Topic: USAW Participation Numbers

[Paul LaDuke]

I don't see anything changing without a long term plan, which means it won't change without a philosophical change of great magnitude. I don't see this happening either. I see the USAW operating on a purely pragmatic basis, dealing only with range of the moment issues.

A long range plan is definitely needed.  The 30% growth has occurred despite the lack of a strategic plan, just think of the growth we could get if we had an effective one in place!  I know that many of the current board members read this forum and "the other" forum.  I hope that they read this and other similar topics and address the needs appropriately.  I believe the new board is heading in the right direction and I hope that they take some of this discussion to a board meeting with them and address some of these ideas for growth.

As someone has accused me of before, I am an optimist!

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

I believe the new board is heading in the right direction

What makes you say this?  I am not familiar with anything the new BOD is doing. I gave up on the USAW ever getting its head on straight some time back.

[Andy Dick]

The reality of the situation though is that many strength coaches can't teach nor demonstrate the Olympic lifts correctly.  Many neglect the snatch and focus solely on the hang power clean.  Many athletes will perform the lifts very poorly, using light weights for reps, etc.  So, while the potential for a great feeder system for the USAW, the reality is that we are seeing very little interest in USAW competitions from this age group.

What can the USAW to tap into this huge population?

Totally agree Paul.  Being a strength coach myself at a HS you also see those athletes that learn the lifts have no interest in competing what-so-ever, they will do them only to become better athletes in their perspective sports.  Also, when I was in high school I didn't even know the clean was part of an Olympic lift or part of a sport till college.  At that point I was only interested in doing it to get more powerful in wrestling.  So it is hard, I do agree with Chris that we need to keep those that get interested in competing to stay interested and stick with it.  IMO I feel that is almost impossible because in the US you will make more money and be more popular playing football or basketball.

The difficuly is that it is very hard to teach olympic lifts to high school athletes with shortage on time and continued off-season participation.  The high school I work at has 2 strength coaches, me and the head coach which is very rare for a HS in Wisconsin.  Trying to funnel an entire football team through a workout to work on olympic lifts can get chaotic especially when there are many other athletes that need attention also.

We have a powerlifting club team at the HS I work at and getting kids to try out is mainly a factor if they get cut from basketball or are a football player with nothing to do in the off-season.  The best step in the right direction I can see us moving in at the HS is they want me to put together a Oly lifting club team for the spring but to find a meet is hard.  Atleast with powerlifting they can qualify for a state and national meet. 

We have debated putting together unsanctioned meets to keep meet cost low and to undercut the cost of USAW membership fees.  Since so many HS kids want to play different sports to get a year round participation in WL is hard.  Especially true if they have to pay 35 dollars for a year membership + 20 meet fee.  We are looking at 55 dollars already for possibly 1 meet because there are so few in the area.

I also love the coaching concept you see at times where coaches say clean the weight up to the chest and let it drop, they do not even teach a catch because they think all they need is to work the power from the triple extension. 

[James R. Climer]

Great thread guys, as a father of an 8 year-old natural
athlete and a 5 year-old 'I can do anything the bigs can do', tike...
I can't grasp how to go about getting them started - I have
little personal experience and no coaching experience.
(Not even a USAW member yet, but plan on entering some comps soon!)

Through Crossfit, I have come to enjoy Oly Lifting, and can see the benefit
to other sports as well as a damn fine sport in its own right. I would like to
foster the boy's development and include Oly Lifting, but am clueless as to
when or how to introduce them to it. I have a platform and weights in the garage
so they see me lifting all the time.

This area I live in (San Luis Obispo County, CA) is surrounded by Weightlifting Meccas, but is a seeming God-forsaken desert in regards to coaching and local comps. I would like to one day see that changed. Where do I start?

[Andy Dick]

Your kids are still pretty young.  For your 5 year old just let him play and be a kid.  I would say same for your 8 year old also.  If you really want to do something with the 8 year old just start teaching him correct technique for basic lifts such as squat, bench, shoulder press, rows, etc. with a dowel rod.  I would say don't push him into lifting; if he wants to do a few things just let him learn correct technique on his own terms.  Don't force him to lift so he hates it.  Just work on perfect technique now and not so much worry on weight.  You can also just let him play many different sports and just let his body learn different motor patterns, balance, and overall athleticism.

When he is older you can look into finding him a coach.

[James R. Climer]

Thx for the reply, Andy.
The 8-year old is into Motocross (see Avatar), baseball and soccer. Both kids race their bicycles, swim and dive,jump on the trampoline (flips already!) 5 year-old loves baseball and gymnastics, all is just play to both kids now.

8 y.o. did a deadlift on his own the other day, (light weight but awful form) 5 y.o. has a set of dumbells his size to join dad in exercise sessions. again just playing around.

 I wonder if they'd like to go watch an Oly lift competition to get the mental hunger for 'playing' the sport.

Anyway Paul, in an attempt to un-hijack this thread, you can add a future Master competitor and a couple kids that will hopefully have a lifetime of Oly Lift exposure to those numbers.

[taureanman]

I think it is human nature to want others to approve of and enjoy the things that we do.  Alot of foks work very hard to become competent in the Oly lifts - and yet to what end besides the satisfaction of a new personal best or the pleasant feeling of a good work out session? 

There is no fame and fortune in weightlifting (not here in America) and in order to be truly competitive on the national/international level one must resort to the use of PEDS.  Unless you are willing to have your youngsters become walking pharmacies they have no chance except possibly at the local club level where the audience will be less in number than the contestants and will be comprised mostly of relatives/friends.

We all know and understand that those who have the means will always be able to defeat the drug tests - sad, but true.  The dopers are usually one step ahead of the testers - unless and until there is a clean slate I, personally, remain a skeptic and just can't give any credit to those who "succeed" in the game by being a better "cheater" than the next guy.

What is the incentive for say a 220# "clean" high school football player who may like the Oly lifts to pursue the game (I don't categorize it as a "sport") when  there are 83# Chinese/Bulgarian/Indian "female" dopers lifting 3x the poundages he can manage?

For me, WL is fun to do in my garage gym on occasion - I couldn't care less if anyone else likes it or approves of it - it has as much relevance to me as say the great "sport" of bowling.  I have no desire to compete or watch anyone else compete - actually I find it rather boring and humorous - not be taken seriously. 

The fact that the major tv networks won't show more than a few minutes of it during the telecasts of the Olympics should be a clue that most Americans have zero interest in it however unfortunate for those who would like to see it become popular here in America.

I think it could become more popular as a spectator event if the contestants act and dress up like WWE wrestlers and girls in skimpy outfits hold up signs with the current poundage - then it would appeal to your average beer-drinking junk sports viewer and provide entertainment and therefore dollars - which afterall is what its all about in the land of greed.