Topic: i'm so frusterated

[corey chandler]

The USA has all these good coaches and fasilites(i cant spell). i watched the 06 jr.nationals and you guys blow us out of the water. I won my last year as a jr at nationals in the 62s with lifts of 87 and 110( i could have done much better but i didnt)and ranked 9th over all... i watched the american one and i probly would have almost got last. It frustrates me to no end how its so hard to find good help in the sport. through my whole career of 4 years ive been coached for 3 months in total(what i consider actual coaching) ... o and im the top male(both jr and senior) in my province.... man we suck lol. I just hope canada has help for the lifters of the future... hell i would have been alot better with the proper guidence.

[Shaun Le Conte]

Hi Corey, I feel your pain. I mean, now I am in a good spot for several years I was on my own or without facilities. I don't know where you live in AB but I thought there were some lifters and coaches out there (not many). Like aren't Roy Sinclair, Wendy Rodgers, Dresdin Archibald etc over there? Maybe not in your city.

All things considered you have taught yourself lifting technique well. Are you going to school somewhere soon, if not going to school already? That's an opportunity to maybe move somewhere else, depending on your options and finances. 

[Matt Foreman]

Just some food for thought...  Like you, I was a pretty serious lifter when I was 19 and I had no coaching.  I lived in Arizona at the time.  So I found a good coach in Washington, asked him if he would train me, and then I threw everything I owned in my car and moved to Washington to lift for him.  I was there almost 12 years and he took me a long way in weightlifting.  Sometimes, if you're serious enough, you have to make big decisions.  And the time to do it is when you're young.

[John Donahue]

You certainly aren't alone in your situation. But lets keep things in perspective. The USA does have some good coaches and facilities, but for the most part, they aren't accessable to the average lifter. Just look at one of the most repeated topics brought up in this and other forums, "where can i train?". Here in the USA training facilities that cater to Olympic lifting are very rare. A very large percentage of USA lifters are garage lifters. And like myself, alot of these garage lifters train alone. As far as coaching is concerned. It is also rare that a lifter has a full time coach. You know, someone who is there every workout. Most USA lifters who have a coach, have a long distance relationship with them. Only seeing each other now and then. This is a harsh reality, but many of our best athletes train in a garage with no real coach present.
 
But should this deter you. Absolutly not. I never had a coach. And except for 6 out of the last 32 years, i've trained in my garage, alone. I taught myself how to do the lifts. In my teenage years, i didnt even have an olympic bar to train on. I used an exersize bar. And like you, Corey, I think i would have been "a hell of a lot better with the proper guidance".
   
But dont wait for Canada to help the lifters of the future. Thats your job. Here in the USA, guys like Joe Delago, Howard Cohen, and others have done more for weightlifting than our national office has. So think about what action you can take to make things better. Open a training facility. Become a coach. Promote a meet. Take action on this. Be a leader.
 
 And one last thing Corey, if you think the quality of competition in your Province "sucks". Let me send you the results of the last State Championship we had here in Delaware. Pathetic is the only word that describes it.