USAWA

by Al Myers

It’s that time of the year again – to make your nominations for the USAWA Yearly Awards.  These awards have been presented the last couple of years at the National Championships to recognize lifters who have demonstrated outstanding achievement throughout the prior year.  These awards are decided on by the membership, so that makes it mean more when an award is given to you based on the feelings of your peers. This year I am doing this process a little different.  Instead of having a nomination process and then a voting process – I’m going to combine this process into one step to make things easier.  Please send me your NUMBER ONE and NUMBER TWO choice for each award.  The number one choice will get two points while the number two choice gets one points.  I will then add up the points from everyone to determine the winners.  Each award will have winner and a runner-up. This way you will need to send me only ONE EMAIL with you combined nominations and votes.

The rules are simple:

• You must be a USAWA member to make a nomination
• Nominated individuals must be a USAWA members to be eligible
• One person is selected as your NUMBER ONE choice and another as your NUMBER TWO CHOICE 
• The awards are for the calendar year 2011
• An individual may be nominated for more than one award

These are the catagories to make your nominations from:

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 high. Also, participation in other National Competitions such as the Heavy Event Nationals or Team Nationals could factor in, along with the Gold Cup.

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.

Please send your nominations to me (at amyers@usawa.com) by the end of March. All nominations will be kept confidential. The awards will be presented in conjunction with the awards ceremony at the USAWA National Championships in Las Vegas.