Dino Gym: Club of the Year
By Al Myers
The nomination & voting period is over for the 2017 USAWA yearly awards, to be awarded at the National Championships in several categories for outstanding performances within the USAWA. I have just finished the tabulations and I am getting ready to contact the awards shop to get the awards made up. So – I KNOW who the winners are but that’s still a secret until the awards presentation time! But there is ONE AWARD that is announced ahead of time – the USAWA Club of the Year. The reason it’s announced early is that it is really not a mystery as to who the winner is as this is the one award that is based on generating points instead of votes. I have outlined this point system several times in the past so I won’t rehash all that now. What I’m trying to say is this – anyone can add up the points on their own as ALL of the information is available on the website to do so, thus this winner is “no mystery”.
No club can win an award like this based on one individuals performance or effort. It takes contributions of several. I want to thank EVERYONE who was part of CLUB DINO GYM this past year, because this is EVERYONE’S AWARD. I was VERY pleased how our gym functions were attended by gym members. For the year 2017, the Dino Gym had a total of 16 lifters joined the USAWA that listed the Dino Gym as their member club. I want to recognize and thank these lifters now (in alphabetical order): Emily Burchett, Cale Dunlap, Ben Edwards, Calvin Heit, RJ Jackson, Cody Lokken, Zach Lucas, Dan Mather, Al Myers, LaVerne Myers, Molly Myers, Jason Payne, Brandon Rein, Dean Ross, Chad Ullom, and Dan Wagman.
The final standings for the 2017 USAWA CLUB OF THE YEAR (only top 5 listed):
1. Dino Gym – 41 points
2. Schmidt Barbell Club – 25 points
3. Habecker’s Gym – 23 points
4. Ambridge Barbell Club – 17 points
5. KC Strongman – 13 points
As per the original rules for the Club of the Year, the defending USAWA Club of the Year is not eligible the following year, and instead is responsible for “passing the title” at the next year’s awards presentation. Thus, Frank’s Barbell Club, the 2016 USAWA Club of the Year, is not in this year’s rankings.