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Minutes from 2017 IAWA AGM

Minutes from the 2017 IAWA General Meeting

By Al Myers, IAWA President

The 2017 Annual IAWA General Meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM, on September 29th at the Belmont Sports Club in Perth, Australia by IAWA President Al Myers. Roll call was taken and these members were in attendance: Al Myers, Peter Phillips, John Mahon, Denny Habecker, Anne Whitehead, Sam Trew, Justine Martin, and Sharni Clifford.  After the roll was taken, a few moments of silence were observed for the late George Dick.  Minutes were read by Al Myers from the 2016 meeting, since General Secretary Frank Allen was not in attendance.  John moved to accept the minutes, a second was made by Sharni, and it passed unanimously.  Reports from the IAWA Vice Presidents were next.  USAWA VP Denny Habecker said there was nothing new to report from the USAWA.  A report from the IAWA-UK VP Steve Gardner was given on his behalf by Al Myers.  In his report Steve stated he wanted to stay on as a IAWA-UK VP and that events in the UK are going strong. The ARWLWA Vice Presidents Robin Lukosius and Peter Phillips gave their reports next. They talked about the expansion of All Round Weightlifting in Australia, which included a new club from Melbourne and hosting of the Australian Championships in Bunbury. They also mentioned successfully getting sponsorship from the City of Belmont for the World Championships. Peter moved to accept the Vice Presidents reports, with a second by John, and it passed unanimously. A report on the 2017 IAWA World Postal Championships by promoter Al Myers was presented next. It was reported that 45 lifters participated in the World Postal, with lifters from the USAWA, IAWA-UK, and the ARWLWA participating. As been the tradition, the first day lifts of the World Championships were contested. Recognition was given to the overall club champion – the Western Australia Club. Peter moved to accept the report, with a second by Robin, and it passed unanimously.  A report on the upcoming 2017 Gold Cup was given by Al Myers since the promoters Matt Finkle and Andy Tomlin were not in attendance.  Andy had forwarded a report which stated that the plans for the 2017 Gold Cup were on track for November 4th  in Glasgow Scotland, and entries were coming in.  John moved to accept the report, with a second by Sam, and it passed unanimously. The IAWA Technical Committee report was next on the agenda, but Chairman Dennis Mitchell was not in attendance so no report was given. A discussion ensued with the technical committee members in attendance (Al Myers, Denny Habecker, and Peter Phillips) commenting that they had not heard of any new news from Dennis regarding any new technical issues to discuss.  Al stated the current members of the technical committee – Dennis Mitchell, Denny Habecker, Al Myers, Steve Gardner, Steve Sherwood, and Peter Phillips.  Peter suggested that we formulate a current email address list for all committee members so better communication may be done in the future. This was agreed upon by consensus. A report on the 2018 IAWA World Championships and 2018 Gold Cup was given next by Al Myers.  This report was sent by IAWA-UK Vice President Paul Barette.  The 2018 Worlds will be promoted by Mark Haydock on October 6-7th, 2018 in England, with a venue to be named at a later date.  The proposed lifts for day one include: Front Squat, Clean and Press behind Neck, One Hand Barbell Snatch, and the One Hand 2” Dumbbell Deadlift.  The proposed lifts for day 2 include: Power Row, Continental Clean and Jerk, and the Deadlift.  The 2018 Gold Cup will be promoted by Frank Allen in Leicester England on October 13th.  It was planned to be the following weekend after the World Championships to encourage overseas competitors to make both events. Discussion following the report centered on the lifts selected for Worlds.   Al Myers stated that these proposed lifts should be evaluated by the Technical Committee before they became official, as this should be a responsibility of the Tech Committee.  Denny moved to accept the report, with a second by John, and it passed unanimously.  There was no Old Business.  New Business was the next agenda item.  John Mahon brought up the interest in the Old Time Strongman in Australia, and how he would like to see a IAWA World Championships for it. Discussion ensued how this would be possible with the current IAWA competitions (Worlds and the Gold Cup), and how it could be done without taking anything away from those competitions. John moved that IAWA host a World Championships for the Old Time Strongman for 2018 in a postal format that would include all lifters from their organization performing the lifts on the same day at a set venue place for all countries involved.  Denny gave a second, and it passed with unanimous vote.  The ad hoc committee of John Mahon and Al Myers will make the plans for the 2018 IAWA Old Time Strongman World Championships.  More new business discussion included more discussion about the technical committee. Al Myers commented that he would like to see equal group representation on the Technical Committee and would like to see another person from Australia added to the Technical Committee.  Al explained that having a technical committee of 7 would be better than 6 for voting purposes, as matters are decided by majority vote. John Mahon agreed he would take the position, and a vote was taken and it passed unanimously.   There was no further New Business.   Next up on the agenda was accepting bids for the 2019 IAWA World Championships and the 2019 IAWA Gold Cup.  Al Myers submitted a bid for the World Championships to be held in Abilene, USA for the first weekend of October.   John Mahon submitted a bid for the 2019 Gold Cup to be held in Perth, Australia the first weekend of November.  There were no other bids.  Peter moved to accept the bids, with a second by Denny, and it passed with unanimous vote.  At this point a few words from the World Championships meet promoter John Mahon was given which included details of the weekend’s competition.  John then moved we adjourn the meeting. A second was given by Sam, and a unanimous vote was taken.   The meeting ended at 8:30 PM.

2016 Meeting Minutes

by Al Myers, USAWA Secretary

The 2016 USAWA Annual Meeting was called to order by President Denny Habecker at 7:00 PM  Friday night on June 24th, 2016 at the residence of Frank Ciavattone in Walpole, MA.  Before the meeting Frank hosted the membership was appetizers and pizza so the meeting started with everyone on a full stomach. Roll call was taken and these USAWA members were in attendance: Denny Habecker, Al Myers, Jeff Ciavattone, Rocky Morrison, Chad Ullom, Dean Ross, Art Montini, Frank Ciavattone, Aidan Habecker, Judy Habecker, Bob Geib, Susan Sees,  James Morrison, Cassie Morrison, and Lindsey Beary. The minutes of the 2015 Annual Meeting were read by myself.  Bob moved to accept the minutes with a second by Chad and the minutes passed unanimously. I then gave the Financial Report which showed a $1000 loss for the USAWA for 2015, but I attributed that to the costs of the website redesign and the purchase of drug tests.  The drug tests will be carried over into the next year and the website costs should be amortized over the next 5 years at which time the website will need another redesign.  I pointed out that the bank account balance is exactly the same now as when I started as Treasurer in 2009. I also discussed the details of the 2016 budget which I prepared and was prior approved by the Executive Board. Dean moved to accept with a second by Chad and it passed unanimously.  I then gave the Directors Report as Website Director.   I described the changes made to the website and how it will allow further expansion and improve access speed. I encouraged others to participate in the website by contributing blog stories. Frank moved to accept,  it was seconded by Bob, and it passed unanimously.  I then gave the Awards Director report. A big part of the Awards Program is to give out the USAWA annual awards which are presented every year at the National Championships to recognize outstanding lifters and their accomplishments. Frank moved to accept, with a second by Dean, and it passed unanimously. As Records Director I gave the Records Report. I stated that our record list is now online for free download, and I try to update the list every 1-2 months. I encouraged others to let me know if errors are ever noticed as it is easy for me to correct them.  Frank moved to accept the report. Chad made a second and it passed unanimously.  Next up was the Officials Report by Official’s Director Joe Garcia.  Joe was not in attendance but had forwarded his report to me which I gave on his behalf.  Joe encouraged others to join our Official’s ranks and take the rules test.  He also encouraged rulebook training for the current officials, that could take place as a clinic or training sessions before meets. Dean moved to accept, a second was made by Rocky, and it passed unanimously.  Chad Ullom gave the Drug Testing Report as Drug Enforcement Director.  He stated that we are continuing with an aggressive drug testing program that tests at many meets throughout the year.  No positive tests were found during the previous year. Judy moved to accept the report with a second by Dean.  It passed unanimously.  Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker gave the Postal Meet Report. Denny stated that 15 lifters competed in our Postal Series in 2015, with 6 lifters doing all of them. He encouraged more participation.  It was mentioned that we now allow lifters to do the postal lifts on any individual day during the 3 month quarter instead of just in the last month like it has been in the past. Chad moved to accept the report, a second was given by Dean, and it passed unanimously. The next agenda item was a report by the IAWA Technical Committee Chairman Dennis Mitchell regarding issues being discussed by the IAWA Technical Committee.  Dennis was not in attendance so no report was given. The next item was discussion and vote on a new proposed lift by Bill Clark, the Reg Park Bench Press (2 bar bench press).  The rules of the lift were preapproved by the USAWA Executive Board as required by our rules, and had passed the Executive Board’s approval prior to being presented.  The written rule was read to the membership.  The lift involves bench pressing two barbells according to the rules of the Bench Press.  There was minimal discussion on the proposed lift.  A vote was taken and it passed by majority vote with 10 yes votes and 3 no votes. As required by USAWA rules for a new USAWA approved lift a vote was taken to propose this new USAWA lift for IAWA approval.  This passed by majority vote with 11 for, and 2 against.  It will be forwarded to the IAWA Technical Committee Chairman to officially present it to the IAWA.  Next agenda item was the presentation of rule changes. I presented a listing of several items that were presented to me over the previous year for additions/changes to our rule book. Below is the list:

  • Add 2” vb and 2” plates to Bearhug rules
  • Change finger lifts rules in regards to ring and height to be in compliance with IAWA(UK) rules
  • Add to III Drug Testing: “The Lifter will be notified no more than 48 hours prior to the test, and must make arrangements for the test to be performed within 48 hours.”
  • Add to bar specs: Max diameter of bar 1.25”.
  • Add to VIII: “It is recommended not to publically announce an event before the sanction is officiated. Announcing an event prior to proper sanction may result in failure of meet sanction.”
  • Add to section on drawing of lots: “It is recommended that if lots are not drawn that the order of lifting be done by age, with order of lifting set from youngest lifter to oldest lifter.”
  • Add to calling to the platform: “The clock begins when the announcer declares that the bar is loaded”
  • Add to General Rules: “Regulation bars are to be used for all lifts unless stated otherwise in the individual rules of the lift.”
  •  Thors Hammer:  The Vertical bar used must by 18” in length with a 1/2″ tolerance (instead of max 18”)
  • Fulton Bar: Change minimum diameter to 1.9”  (instead of 1-15/16”).

Chad moved to accept these rulebook changes with a second by Art.  There was no discussion and the vote was unanimous in favor.  I then presented a couple of bylaw changes. These were the proposed changes:

Add to Article 7 Election

“In lieu of the elections a motion may be made to retain all current officers and executive board members in their current positions. This motion must pass by majority vote.”

“Each executive board position must be elected and voted on individually.”

Chad moved to accept the changes, with a second by Dean.  There was no discussion.  Amendments/changes to bylaws require a 2/3 vote. A vote was taken and the vote was unanimous in favor.  Next order of business was New Business.  Art brought up a discussion of limiting Record Day meets or individual lifts for records after meets to be limited to 5 records maximum.  He explained that he has always only allowed 5 lifts for record at his record day meet and that he feels that is enough.  Discussion afterwards was all in favor of this.  It seems most lifters are getting tired of lifters using record days to set large number of records with submaximal effort to just set and pad their record count.  Also included in this was discussion of how these lifters interfere with the lifting of others at record days because of the extra loading and judging they require beyond everyone else. Art then moved to make this a new rule and it was seconded by Dean, and passed unanimously. Frank brought up the 6 week advance meet sanction time that our rules now require and how he would like to see it decreased.  Frank stated that with his club of young lifters he often doesn’t know their schedule that far in advance and setting meet dates for everyone to be able to attend is difficult.  I explained to the membership why the 6 week sanction deadline was put into place to start with: 1. to allow anyone ample opportunity to be able to attend if they wanted, ie get an airline ticket if needed, 2. allow the Executive Board time to review the sanction request, 3. To make our event schedule and sanction process look legitimate by not allowing last minute meets to take place.  A compromise was reached and Frank moved to decrease the sanction deadline to 30 days. Jeff gave a second and it passed unanimously. Judy then brought up her concerns regarding entry deadlines on meet entry forms not being enforced.  She explained how this really causes issues for meet directors who need to be able to plan for the number of lifters that attend with t-shirt and awards purchases.  I explained how I feel this needs to be the meet directors responsibilty and a meet director should be able to refuse lifters that do not enter by the deadline if they want, with full support of the USAWA.  I proposed that we add a line to the rulebook stating,”If meet directors refuse entry because of a lifter not entering by the stated entry deadline on the entry form, the USAWA will support this decision and no appeal can be made.” Judy moved to include this statement in the rulebook, a second was made by Dean, and it passed with unanimous vote.  There was no other new business. The next agenda item was accepting bids for the 2017 USAWA National Championships. Bob Geib made a bid to host next years National Championships in Vermillion, Ohio on one of the last two weekends in June, the traditional time for Nationals.  There were no other bids.  A vote was taken to accept Bob’s bid and it passed unanimously. At this time the meeting agenda was completed, and Chad made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  It was seconded by Dean and it passed unanimously.  The meeting ended at 8:30 PM.