Hi Everyone,
I hope you are doing well and looking forward to the first in-person-only competition we have held since February 2020 on October 1st! It will be my first competition since the pandemic, and I look forward to seeing many of you there. I will also be in Saskatoon from Sept 24-27 for the Ma Strength courses. If anyone is interested in meeting to discuss concerns, ideas, or suggestions for the SWA while I'm there, please let me know.
New Information:
Western Canadian Championships: The top 10 Men & 10 Women (Max 2 per weight class, unless more are needed to fill out the team) based on the results of competitions from May-Oct 2022 (Jr/Sr/Masters Nationals, Ogopogo, Commonwealth Games, NA Open, Oct SWA Comp) using Weight Class Sinclair rankings will be eligible to compete as a part of Team Sask. If you are interested, please submit an Expression of Interest Form before Oct 9th, 2022, at 11:59 pm (No late submissions). Current Westerns Team Rankings (Excluding NA Open & Oct SWA Comp) are here. Information regarding budgeting and options for travel can be found here. If you are interested in attending as a Coach (Comp Intro certified or higher) or Manager (Priority given to coaches in-training), please contact Dwayne Dreher (edir@saskweightlifting.com) for more information.
Provincial Championships: Qualifying standards are at the bottom of this page. Athletes who achieve the Waitlist Total will only be eligible for Provincials if qualification numbers and registrations are lower than expected before the closure of the registration deadline. We are aiming for 50-65 athletes at this competition. If you are interested in volunteering to help with organizing Provincials, please let me know.
Training Centre Volunteer Hours: Before the pandemic, with the introduction of the Training Centre program, we created a TC Volunteer Policy and minimum requirements to maintain TC status, and receive MAP (Grant) funding. In Oct, we will release more specific information and suggestions for how you may help your TC achieve their requirements, but the principles are that each TC will need to accumulate 3 volunteer hours per member, and the core Officials for each TC will need to officiate 4 sessions throughout the season for the TC to receive their full funding. If you are volunteering at the Oct 1 competition or assisting with the Winter Games Trials in Oct, please make note of your time volunteering and inform the head coach of your TC. A form for submission of hours by the TC will be included in the next newsletter, and the Official's participation will be tracked by the Official's committee.
SWA Town Hall POSTPONED: Open format (Q&A) town hall postponed from Sept 20th to Oct 25th from 6:30-7:30 pm via Zoom. I'm hoping to meet with several of the TCs in Saskatoon over the next couple of weeks & I will be at the Oct 1 meet, so we decided to postpone until October. If you would like to meet, talk, or check in on what's going on before then, please let me know.
Athlete of the Month: Alexis Ashworth earns Sask Sport August Athlete of the Month for Commonwealth Games Silver Medal Performance - Link
PST on Memberships: This is NOT happening. With clarification from Sask Sport, we found an exclusion to allow us NOT to charge PST
Reminders:
Masters Provincials Host (Feb 11, 2023): We are looking for a Training Centre to host this event. If you would like to be considered, please contact Dwayne (edir@saskweightlifting.com)
SWA Masters Committee: We are looking for active Masters athletes or coaches to participate in the committee. For more information, contact Jil Reid <jilreid99@gmail.com> and/or Dwayne Dreher <edir@saskweightlifting.com>.
2022-2023 Platform Coaching Requirements: Starting Oct 1, 2022, all coaches must be Competition Introduction Certified to be eligible to coach their lifters on the platform at an SWA-sanctioned competition or be supervised directly by a qualified coach & be actively pursuing completion of certification. Coaches may be eligible for reimbursement of completed courses. Please consult https://saskweightlifting.com/course-reimburse for information regarding the courses required and reimbursement.
SK Winter Games: If you are interested in being considered for either Coach or Manager in your region for the 2023 Saskatchewan Winter Games, please contact Ken Trofimuk (Kenbod@saskweightlifting.com) and Dwayne Dreher (edir@saskweightlifting.com) for more information.
2022-2023 Schedule Updates:
Jr Provincials moved to May (tentative) based upon Jr Nationals being tentatively scheduled for June 2023
Provincial Championship Qualifying Standards added
Town Hall postponed to Oct 25
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
All the best,
Lucas King, 2Lt. BKIN. MBA
President, Saskatchewan Weightlifting Association