How to Join USAWA
By Beth Skwarecki
This is the first in a series of articles about the basics of USAWA. First up: how to join.
Membership in USAWA is necessary to participate in competitions and to set records. (Officials also need to keep up their membership to keep their certification current.) Fortunately, it’s cheap! For just $35, you become a member and you get to do the postals at no additional charge. Many of the in-person competitions are also free to members.
USAWA is the IAWA-affiliated organization for the USA. If you live in or near the UK, you should join IAWA-UK. In Australia, you should join AWFA. If you live in another country, you should join your closest organization as an associate member. For example, if you live in Canada, you can join USAWA as an associate member. You can’t set US national records but you can participate in meets and you can set IAWA world records.
You only need to do two things to join:
- Fill out the membership application form, which asks for your contact information and what club you are a member of (if any–it’s okay to be unaffiliated), and includes a waiver stating you understand that you may be subject to drug testing. If you are under 21, your parent or guardian must also sign. You can either print out this form, fill it out, and mail it; or use the new online membership application.
- Send us $35, either by enclosing a check if you are mailing your application, or by PayPal if you are all “fancy” and “modern.”
If you’d like to learn more about the organization you are joining, the USAWA Rulebook contains the bylaws, the procedures by which competitions are run, and the rules of all the lifts.
More information on membership, including membership and meet sanctions, is on the Forms and Applications page.
That’s it–now you are all set. Membership expires at the end of the calendar year, and is not prorated. So renew every January to get your money’s worth.