Tag Archives: USAWA Awards Program

Larry Traub: Newcomer Award

by Al Myers

Larry Traub won the voting for the USAWA Newcomer Award. (left to right): Larry Traub, Al Myers, and Thom Van Vleck.

The Newcomer Award is an award given on behalf of the USAWA to recognize someone who has just become involved in the USAWA.   This year’s Newcomer Award Winner made “a big splash” in the USAWA by not only winning this award, but also the OVERALL BEST LIFTER in his very first USAWA National Championships!  Larry Traub is the man I’m talking about – and remember his name because you will be hearing much more of it in the future!  It wouldn’t be fair of me to call Larry “a rookie” just because he won our Newcomer Award, because Larry’s one of the most experienced lifters I know.  He has been involved in coaching his entire life and has knowledge of the iron-game that few have.  He is a very technical lifter, and I know with a little more time, will become a master of all the All-Round lifts.   He lifts as part of the Ledaig Heavy Athletics Club, which without a doubt, will be in the running for next years USAWA Club of the Year.  Larry first competed in the USAWA at the USAWA Grip Championships in 2010, and this past spring promoted his first USAWA competition.  Congratulations Larry and welcome to the USAWA!

Chad Ullom: Athlete of the Year

by Al Myers

Chad Ullom was awarded the 2010 USAWA Athlete of the Year at the awards banquet. (left to right): Chad Ullom, Al Myers, & Thom Van Vleck

After our banquet following the National Meet, we had the Awards Ceremony.  Included in this ceremony was the presentation of the Special Awards that were given on behalf of the USAWA to individuals that have shown excellence within the USAWA during this past year.  The recipients of these Special Awards were chosen and voted on by the USAWA membership.   I feel that makes receiving one of these awards all that more special, because you know that your peers in the organization were the ones who chose you.   The “highest award” that the USAWA recognizes is the Athlete of the Year, which is our version of a MVP award.  This year it went to a very deserving lifter – Chad Ullom.   Chad has had an outstanding year of competitions within the USAWA.   He placed second overall at last years National Championship, and then went on to win OVERALL BEST LIFTER at the IAWA World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland last fall.  All together, Chad competed in 14 USAWA events during the year 2010.  (YES – that’s 14 events and not a typo!).   There are not very many lifters that compete in that many events over a 5 year period – but Chad did it all in ONE YEAR!  I want to give you a quick run-down of his successes in 2010, and after I do this NO ONE would question why he is our ATHLETE OF THE YEAR.  He started the year off by winning the Dino Gym Challenge  which was the first USAWA event of the year (so he also has the distinction of winning the first meet of the year as well).  After competing in the Grip Challenge and the Dino Gym Record Day, he joined the Dino Gym Team at the Club Challenge in Ambridge and helped out the team to victory.  After this, he competed in a couple of postals (Goddard Postal & Eastern Open) and then onto his second place overall finish at the 2010 National Championships.  After that, he competed in the Ledaig Record Day before competing in Team Nationals, where he was part of the winning overall team.  After his crowning win at the World Championships, he competed in the World Postal Meet as a team member of the Dino Gym (which won the overall team title).  He finished the year off by competing in the JWC Record Breakers (where he set 18 USAWA Records) and then off to the Gold Cup in Boston, and finishing with competing in the National Postal Meet.   Now that’s a resume!! 

Congratulations Chad – you have had a year of successful competitions that would be hard for anyone to follow!

The Club Awards Program

by Al Myers

Dino Gym - 2009 USAWA Club of the Year. Left to Right: Scott Tully, Al Myers, and Mark Mitchell

The USAWA Awards program got off to a great start at the 2010 Nationals with the presentations of the 2009 Awards.  All of these awards, with the exception of the Club Awards, were based on membership nominations and votes.  I determined  the Club Awards using a very simple point system, that recognizes USAWA participation and meet promotions. I like how this system is set up and plan to use it again  for  next year.  I am going  to outline the particulars of it here so there will be no mystery how the Club of the Year is selected for 2010. To be eligible, a club must have paid their club dues for the year and be  listed as “current” on the Member Clubs page. Another stipulation is that the previous year’s Club of the Year is not eligible the following year.  This club will have the honor of presenting the new  Club of the Year Awards at the National Meeting.

Club Awards are determined by adding up club points using this 4-Step System:

1.  One point awarded to the club  for EACH  USAWA registered member that lists the club as their affiliated club on their membership application.  This designation is also listed beside the members name on the membership roster.

2.  Two points awarded to the club for EACH club member that participates in the National Championships, World Championships, and Gold Cup.  Points are awarded for each competition, so if one club athlete competes in all three of these big meets it would generate 6 points for the club.

3.  Three points are awarded to the club for EACH USAWA sanctioned event or competition the club promotes.

4.  Four bonus points are awarded to the club for promotion of the National Championships, World Championships, and Gold Cup.

This is a very simple system yet covers all the basics of a club being involved in the USAWA.  It encourages clubs to host competitions and recruit members to the USAWA.  It gives incentive to clubs to encourage club members to attend our big meets.  Plus – this system will be easy for me to calculate each club’s points at the end of the year since all these things are recorded on the website. I believe the future growth of the USAWA will be driven by clubs.  All it takes is one new club that has an interest in All-Round Weightlifting.  First the club hosts a few local gym meets, second the club gets their lifters involved in these meets,  and third the USAWA grows!   It couldn’t get any more simple than that.

I want to welcome new USAWA member Stephen Santangelo, from Las Vegas Nevada, to the USAWA!

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