2021 Minutes

By Al Myers, Secretary

2021 MINUTES FROM ANNUAL MEETING OF THE USAWA

The annual meeting of the USAWA was called to order by President Denny Habecker at 6:00 PM on June 19th at the Dino Gym in Holland, Kansas. Roll call was taken with these USAWA members in attendance: Denny Habecker, Al Myers, Johnny Strangeway, Lance Foster, Phoebe Todd, Judy Habecker, Beth Skwarecki, Dave Glasgow, Eric Todd, Chris Todd, Chad Ullom, Thom Van Vleck, Randy Smith, Abe Smith, Dave DeForest, Dean Ross, Mike McBride, and LaVerne Myers.  The minutes from the 2019 Annual Meeting were read by secretary Al Myers.  Chad moved to accept the minutes, with a second by Dean, and it passed unanimously.  The financial report were read by treasurer Al Myers, in which a profit was shown of $248.15 for the past two years leaving $9048.98 in the bank account as of December 31st, 2020.  Al explained it’s been a solid 2 years considering the covid situation and the lack of income thru sanction fees and memberships. Al mentioned that close to $2000 have been added to the USAWA bank account since becoming Treasurer in 2009 and that the USAWA has had 12 years of financial stability.  Chad moved to accept the report, with a second by Dean, and it passed unanimously.  The website report was given next by Website Director Al Myers.   A long list of items and information were mentioned that the website provides  to the membership.  Al also expressed thanks to those that have contributed to the website. Chad moved to accept the report, with a second by Dean, and it passed unanimously.  The report from the Awards Director Al Myers was next on the agenda, in which Al explained that the awards program provides awards to recognize outstanding performances and contributions to the USAWA along with any special awards. Judy moved to accept the report, with a second by Dean, and it passed unanimously.  The report from the acting Records Director Johnny Strangeway was given next.  Johnny expressed concerns that due to it’s length the list may need to be separated into 2 lists – one for men and one for women.   He also asked the membership if there would be interest  to add a feature that would keep track of a lifters record count which from the discussion most seemed in favor of.  Eric moved to accept the report, with a second by LaVerne, and it passed unanimously. Report from the Drug Enforcement Director Chad Ullom was given next in which he said, “no drug tests have been done in the last year”.  There was a slight pause in the meeting as this was the shortest directors report in history and the membership thought he might continue.  Eventually, Judy moved to accept the report, with a second by Dean, and it passed unanimously.  The report from the Officials Director Joe Garcia was next on the agenda.  Joe was not in attendance and had not given a report to anyone to give on his behalf, so no report was given for the second year in a row.  The Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker gave his report next.  Denny expressed thanks to everyone who has participated in the postal series and stated this has been the most participation ever in the USAWA postal meets. Chad moved to accept the report, with a second by Judy, and it passed unanimously. The report from IAWA Technical Committee Chairman Dennis Mitchell was next.  Dennis was unable to be present at the meeting due to a recent hip replacement but had forwarded his report to Al.   In giving Dennis’s report Al commented that Dennis wanted to send his apologies for missing the meeting, and that since COVID there has been  no activity within the IAWA technical committee.  Chad moved to accept the report, with a second by Eric, and it passed unanimously.  The next meeting agenda item was a vote and discussion on the policy going forth on meet sanctions and meet restrictions due to COVID.   In the discussion Chad stated that most all people have had the opportunity  to receive the vaccine if they wanted it. All discussion was in favor of returning to normal activity within the USAWA without any restrictions.  Chad made that motion, with a second by Dean, and it passed unanimously. Discussion and membership approval for the new proposed lift, The Rim Lift, was next.  The Rim Lift had been prior proposed to the USAWA Executive Board by LaVerne Myers and  Executive Board approval was given for membership vote for new lift status.  LaVerne described the rules for the Rim Lift, which are identical to the rules for the Rim Lift in IAWA-UK  Rulebook.  He stated that the Rim Lift had been done in the 2020 Grip Championships as an exhibition lift and tried by several lifters, all of which liked the lift. During the discussion Randy commented if it was possible within the written rules to “game the lift”,which would create future problems.  Al responded that he was confidant that the rules were well written with specific regulations in place to keep that from happening, and the same rules are in place for the Rim Lift in the IAWA-UK for quite some time and that has not happened.  Al then moved to accept the Rim Lift as a new USAWA official lift along with the provision that all lifts done in the Rim Lift at the 2020 Grip Championships count as records retroactively. Chad gave a second and the motion passed unanimously. The President then asked if there was any New Business brought forth from the membership.  There was none. Being it an odd numbered year, elections were next up. Elections were for President first.  Denny stated that he intended to run again and there were no other nominations. All voted in favor.  For Vice President, Chad stated that he would run again. There were no other nominations and all voted in favor. Secretary/Treasurer were next, in which Al stated that he would not run again and said that he has enjoyed his 12 years as Secretary but that was enough time in the position and it was time for someone to else to be Secretary/Treasurer.  Al then nominated Eric Todd and told the membership that Eric is a very qualified nominee and would be an excellent secretary.   There were no other nominations and all were in favor. The next position up for election was an at large Executive Board position held by Dennis Mitchell.  Dennis was not in attendance but had relayed to the board that he would like to run again.  Chad nominated Dave Glasgow.  There were no other nominations and a vote was taken by written ballot, in which Dave was elected. The next At Large Executive Board position was up next, which has been held by Rocky Morrison who was not in attendance.  Rocky had relayed to the Executive Board that he did not want to run again.  Frank Ciavattone, who was not in attendance, previously had relayed to the Executive Board that he would like to run and his nomination was made by Al.  Chad nominated Thom, who refused the nomination.  Judy nominated Randy who accepted the nomination.  Dave nominated Beth who accepted the nomination.  There were no other nominations. The election was done by written ballot and Beth was elected. To summarize the newly elected officers:  President – Denny Habecker, Vice President Chad Ullom, Secretary/Treasurer Eric Todd, At Large EB Member Dave Glasgow, At Large EB Member Beth Skwarecki.  At this time Chad made an award presentation to outgoing Secretary Al Myers for his years of service.  It was a touching moment for Al, who received a hand crafted award made by Thom Van Vleck.  After Al’s tears had subsided the meeting resumed with 2 new director appointments.  Johnny Strangeway had been acting as Records Director for the past  2 years under Records Director Al Myers.  Al gave his resignation and recommended Johnny for the position officially.  There were no other nominations and the vote was all in favor.   Al then gave his resignation as Website Director and recommended Eric for the position, stating that the Secretary should be the one who runs the website to be able to easily communicate with the membership.  There were no other nominations and all were in favor.  The last agenda item was accepting bids for the 2022 USAWA National Championships. One prior bid had been made, by Frank Ciavattone, to host in Boston.  When asking if there were any other bids from the floor, Judy made a bid for her and Denny to host in Lebanon, PA.  There were no other bids.  The vote was done by written ballot with Denny and Judy winning the bid.  Dean then moved to adjourn the meeting, with a second by Judy, and it passed unanimously.  The meeting ended at 7:00 PM.

National Championships

By Al Myers

2021 USAWA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Group picture from the 2021 USAWA National Championships.

Group picture from the 2021 USAWA National Championships.

After a year and a half of COVID shutdown in the USAWA, we finally all gathered together for a big competition. It was very exciting for me to see lifters I haven’t seen in a long time.  I held the meet in my gym, like I did for the Nationals in 2009.

It was great to see a wide range of lifters starting with the two Junior lifters Leroy and Phoebe, to ole veterans of the USAWA like LaVerne, Denny and Dean competing. Several different clubs of the USAWA had entered lifters – the Dino Gym, Clark’s Gym, Habecker’s Gym, KC Strongman, and even a lifter from the Ambridge Club.

The overall women’s champion was Beth Skwarecki.  Beth  made her big mark in our sport at the 2019 IAWA World Championships where she was crowned overall best women’s lifter.  She is a great all round lifting talent and I expect she will be a top contender for quite some time in the USAWA.   The young Phoebe Todd at only 10 years old showed great form on the lifts and has a very bright future.

The overall men’s champion was Abe Smith out of Clark’s Championship Gym.  Abe has been competing “off and on” in the USAWA for over 20 years with his last Nationals appearance being in 2001 where he was the overall Runner Up.  I would say he’s been waiting his turn to win the overall, and it was well deserved as he was solid in all the lifts.  Weighing in at only 173 pounds he still posted the top total of the meet.

Runner up in the men’s division went to the long time USAWA lifter Randy Smith (no relation to Abe!) from Michigan, or as Randy says the UP.  Randy doesn’t make it to many USAWA meets throughout the year but he seems to always be at the Nationals.  Randy is a past overall Nationals Champion, winning the title in 2015 at York Barbell. At the day’s end, Randy was the overall Master’s Champion.

Third place went to Mike McBride. Mike is also a past overall champion of Nationals, winning his title in 2005 in Youngstown.  It’s been a few years since I’ve got to see Mike lift, but he hasn’t changed a bit.  He’s a pure technician on the lifts and I was quite impressed with his old school technique in the one arm snatch.

I was extremely impressed by everyone’s lifting. I have several people I want to personally thank for their help during the day.  To start with, Chad Ullom spent the day at the table with me doing all the scorekeeping without making a single mistake.  Eric Todd and Denny Habecker spent their off lifting session in the head officials chair, while Thom Van Vleck and Dave Glasgow spent the entire day officiating.  I want to thank Lance Foster for leading up the loading crew all day along with everyone who helped him out.  Lastly I want to thank my personal assistant Faith for all she did, especially with getting the food out on time!!!

MEET RESULTS:

2021 USAWA National Championships
Dino Gym, Holland, Kansas
June 19th, 2021

Meet Director: Al Myers

Meet Announcer: Al Myers

Meet Scorekeeper: Chad Ullom

Meet Loaders: Lance Foster and others

Officials: Eric Todd, Denny Habecker, Thom Van Vleck, Dave Glasgow

Lifts: Curl – Cheat, Snatch – One Arm, Clean and Press – Heels Together, Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip, Deadlift – One Arm

WOMENS DIVISION

LIFTER AGE BWT Curl Sna C&P DL DL1 TOT PTS
Beth Skwarecki 40 152 105 70R 90 190 200R 655 698.6
Phoebe Todd 10 116 40 20R 38 85 70R 253 431.9

EXTRA ATTEMPTS FOR RECORD:

Beth Skwarecki: Snatch One Arm Right – 75
Beth Skwarecki: Clean and Press Heels Together – 95
Beth Skwarecki: Deadlift One Arm Right – 210

MENS DIVISION

LIFTER AGE BWT Curl Sna C&P DL DL1 TOT PTS
Abe Smith 39 173 190 120L 210 315 285R 1120 1088.9
Randy Smith 66 193 155 80R 125 260 265R 885 1031.2
Mike McBride 44 224 205 105L 165 295 285R 1055 930.1
Eric Todd 46 250 200 115R 190 230 350R 1085 921.2
Denny Habecker 78 188 90 45R 90 205 205R 635 893.3
Dave DeForest 61 195 140 85R 125 225 210R 785 867.7
LaVerne Myers 77 224 100 45L 35 270 195R 645 812.3
John Strangeway 43 213 100 100L 100 300 200L 800 716.8
Chris Todd 41 259 165 90R 155 220 220R 850 675.8
Dean Ross 78 191 55 30L 0 155 100L 340 473.8
Leroy Todd 10 79 35 15R 30 45 35R 160 399.3

EXTRA ATTEMPTS FOR RECORDS:

None

Notes: BWT is bodyweight in pounds. All lifts recorded in pounds.  R and L designate right and left.  TOT is total pounds lifted.  PTS are overall adjusted points corrected for age and bodyweight. 

BEST LIFTER AWARDS

Women’s Junior – Phoebe Todd
Women’s Master – Beth Skwarecki
Women’s Overall – Beth Skwarecki
Men’s Junior – Leroy Todd
Men’s Senior – Abe Smith
Men’s Master 40 to 44 – Mike McBride
Men’s Master 45 to 49 – Eric Todd
Men’s Master 60 to 64 – Dave DeForest
Men’s Master 65 to 69 – Randy Smith
Men’s Master 75 to 79 – Denny Habecker
Men’s Master Overall – Randy Smith
Men’s Overall – Abe Smith
Men’s Top Total – Abe Smith
Overall Top Club – Clark’s Gym (Randy Smith, Mike McBride, Abe Smith, and Dave DeForest)
Runner Up Club – KC Strongman (Eric Todd, Chris Todd, Leroy Todd, Phoebe Todd, and Johnny Strangeway)

Club of the Year Award

By Al Myers

The nomination & voting period is over  for the 2021 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 the contributions of several.

I’m proud to announce the USAWA CLUB OF THE YEAR FOR 2021……THE WINNER GOES TO THE DINO GYM.  The Runner Up Club of the year was Frank’s Barbell Club.

The final standings for Club of the year (only top 5 listed) were:

1. Dino Gym – 57 points

2. Frank’s Barbell Club – 34 points

3. Habeckers Gym – 28 points

4. Clark’s Championship Gym – 25 points

5. KC Strongman – 21 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.  All past USAWA Club of the Year are archived on this website.

Clark’s Record Day

By Bill Clark

CLARK’S RECORD DAY AND FUN DAY

What was expected to be a big crowd proved to be a very small crowd of five gym members. Not a single soul from outside Clark’s Gym entered.

Since it was the first sanctioned meet in 14 months, plans had been made to match the county health protocol and an anticipated crowd of at least a dozen.

The five local lifters all checked in with their vaccination cards and two – Nick Frieders and Tony Hose – did their USAWA second quarter postal lifts six weeks early.

We were long gone by noon.

MEET DETAILS

Clark’s Record Day
Clark’s Gym
Columbia, Missouri
Saturday, May 22nd, 2021

Meet Director: Bill Clark

Officials (1-official system used): Bill Clark, Dave DeForest

Lifters:

Tony Hose, 52, 229 pounds
Fulton bar bench press – 300.
Reverse grip bench press – 235.

Nick Frieders, 20, 157 BWT
Bent over row – 205.
RH 1-inch vertical bar deadlift – 192.
LH 1-inch vertical bar deadlift – 192.
Reeves deadlift – 275.
Kennedy lift – 535.

Dave DeForest, 61, 194 bwt.
Neck lift – 450.
Deanna lift – 405.
Habecker lift – 275.
Peoples deadlift – 435.
2H, 2-inch vertical bar deadlift – 2×125 – 250 total.

John Carter, 62, 213 bwt
2H Ciavattone deadlift – 365.
2H deadlift – heels together – 365.
Zercher lift – 255.
Reeves deadlift – 265.
Straddle lift – 320.

BILL CLARK, 88. 203 BWT.
RH i-inch vertical bar deadlift – 107.
LH 1-inch vertical bar deadlift – 132.
RH 2-inch vertical bar deadlift – 82.
LH 2-inch vertical bar deadlift – 82.
Kennedy lift – 275.

Note: The fifth lifter above was not planning to lift. But he did – and may have become the first in USAWA history to lift wearing a catheter and an adult diaper.

USAWA Award Nominations

by Al Myers

It’s that time of the year again to nominate deserving lifters for the yearly awards!  The USAWA award program was started in 2009 to honor those individuals that displays outstanding achievements throughout the year in different categories.  I have been the USAWA Awards Director that entire time and was the one who started the USAWA Awards Program.  Part of the USAWA budget goes to these awards, which means that part of your membership dues support this program. These awards are awarded at the Annual General Meeting of the USAWA, which occurs at the same time as the National Championships.  Usually the USAWA Awards are “yearly” – meaning they are for the previous year’s accomplishments – but because of the COVID interruption last year please take that into consideration and “cast your vote” for efforts/performances over the last two years.    Now for a little “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 members 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 calendar years 2020-2021
  • An individual may be nominated for more than one award

These are the different awards for which you should chose 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 high. 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 I will give 2 points 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 amyers@usawa.com with your nominations.  The deadline for nominations is May 5th.  I’m only giving a week because it has been 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!!!!

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