Hot off the Platform...

American Open

Florida Lifters Shine at the American Open

This past weekend, December 5-7, USAW held it's annual American Open, renamed the North American Open due to the fact that Canada and Mexico were represented.  Although we had the fewer Florida athletes attend than in years past, there were no doubt some top performances; Junior World contenders, a Gold Medal, and some record breakers just to name a few.  Please refer to the American Open full results for more info:

Joshua "J.T." Barnett (56kg)

1st Place, Gold Medal

Walter Soha (77kg)

5th Place

Max Alpert (56kg)

6th Place, 17th Jr. World Ranking, FL Record

Jessica Gallagher (58kg)

6th Place, 7th Jr. World Ranking

Robin Feuerman (63kg)

6th Place, 11th Jr. World Ranking

Samantha Turnbull (53kg)

6th Place

Chris Lenahen (94kg)

10th Place, FL Record, 5th Jr. World Ranking

Charles Snowden (77kg)

10th Place

(12/9/08)

11/14/08 - State Championships & Florida Elite

9/07/08  - Lenahen Breaks his 31st Record

8/10/08  - Flag Football Tournament Complete

7/22/08  - Another New Team in the Neighborhood

7/01/08  - Full Story of National Schoolage at Disney

6/26/06  - Timber Creek Has a New Face

6/24/08  - National Schoolage  Was a Huge Success

5/28/08  - There's another  new kid on the block

5/28/08  - Schoolage Last Chance Qualifier a success

3/24/08  - Another Florida lifter makes the paper

3/12/08  - 2 Florida lifters Competing Overseas

2/22/08  - Florida Gator, Florida Lifter? That's right!

Archives

Happy New Year everyone!  We hope all athletes and coaches are ready to start a new year of weightlifting and make it as wonderful as the last.

We are starting 2009 with January's athlete of the month.  He's Max Alpert of Team Florida Altamonte.  You may not have heard too much about him in the past but our guess is that you have recently started to.  Max, although only involved in weightlifting for a little over 2 years, is no stranger to the sport.  His older brother, Jason Alpert, was one of the first members of the same team back in 2001.  Then only 8 years old, Max watched many of his brothers tournaments and successes (Jason was a high school team record holder).  He waited patiently until it was his turn to begin competing.

Max "has been steadily improving in every met he has lifted in the past six months. As a 16 year old lifter, he managed to qualify for the American Open and place 6th overall.", says Coach Reynolds of Accel Sports.  In his last 3 meets of 2008, Max made 15 of 18 possible attempts making him the most consistent lifter on his team (Max was awarded Consistent Lifter of the year by his team).

At the American Open last month, Max's primary goal was to break the Florida Schoolage Record Snatch of 71kg (56kg class).  He did!  On his 2nd attempt, Max snatched 72 kilos for the record then later topped his goal by successfully making a meet p.r. C+J of 85kg.  This elevated his best meet total to 157kg.  Great way to end the 2008 year.

Max's next goal is to compete well at the National Junior Championships in San Francisco, which is fast approaching in March.  Although he is not expected to take gold it will be a great stepping stone as he strives to place high at the Schoolage Nationals in Georgia (June).  Providing he hits his usual high performance, Max may be in the running for an international trip and represent Team USA for his first time in his young career.

As stated by his coach, Coach Danny Camargo, Max trains hard and "feeds off the strong performances of other lifters around the state, the country, and even his own gym."  He enjoys the heavy training and is always calm and controlled during tournaments.  The ability to take one lift at a time and not worry or stress about the environment around him is a strong quality that may lead him to one day be an elite U.S. athlete (note: Max is currently the first alternate on Florida's Elite).

There's no doubt that, with continued effort, Max will shine as one of Florida's finest athlete.  Keep up the good work Max and we'll see you in 2009.

To learn more about FWF rewards please click here for records or click here for the Florida elite program

.

Nominate an Athlete

Altamonte Open

&

6th Annual FWF Awards Banquet

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Start List & Schedule

Entry Form

(deadline passed. For informational purposes only)

Our first meet of 2009 will be the Altamonte Open (formerly known as the "1st of the Year Open").  This is a routine open meet with final lifting schedule to be posted after all entries are received.  This will be 1 of 2 last chance qualifiers for the National Jr. Championships in San Francisco, CA.

Awards

As always we will hold the annual awards where we honor and recognize 2008's best athletes, coaches, etc. from around the State.

Elections 2009

Also, 2009 is an election year.  This means we, as a state, will be electing the FWF President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and two Athlete Representatives.  The FWF Board is elected every 2 years and is charged with enforcing the Federation's mission:  to promote the Olympic sport of weightlifting at all levels throughout the state and to communicate with all outside bodies as the principal authority of Olympic Weightlifting in Florida.

Meet Bids 2009

Lastly, we are accepting meet applications from those who want to host meets in 2009.  Please refer to the calendar page and view all the open months where meets have not been scheduled.  If you're interested in securing a month for your facility it must be done in writing and submitted by the deadline for consideration.

Below are the offices of the FWF Board and their duties.  Individuals running for any of the below positions will be posted as they are received with information about them.
(note: deadline via email or postmarked is Wednesday, December 31, 2008)

Want an email when important news is released?

subscribe to floridaweightlifting@gmail.com