USAWA Member Clubs
By Al Myers
One of the strengths of the USAWA is our member clubs. Most of the USAWA lifters are associated with a lifting club. Our competitions are almost always club-based. I keep a complete listing of the active member clubs on the website with contact information. As of now the USAWA has 8 registered clubs. Several of the clubs have been member clubs for many years. The longest standing member club is Clark’s Championship Gym, out of Columbia Missouri. Bill Clark started the club program and his club was the first to register and has been registered every year since!
The second longest running club member is the Ambridge VFW Barbell Club, located in Ambridge Pennsylvania. It’s main contact for many years was Art Montini who is one the legends in the USAWA. John McKean has now taken over the club since Art’s passing so, for now, the Ambridge BB Club will continue. My Dino Gym is the third longest active member club, first registering in 2003.
When I became secretary in 2009 one of my goals was to rejuvenate the club program. The USAWA started giving out yearly awards to recognize club involvement which helped in getting many new clubs to register. Since then we have had many great clubs register – Frank’s Barbell Club, Habecker’s Gym, KC Strongman, Ledaig Heavy Athletics, Schmidt’s Barbell Club, and the Jackson Weightlifting Club. All of these clubs are responsible for many fantastic promotions in the USAWA.
A complete club listing is available on the website, which includes current club certificates for each club and a listing of past yearly club award winners. I also have kept a list of former clubs of the USAWA for prosperity sake. Most of these clubs ceased when the founding club member died and no one took things over. A couple of former clubs that we don’t want to forget about is the Valley Forge WLC which was directed by John Vernacchio and Prechtel’s AC led by Howard Prechtel. These were foundation clubs in the USAWA.
I’ve said this before but I’m gonna say it again. I truly believe the future success of the USAWA lies with active member clubs. New lifters in a club can learn from the veteran members and receive the encouragement to actually compete in an USAWA competition. This is how membership grows. I especially want to thank those who started these clubs and for all the leadership and support to the USAWA that they have provided.