – This goes to an individual who possesses and shows great sportsmanship within the USAWA. The act of sportsmanship may be by conduct at all events, or by an specific example of exceptional sportsmanship.

Courage Award – This goes to an individual who shows the courage to overcome an obstacle in order to return to competition. This may be a comeback from an injury, or just having to deal with difficult personal issues but still shows the courage to compete in the USAWA.

Newcomer Award– This award goes to an individual who in new to the USAWA or has become involved again. It doesn’t have to go to someone in their first year of being involved in the USAWA.

As stated earlier in the rules, I would like you to submit your choice for the WINNER and your choice for the RUNNER UP for each award.  I will score it this way:  for each nomination per award I will give 2 points for the nominated winner and 1 point for the nominated runner up.  I will then add up all the points from all nominations with the person receiving the most points declared the winner and the one with the second most points the runner up.  So you can see that the Award Winners are chosen by YOU THE MEMBERSHIP!   That’s the way it should be done.

Please email me at amyers@usawa.com with your nominations.  The deadline for nominations is May 5th.  I’m only giving a week because it has been my experience with this is that if a person does not make their nominations shortly after reading this announcement, it never gets done.  So make it easy on yourself  (and me!) and turn your nominations in today!!!!

National Championships

By Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT

2021 USAWA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Good news for the USAWA is about here! After much discussion by the USAWA Executive Board, it has been decided that the USAWA is ready to get back to business.

I will be promoting the National Championship at the Dino Gym on June 19th.  It will be a one day meet with the Annual Meeting and meal to follow the day’s lifting. At the meeting we will as a group discuss the future plans for the USAWA – but I’m hoping that all will be in favor of just resuming normal operations.

The meet will be ran in the two-session format as normal for a Nationals.  The approved lifts for the Nationals are: Cheat Curl, 1 arm Snatch, Clean and Press with heels together, Deadlift with a Ciavattone Grip on the Fulton Bar, and the 1 arm deadlift.  This is a pretty straight forward selection of lifts that are pretty common all round lifts, so training preparations should be easier. I proposed these lifts with that in mind as I know this is “short notice” in regards to the Nationals announcement.

The Nationals will be limited to the first 15 lifters that register.  Space is limited in the Dino Gym and I don’t want a large crowd “packed around”. We still need to be cognizant of the COVID risk recommendations. If you are attending please don’t bring alot of people with you to watch.

 

ENTRY FORM (PDF) – 2021 National Championships Entry Form

Clark’s Gym Record Day

By Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT – Clark’s Gym Record Day

Meet Director:  Bill Clark

Date:  Saturday, May 22nd, 2021

Venue:  Clark’s Gym, Columbia, Missouri

Weigh-ins:  9 AM

Entry Fee: None

Entry Form: None

Awards:  None

Membership:  Must be a current USAWA Member

Lifts:  Pick your own lifts to set or break a  USAWA record

Bill may be reached by phone: 573-474-4510, or mail:  Bill Clark, 3906 Grace Ellen Drive, Columbia, Missouri, 65202., or email: yeoldclark@gmail.com

***MUST PROVIDE CURRENT COVID VACCINATION STATUS TO ENTER***

UPDATE

Due to limited space in the gym, an entry deadline of MAY 15th is now in place.  If a large number of lifters register multiple sessions with different time spaces will be put into place throughout the day.  Nine people in the gym at one time is the maximum allowed.  At the current time masks are optional between lifts.

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