Author Archives: Beth Skwarecki

Time to vote for the 2025 Annual Awards

by Tony Lupo

If it aint broke ………Thank you to Al Myers, the previous awards director, for his service to the USAWA in this capacity. He started the USAWA Awards Program in 2009 and it’s running smoothly.

It’s that time of the year again to nominate deserving lifters for the yearly awards!  The USAWA award program was started to honor those individuals that display outstanding achievements throughout the year in different categories. Part of the USAWA budget goes to these awards, which means that part of your membership dues supports this program. These awards are to be presented at the Annual General Meeting of the USAWA, which happens at the same time as the National Championships. Usually the USAWA Awards are yearly – meaning they are for the previous year’s accomplishments. I would consider yearly as being the time since (and including) last year’s National Championships. Now for an 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 member 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 accomplishments since last June
  • An individual may be nominated for more than one award

These are the different awards for which you should choose 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 highly. 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, 2 points will be awarded 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: lupoa0313@gmail.com with your nominations. The deadline for nominations is May 31st, 2025. That gives everyone a couple weeks to make their decisions.  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!!!!

HomeGymCon Push/Pull (Louisville, KY)

USAWA HOMEGYMCON PUSH/PULL

SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2025

LOCATION : LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY

KENTUCKY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER

221 S 4TH ST

LOUSIVILLE, KY 40202

WEIGH-INS: 8;30 AM – 9;30 AM , LIFTING BEGINS AT 10:00 AM (EASTERN STANDARD TIME)

THE LIFTS:  HACKENSCHMIDT FLOOR PRESS & PEOPLE’S DEADLIFT.

ENTRY DEADLINE –. JUNE 15, 2025 – email  clintpoore@hotmail.comor by phone at 606-688-2600.

ENTRY FEE:  $50 dollars, all lifters must register online at the Eventbrite link provided

EVENTBRITE ENTRY FORM LINK

USAWA MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED: Memberships are required for all participants prior to the meet. Please go USAWA.COM  to purchase your memberships prior to the meet. 

AWARDS: BEST LIFTER AWARD to the overall champion & medals for all lifters. Each lifter will receive a competition T-shirt to be worn during the HomeGymCon Push/Pull & Record Day. I must know your shirt size two weeks prior to meet.

RECORD DAY SESSION – will follow the HomeGymCon Push/Pull competition, we will be having the Thomas Inch Dumbbell World Record Challenge. All Record Day lifts are time permitting & at the discretion of the meet director. More Record day lifts may be added upon request & meet director approval prior to the Record Day event.

HOTEL – There are many hotels to choose from in Louisville. There is no specific meet hotel, but a quick online search will find plenty of great options.

USAWA HOMEGYMCON PUSH/PULL SCHEDULE

ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN STANDARD TIME

You may check in the night before, by coming to the Convention Center until approximately/before 6 PM, but you must contact the meet director to set up a time.

WEIGH-INS BEGIN                   8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

LIFTING BEGINS                      10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

IRON PALACE PODCAST        3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

RECORD DAY                           2:00 PM  – 3:00 PM

CLEAN UP & LOAD TRUCK     5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Please keep in mind the schedule may change depending on how long each segment lasts.

This will be a very exciting event with music, laser lights, banners, & heavy weights being lifted. 

This is a great opportunity for the USAWA and I hope you will join us at the 

2025 USAWA HOMEGYMCON PUSH/PULL & EXPO! 

Great American Bench Press – Results

LOCATION: BUFFVILLE GYM, CLARKS GYM & CANADA
MEET DIRECTOR: CLINT POORE
REFEREES: CLINT POORE, ASHLEY STEARNS, TONY LUPO, BILL CLARK, CHRIS FRAPPIER, KYLE FRAPPIER, JEFF WENZEL, DAVE DEFOREST (3 OFFICIAL SYSTEM USED)

Lifter Club Gender Birth Date Age Weight (Pounds) Session

Meet results are below.

GREAT AMERICAN BENCH PRESS resultsDownload

Record day results are attached.

GREAT AMERICAN BENCH PRESS RECORD DAYDownload

Tony Lupo Light Weight Decathlon Challenge (Columbia, MO and remote)

Date: 28 – 29 June 2025

Location: Clark’s Gym, Columbia, MO and Remote

Weigh–In time: 8:30 am

Lifting begins: 9:30 am

Meet Director: Tony Lupo

The Lifts:

  • Side Press, Dumbbell (one arm)
  • Jefferson Deadlift, Little Fingers
  • Lateral Raise, Lying
  • Thor’s Hammer
  • Pinch Grip Strict (one hand). 
  • Allen Lift 
  • Zeigler Clean
  • Finger Lift, Little (one hand)
  • Rectangular Fix
  • Weaver Stick Front

How to enter: OPEN TO THE WORLD – All competition in Clark’s Gym is hybrid. You may compete in your local gym or in the friendly confines of Clark’s Gym in Columbia, Mo. You must send all results to Clark’s Gym via e-mail only at yeoldclark@gmail.com not later than 10 p.m. 1 July 2025.

Included on the reporting form must be the name of the official(s) involved. DO NOT send your remote results to the USAWA. They must be approved by the meet director first. If you have no officials, your results will be included in the final tabulation of the competition and be eligible for meet awards – but not records. Your honesty is the key to all competitions.

OFFICIALS – Must accompany remote results to be eligible for records.

Record day: You can enter up to five record lifts. 

Remote lifting: To compete remote, you must enter by 5:00 pm 21 June 2025 or your results will not be accepted. 

Memberships: You must be a USAWA Member, membership applications will be accepted at the meet. 

Awards: There will be a best lifter award for men and women. 

Contact: Clark’s Gym, email: yeoldclark@gmail.com. 

Survey for the future of USAWA

We invite all USAWA members (and past/future/potential members) to fill out this survey asking what you want to see from the organization going forward. The results from this survey will be shared with the Executive Board and a summary will be presented to the membership. Please fill out the survey by April 30 so that we have time to discuss the results well in advance of the National Meeting.

Our goal is to find out what YOU want the USAWA to provide and which goals to prioritize. The EB gets a lot of feedback and requests from members, often conflicting, and we want to make sure that we’re not just running the organization according to our own preferences or listening to the loudest voices—this is YOUR organization and we want to have more information about what what will best serve the entire membership. In the survey you can tell us what you currently enjoy, where we could improve, and what opportunities we might take advantage of in the future.

Even if you are not a current USAWA member, we invite you to take the survey. If you’ve been a member in the past, or if you are thinking about joining someday, your input is still valued. (We will be able to separate results according to members and non-members when we analyze the results.)

Thank you to our hardworking advisory committee who put this survey together: Chris Frappier, Kyle Frappier, Allison Lupo, Tony Lupo, Clint Poore, Randy Smith.

Here is the survey link again. Please share with others in our USAWA community. Our deadline is April 30, 2025. USAWA survey link

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