Topic: College scholarships, grants, building and supporting clubs

[glennpendlay]

chris, im NOT argueing against more money.  more money is fine, its great in fact.  it makes everything easier.  and i try as hard as anyone i think to raise money because i know its important.

however sometimes i just feel the need to sort of rebel at the whole idea that everything will fall from a bigger budget.  because its something out of my control for the most part...  and i dont want to get into the mindset where i am sitting around waiting for someone else to do something.

a lot of times when i post about weightlifting i get worked up just thinking about it and typing on the keyboard, and am inclined to pour out more feelings than thoughts.

logically, i know that we need not just money, but money spent right to accomplish what we want.  but then a certain sickness overtakes me and i just want to say to hell with money.  what makes weightlifting great isnt money.  the missing ingredient isnt money.

[Michael Hartman]

I like the idea of grants for members or clubs from USAW.  If nothing else it would make people accountable for the money they are being given.  

The problem I see is that the most deserving athletes or clubs wouldn't necessarily be the recipient.  Most likely the clubs that can find the best grant writers would benefit.

[Mike Wittmer]

rhys, improving our bottom line has really nothing to do with it. i think we are a rich, rich federation. whats our budget? isnt it something on the order of 2 million a year? we dont need more money. we just need to spend what we have on things that will make us better.

Glenn, you could not be more right.  Of course, it would aways be nice to have more money.  But we do nothing with what we have.  I've talked to Dennis about this and he says it's a "rainy day fund" and untouchable.  As Steve Gough said, "It's raining!"  And, at the 2003 worlds, we were one lift away from the forty day flood.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

The problem I see is that the most deserving athletes or clubs wouldn't necessarily be the recipient. Most likely the clubs that can find the best grant writers would benefit.

This is a very good point. But, its why I thought it would be good to have the grant review board made up of experienced weightlifting coaches, administrators, and managers, so they can see through the grant-writing itself to the core of the costs and potential benefits. Plus, I think if such a system was put in place, the grant review board should assist grant requesters in completing the paperwork and assist grant recipients in finding other grants to supplement USAW money.