The lifter of the month program was established by Al Myers in April 2012 and Chad Ullom was the first recipient. Al wrote that “…every month I see great performances in the USAWA and I would like to have some way of honoring these performances by our membership. The selection of this award will be based on my judgement alone, and will take in factors such as outstanding performances, great lifts, participation, records set, and meets won. I sure don’t mind if someone makes recommendations to me either for someone they think should be the recipient of it for the month.”
The program has ebbed and flowed and was taken over by the Secretary/Treasurer and then the Secretary.
I have tried to maintain the original intent when I was nominating athletes to the USAWA secretary and selecting athletes as acting USAWA secretary. Without fail, an athlete finds a way to stand apart. Sometimes it is a Junior, sometimes a Master, sometimes pushing the bounds of a lift, sometimes by participating in a record session after a twelve-lift meet. Sometimes participation is traveling to compete live, sometimes participation is competing in a full series of meets.
- Outstanding Performances – Meet, series, IAWA events, etc.
- Great Lifts – During competition or Record Session
- Participation – Some athletes are competing 3 times in a month, locally and traveling
- Records Set – Age/Weight Class, ALL Ages, and highest ever
- Meets Won – With priority given to USAWA and IAWA championships
Leadership, Sportsmanship, Courage, Newcomer status is not directly considered, but I have found that recognized athletes often shine not only as athletes, but also as people.
Since 2012, 67 athletes have been honored as Lifter of the Month
13 women – Repeat winners included
- RJ Jackson (6)
- Beth Skwarecki (4)
54 men – Top 11 as follows, 7 are Hall of Famers
- Chad Ullom (7) – HOF
- Denny Habecker (6) – HOF
- Al Myers (5) – HOF
- Eric Todd (5) – HOF
- Dan Wagman (4)
- Randy Smith (4) – HOF
- James Fuller (3)
- Barry Bryan (3)
- Art Montini (3) – HOF
- Dave Glasgow (3)
- Frank Ciavattone (3) – HOF
See all of the past Lifters of the Month
