Author Archives: Al Myers

Memorial Day

by Al Myers

There was the platform that Frank Ciavattone set up for the Heavy Lift Championships this year. Frank is proud to show his patriotism to the United States!

Today is an important day being Memorial Day.  It seems most Americans appear to have forgotten the meaning of this important day, and only think of it as a “day off” from work and a good day to go to the lake to have fun.  Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day – and got that name as it was the day to decorate graves.  Most all Americans have been touched in some way by losing a family member (possible even in prior generations) or friend  in the armed forces.    Take this day to remember those who have died in our nations service.  Whether you go to the cemeteries, or you  just take a few moments of your day to reflect.    

My friend Dave Glasgow would be proud of me for this, as he has often called into question the proper etiquette for the  hanging of the Flag of the United States at meets.  The flag should be lowered to half-staff position till noon to honor those who have died, then raised to full-staff  at noon for the remainder of the day.

Club of the Year: LEDAIG HA

by Al Myers

Ledaig HA won the team title for the Overall best team at the 2012 IAWA World Championships. Pictured (left to right): Jera Kressly, Dave Glasgow, Doug Kressly

Congratulations to LEDAIG HEAVY ATHLETICS for being the named the USAWA Club of the Year for 2012!!!!

Ledaig has been very active in the USAWA these past few years.  Their “rise to prominence” in the USAWA started in 2010.  The club’s founder and leader, Dave Glasgow, has been a solid force in the organization. Ledaig HA is located in Rainbow Bend, Kansas – outside of Winfield, or if you are less knowledgeable about Kansas, south of Wichita a ways.  Dave refers to Rainbow Bend as “a community ” instead of a town.  I’ve been there and you better not blink when you drive thru it or you will miss it!  It’s even smaller than the town of Holland where the Dino Gym resides!

Unlike the other USAWA awards where the winners are selected by nomination and vote of the membership, the Club of the Year is earned.  It is based on a point system where each club earns points for various involvements in the USAWA throughout the year.  I think this system is very fair – and it makes it easy for me to calculate all clubs point totals. This is the guidelines for which a club earns points:

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 awarded to the club for EACH USAWA sanctioned event or competition the club promotes.
4. Four bonus points awarded to the club for promotion of the National Championships, World Championships, and Gold Cup.

As you can see – having lots of club members who are heavily involved in our “big meets” really help with the yearly score.  Ledaig had 9 club members for the year 2012: Dave Glasgow, Kenny Glasgow, Amber Glasgow, Tim Harbison, Doug Kressly, Jera Kressly, Mike Murdock, Kristen Traub, and Larry Traub. The Ledaig HA won the team title at the 2012 IAWA World Championships, and was runner up at the 2012 USAWA National Championships. At both of these big meets, the Ledaig Club had members place very high overall in addition to winning Age/BWT championships.  At Nationals, Larry was 2nd overall and Dave 4th, and at Worlds Dave was 3rd overall, Doug 9th overall, and Jera was third overall in the women’s division.  That’s quite a list of accomplishments!!!

The year 2012 had a record number of 16 registered member clubs in the USAWA!  I’m only going to give the TOP FIVE placings, and just making this top 5  listing is a great accomplishment for any club!

TOP SCORING USAWA CLUBS FOR 2012

1st.  Ledaig Heavy Athletics – 25 points
2nd.  Salvation Army Gym – 20 points
3rd.  Ambridge Barbell Club – 19 points
4th  (tie).   Clarks Gym – 13 points
4th  (tie).  Jobes Steel Jungle – 13 points
5th .  Habeckers Gym – 12 points

The Salvation Army Gym had an outstanding year in the USAWA. The clubs leader Tim Piper was very involved in the USAWA throughout the year. Tim competed in the Nationals in Vegas (6th Overall) and at the Worlds in Salina (7th Overall).  I was very impressed with them earning the RUNNER UP Club of the Year in the USAWA. These two club awards (to the Ledaig Heavy Athletics and the Salvation Army Gym) will be presented at the Awards Ceremony in conjunction with the National Championships next month. Last year’s winner of the Club of the Year, the Dino Gym, will have the HONOR of presenting these two clubs their Club Awards.

World Championships

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT
2013 IAWA World Championships

Mark and I enjoying some "beach time" on Scarborough Beach near Perth, Western Australia, while there for the 2011 IAWA World Championships.

The entry form and meet details have been released for the 2013 IAWA World Championships.  Mark Haydock, of Preston, England, will be this year’s meet director and host.  Mark runs an all round club, the Houghton Barbell Club. Mark has been very involved in IAWA and has attended many World Championships.   He was the Overall Best Lifter in the 2009 Championship in Lebanon, PA.

All it takes for a USAWA member to enter the IAWA World Championships is to be a USAWA current member.  There are NO pre-meet qualifications to enter. Just fill out the entry form completely and send it to Mark, then book your flight to England.  That’s it! The entry deadline is August 31st.

The meet is a two day meet (Saturday October 5th & Sunday October 6th).   In the Info Sheet Mark has given several suggestions for places to stay.  The lifts for the World Championships are:

DAY ONE

Clean and Press

Continental Snatch

Pullover – Straight Arm

Vertical Bar Deadlift – 1 Arm, 2″, One Hand

DAY TWO

Squat

Clean and Jerk – Dumbbell, One Arm

Deadlift – Trap Bar

ENTRY FORM (PDF) – 2013 IAWA World Championships Entry

INFO SHEET (PDF) –  2013 IAWA World Championships Info

Club Championships

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT
2013 USAWA CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

Dave and Gunner Glasgow

The Club Championships has been rescheduled!   After the cancellation last March in Ambridge due to bad weather,  the Club Championships was looking “not to happen” this year.  However, I consider this meet as one of our “signature events” in the USAWA since it is a Championship Event, and these are the meets that really need to be contested every year.  The Club Championships began in 2010 with the Ambridge Barbell Club hosting it since then.  Dave Glasgow, the leader of the Ledaig Heavy Athletics, has agreed to promote it this summer so that this important competition will continue on an annual basis.

The Club Championships is much different than other competitions.  It is NOT an individual competition, but rather, a club competition.  The scores of three members of a club are “added together” to form a club score.  This way clubs are pitted against each other, with each member making their own contribution to their club.  Awards will be given out on a “club basis” – there will be no individual recognition at this event.

The rules for the Club Championships  are pretty straightforward:

1.  Each Club brings up to three lifters to compete. Clubs may enter with less than three members, but will be at a disadvantage when scores are added together.

2.  Club members MUST be registered with their club of participation (as documented on the membership roster).

3.  Adjusted Point scores are added together to form a club score.

4.  Club with the highest Club Score is awarded the Club Champion.

The Ledaig HA’s has been a big club player in the USAWA over the past few years.  Now since Dave has his new training facility built I expect even more involvement with promotions.  I consider Ledaig as one of the TOP CLUBS in the USAWA.  At the 2012 IAWA World Championships last fall in Salina, their club won the team title at the Championships (combined pt scores of all members participating).  That’s a big club win – winning Worlds!!!!  In 2011 Ledaig won the team title at the USAWA Nationals in Kirksville.   Also, last year at Nationals in Las Vegas they were awarded the Runner Up Club of the Year in the USAWA!  

I’m really excited about this year’s Club Championships.   I truly believe the success of the USAWA lies with club involvement.  Meets like this one foster that involvement.   Year’s ago it was important to lifters to be “part of a club” when going to competitions.  Club spirit was high – and lifters often competed in their club shirts showing their support to their club.  I want to bring that feeling back, and this meet is a great way to do that.  It should be an honor for a club member to get selected to represent their club at the Club Championships.  Let’s make this a great meet!

MEET DETAILS:

2013 USAWA Club Championships
Sunday, July 14th, 2013
Ledaig Heavy Athletics Training Facility
Rainbow Bend, KS

Sanction – USAWA

Entry Fee – None

Weighins:  9:00 AM

Start time:  10:00 AM

LIFTS: 

Bench Press – Fulton Bar

Zercher Lift

Peoples Deadlift

There will be a record breaker session after the competition if anyone is interested.  Award certificates will be awarded to the winning clubs. There is no entry form, but please contact Dave prior to the event if you are entering a team at dglasgow@cox.net . The directions to the meet are:

GPS Coordinates are: Decimal coordinates (latitude, longitude):
37.16499343231285,-97.13128566741943

Joe Jr. & Sr. – FOOTBALL CHAMPS!

by Al Myers

Joe Ciavattone Jr. (left) and Joe Ciavattone Sr. (right) proudly hold the conference championship trophy following the game!

A couple of weeks ago I had a very nice “sit down” visit with Joe Ciavattone Jr. and Joe Ciavattone Sr. following the Heavy Lift Championships in Walpole, Massachusetts.  That’s one thing I really like about the USAWA, most all of us know each other and the after-meet conversations are very enjoyable where we can just relax following a day of competition and enjoy each other’s company.  It’s often in these talks that I learn new information about the lives of  other all-rounders. This is exactly what happened during my visit with Joe Jr. and Sr.

Joe Jr. and Sr. were the first Father-Son duo to play on the Cobras at the same time. Here they show their conference Championship rings as a result of their football success.

This past year this father-son All Round Weightlifting  duo has been involved in another sport – FOOTBALL!  They both have been part of the Middleboro Cobras, a semi-pro team in the Eastern Football League.   Both were rookies on the team, with Joe Sr. being the oldest rookie on the team.  However, the years of lifting and training has kept him  much younger in “athletic years”.  Most guys in their 40’s would NEVER consider  making an upstart in a hard physical game like football at that age.  But most guys are not Joe Ciavattone Sr.!  They were the first Father-Son combo that ever played on this team at the same time.  There were other son’s that followed in Dad’s footsteps and played on the team – but in later years. Not at the same time!!!  The history of the Cobras goes back over 70 years to give a perspective on that accomplishment.

A "close up" picture of the Championship rings!

Their team had outstanding success.  They played an eleven game season, and with the playoffs and Championship game, finished with a record of 12 and 1.  This included winning the conference championship!  Both Joe Jr. and Joe Sr. had their championship rings on hand to prove this to me.  By the size of their rings, I would have said they won the Superbowl!  The Cobras are an excellent team, winning the conference championship in “back to back” seasons, and winning 8 of the last 10 titles!

Joe Jr was the starting fullback at a strapping 220 pounds, and was the youngest player on the team.  Joe Jr. had a stellar High School athletic career, earning All League honors in High School football and varsity All Star recognition in Lacrosse.  His strong contributions to the team during the season resulted in him being named Offensive Rookie of the Year. Before this, it had been 27 years since Joe Sr. played his last football game (which was in High School!).   However, he has always been involved in coaching and has a keen understanding of the game before he began playing on the Cobras.  Joe Sr. played offensive guard and special teams. 

The season begins next month for them and runs through October.  So if you are wondering why you are not seeing Joe Jr & Sr in USAWA meet results, you know why.  They are busy playing football!!!

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