Good luck!!!
Changes in the world of Masters Weightlifting
- Thread starter Anna C
- Start date
Good luck!!!
Thank you! Hope to see you at one soon! Maybe HCAM in Nashville in November?
For everyone, that should clarify what is going on. There is the first vertical which is IOC to IWF to USAW of which Masters has had a committee and board seat within for some time now. Masters has always been lead by the Cohen family starting with Howard Cohen for over 30 years. ALL sports under the IOC is a direct signatory with WADA and in the us as USADA.
In 2022 December the IWF split Masters from its group therefore creating Masters IWF. At which point the IMWA was formed and now the USA Masters Weightlifting group. Both of these are not signatories with WADA and therefore had to hire other drug testing agencies to test at their events. WADA / USADA are the gold standard to CLEAN SPORT.
Side story is that USAW has released a non conflict of interest policy stating that any board member including people at the local level ( for example myself on the PNWWSO board) may not financially benefit from any events and there needs to be a fair bidding process established. The Cohen's have been running Masters weightlifting events for decades and they would directly loss income if there were to continue with USAW and sign the non conflict of interest agreement.
They had no choice but to separate from USAW to protect their financial potential by creating the USA Masters Weightlifting organization.
Moving forward what this means for masters weightlifters is that there will be 2 organizations for weightlifting. In the US it's USAW (USADA covered for clean sport) and the USA Masters Weightlifting (covered by some other organization).
By way of USAW there are only national level competitions available IE AO Series and AO finals and at some point a nationals probably at the same time as senior, junior, youth and under 25 nationals.
By way of USA Masters Weightlifting there will be opportunities to compete internationally at PAN AMS, and world events as well as national events such as nationals and the Howard Cohen American Masters.
As masters athletes we will need to buy 2 separate memberships wifi we want to compete at both types of events. My main concern is that USAW has put in a lot of work with DE&I over the years and I am curious to see what the USA Masters Weightlifting bylaws looks like.
I've known the board members of the new USA Masters Weightlifting group for 7 years now, good people, but it's all a bit surprising right now.
Hope this helps with any confusion.
In 2022 December the IWF split Masters from its group therefore creating Masters IWF. At which point the IMWA was formed and now the USA Masters Weightlifting group. Both of these are not signatories with WADA and therefore had to hire other drug testing agencies to test at their events. WADA / USADA are the gold standard to CLEAN SPORT.
Side story is that USAW has released a non conflict of interest policy stating that any board member including people at the local level ( for example myself on the PNWWSO board) may not financially benefit from any events and there needs to be a fair bidding process established. The Cohen's have been running Masters weightlifting events for decades and they would directly loss income if there were to continue with USAW and sign the non conflict of interest agreement.
They had no choice but to separate from USAW to protect their financial potential by creating the USA Masters Weightlifting organization.
Moving forward what this means for masters weightlifters is that there will be 2 organizations for weightlifting. In the US it's USAW (USADA covered for clean sport) and the USA Masters Weightlifting (covered by some other organization).
By way of USAW there are only national level competitions available IE AO Series and AO finals and at some point a nationals probably at the same time as senior, junior, youth and under 25 nationals.
By way of USA Masters Weightlifting there will be opportunities to compete internationally at PAN AMS, and world events as well as national events such as nationals and the Howard Cohen American Masters.
As masters athletes we will need to buy 2 separate memberships wifi we want to compete at both types of events. My main concern is that USAW has put in a lot of work with DE&I over the years and I am curious to see what the USA Masters Weightlifting bylaws looks like.
I've known the board members of the new USA Masters Weightlifting group for 7 years now, good people, but it's all a bit surprising right now.
Hope this helps with any confusion.
You need to compete in the proper age and division your NGB profile is listed in as far as I know. And doubtful any masters lifters would meet the qualifying totals for ANY level national or world for participation.
Cool adding this to the forum! Glad we were able to discuss on Facebook tooMasters Weightlifting (Olympic Lifting) organizations and competitions are in the midst of a big shift right now. In short, USA Masters WL as a component of USA Weightlifting is splitting off to form a newly formed entity (corporation) as USA Masters Weightlifting, which is now recognized, not by the International Weightlifting Federation as USAW is, but by a new international-level Masters organization called International Masters Weightlifting Association (IMWA). This will affect meets, records, membership, and more. So the shift is international but also very much happening here too, in the US.
View attachment 21418
FYI, "Masters" in weightlifting are age 35 and older.
The larger issues -- For a sport that is part of the Olympics, isn't the country's primary organization mostly about recruiting and developing competitive athletes to win in Olympic and other international competitions? If so, how much attention should that organization pay to the masters athletes in the sport, who are no longer competitive towards that end goal, but are very much part of the sport overall? Will the picture change if/when weightlifting is no longer an Olympic sport (as seems likely after 2024) and USAW loses that focus and mission? What is the future of competitive weightlifting on a local, state, national, international, and Olympic stage? Who will make the rules, control the money, certify the coaches, and organize the meets? And lastly, based on all the online firestorms, how much say should members have in all of this? We pay dues and fees, we compete and participate... but most of us don't put our hearts and souls and endless resources into the game like some who are directly involved do. I always hate to see potshots by people who "feel" like they have the right to say anything they want criticizing those who have much more skin in the game, and for whom the issues are a lot more "life's work" than "hobbies." Social media, particularly FB, is awful that way. I feel like the discussions on forums is a bit more productive... and at least here, more respectful.
I've been weightlifting since late 2019 and competing since 2021, and headed to IWF Masters Pan American Championships next week in Orlando, FL as my 7th meet. Of the 6 meets I've done so far, 1 was unsanctioned, 3 were local/state USAW meets with mostly young lifters, and 2 were Masters events, with one of those being Masters Worlds. So I'm fairly new in this world but also somewhat invested in it and its future. Interested to see what happens... Although I'm just grateful that opportunities exist, and I hope they continue to exist. Even if the whole thing implodes, well, I still have my barbell, and can train. They're not coming for that. (And even if they do, I have my kettlebells
Even though most of you aren't weightlifters in the Olympic lifting sense of the word, I'd be interested in thoughts on this situation from all perspectives.
Great discussions to be had. Also have fun at Pans!!!!! Hope you break some records!!!
watchnerd
Level 8 Valued Member
I was just thinking about local meets.
Excellent and insightful summary, Mira, thank you.
I attended the live Q&A with the Masters group here in Orlando today and also watched the new video online from the USAW CEO. It's all getting worse, not better....
Agree that memberships in both organizations are the way to go for anyone who wants to compete Internationally. And Michael Cohen did state that no one should give up their USAW memberships.
I appreciate everyone's hard work in and for Masters Weightlifting. Wish we could all get along.
Not much has transpired since the Q&A last week other than a post about medical support and more charged commentary from and about both sides on various social media.
A few items from my notes from the Q&A:
- The Ted Stevens Act, originally from 1978 and revised in 1998, establishes a National Governing Body (NGB) for each sport in the Olympics. For Weightlifting for the US, this is the USAW. So the USAW exists because Congress authorized it, and if it's not in Sec 36 of the US Code, they don't have the authority to do it. So there's some discussion as to whether they should have jurisdiction over Masters Nationals. I guess we'll see how that turns out.
- There are 4,000 - 6,000 Masters athletes in USAW. USAW used to charge and extra $5 to Masters on the membership fee but they recently eliminated that.
- Lots of USAW's money goes to legal fees (23%). That is likely not really benefitting Masters.
- The new Masters organization (USA Masters Weightlifting, Inc.) does not intend to charge much for membership fees. There may be regional competitions. USA Masters will continue to use USAW officials. They have talks to use the old database web 80 that preceded BARS for USAW. Records will be the same.
Seems to me USA Masters Inc. is on their own now and will have to do a LOT for themselves that they have previously relied upon USAW for. "With freedom comes responsibility." Due to the inevitable dependency and ongoing relationship, I really hope they work out the issues and reduce the current animosity.
The Pan American Masters meet was overall a great event! The organizers, currently (formerly?) a committee under USAW and now as the new organization, USA Masters Inc., did a great job running the meet. They really do care, they really do work hard, and they do it as volunteers. It is not about money.
As for me, I got 3rd out of 5 in my age/wt class W55 87 kg with 48 kg snatch, 63 kg C&J, 111 kg total. No PRs for me this meet, but I won my first medal in an International Masters competition, worked as a loader for a session (a first for me), and met some awesome people as well as seeing some I know already, so all in all was a great experience.
A few items from my notes from the Q&A:
- The Ted Stevens Act, originally from 1978 and revised in 1998, establishes a National Governing Body (NGB) for each sport in the Olympics. For Weightlifting for the US, this is the USAW. So the USAW exists because Congress authorized it, and if it's not in Sec 36 of the US Code, they don't have the authority to do it. So there's some discussion as to whether they should have jurisdiction over Masters Nationals. I guess we'll see how that turns out.
- There are 4,000 - 6,000 Masters athletes in USAW. USAW used to charge and extra $5 to Masters on the membership fee but they recently eliminated that.
- Lots of USAW's money goes to legal fees (23%). That is likely not really benefitting Masters.
- The new Masters organization (USA Masters Weightlifting, Inc.) does not intend to charge much for membership fees. There may be regional competitions. USA Masters will continue to use USAW officials. They have talks to use the old database web 80 that preceded BARS for USAW. Records will be the same.
Seems to me USA Masters Inc. is on their own now and will have to do a LOT for themselves that they have previously relied upon USAW for. "With freedom comes responsibility." Due to the inevitable dependency and ongoing relationship, I really hope they work out the issues and reduce the current animosity.
The Pan American Masters meet was overall a great event! The organizers, currently (formerly?) a committee under USAW and now as the new organization, USA Masters Inc., did a great job running the meet. They really do care, they really do work hard, and they do it as volunteers. It is not about money.
As for me, I got 3rd out of 5 in my age/wt class W55 87 kg with 48 kg snatch, 63 kg C&J, 111 kg total. No PRs for me this meet, but I won my first medal in an International Masters competition, worked as a loader for a session (a first for me), and met some awesome people as well as seeing some I know already, so all in all was a great experience.
So.... Both organizations have announced "Masters Nationals" for 2024.
USAW: "Reno, NV will host the 2024 USA Weightlifting Masters National Championships! We’re excited to welcome our Masters athletes to Reno March 21-24, 2024. More info about qualification and registration in the event announcement at the link in our bio. Please also see this month’s membership update from CEO, Matt Sicchio."
USAMW: "USAMW is excited to announce the 2024 Masters Nationals will be held at the world class Raising Cane's River Center in Baton Rouge, LA April 10-14, 2024."
I did join the new organization, USAMW, for the reasonable cost of $35 which is good through the end of 2024. I intend to do the USAMW Howard Cohen American Masters in Nashville in Nov 2023, which should be a qualifier for Masters Worlds in Finland in Sep 2024. If not HCAM, then this Masters in Baton Rouge would be a good one for me since it's only 2.5 hours away. So I would say, for me, I don't plan on doing the Reno event, though I'm certainly keeping my USAW membership and will likely do some USAW sanctioned local/regional meets over the next year or two.
There is a lot of work to be done on both sides and I don't think overall that this is a good thing that's happening... but, perhaps it's unavoidable.
USAW: "Reno, NV will host the 2024 USA Weightlifting Masters National Championships! We’re excited to welcome our Masters athletes to Reno March 21-24, 2024. More info about qualification and registration in the event announcement at the link in our bio. Please also see this month’s membership update from CEO, Matt Sicchio."
USAMW: "USAMW is excited to announce the 2024 Masters Nationals will be held at the world class Raising Cane's River Center in Baton Rouge, LA April 10-14, 2024."
I did join the new organization, USAMW, for the reasonable cost of $35 which is good through the end of 2024. I intend to do the USAMW Howard Cohen American Masters in Nashville in Nov 2023, which should be a qualifier for Masters Worlds in Finland in Sep 2024. If not HCAM, then this Masters in Baton Rouge would be a good one for me since it's only 2.5 hours away. So I would say, for me, I don't plan on doing the Reno event, though I'm certainly keeping my USAW membership and will likely do some USAW sanctioned local/regional meets over the next year or two.
There is a lot of work to be done on both sides and I don't think overall that this is a good thing that's happening... but, perhaps it's unavoidable.
Antti
Level 10 Valued Member
That certainly does not sound ideal but what can you do. In a way it is to be expected. I would expect the chance to get on the international stage to bring people to the USAMW event. Though I'm not sure if the mentality is the same over there as over here.
Don't you have a set yearly schedule for the meets? I mean how come the nationals this year is in November and next year in April? Or is it a new federation thing? I would expect the national schedule to follow the international schedule, like it seems to happen next year. It's also interesting how you can qualify for the international event next year in this years nationals.
Welcome to Finland next year!
Yes, I think so too. It will be interesting to see how many total athletes end up participating in the two "Nationals" in 2024 and how they compare. Online comments seem be evenly split. One of the themes seems to be involvement; those more involved with Masters WL specifically (and the Cohen family who has run that for so many years) seem inclined to patriciate in the USAMW events, especially if they want to compete Internationally, since that will now be required. Those who are more involved with coaching or teammates with younger athletes and are used to going to USAW meets seem inclined to stay more aligned with USAW.
I've only competed for 2 years and really only 1 year with Masters specifically, so I'm not familiar with the pattern yet. These are the USAMW events. USAW events are harder to detect. Their schedule of meets online on BARS is not very user friendly. Some have complained about the USAW's Masters Nationals proximity to The Arnold which is a big one for weightlifting. But the USAW Masters Nationals won't lead to anything internationally anymore -- that has to come through USAMW. Now, who will have the Masters National records? I wonder...
Thank you! I am super excited about it! I hope to firm up the plan as we gets closer to September 2024. Are you anywhere near Rovaniemi?
Antti
Level 10 Valued Member
I suppose each organization will have their own records. A pity, really, the whole thing, but what can one do.
I'm about a three hour drive away from Rovaniemi.
watchnerd
Level 8 Valued Member
svencandy
Level 5 Valued Member
watchnerd
Level 8 Valued Member
That's what the first several posts in the thread are about
I may be unaware but I don't think so. We all know it's not allowed, and we are subjuct to drug testing, especially when records are set.
Well, now we have a new International Federation for masters weightlifting. So there will be two paths nationally and internationally for competition for masters (> age 35) competitive weightlifters.
Email from USAW this morning:
The UMWF, based in Australia, is led by individuals with decades of experience administering world-class weightlifting competitions. With USAW joining the UMWF as a National Federation member, USA Weightlifting masters members will have the opportunity to compete in a World Cup event on the Gold Coast of Australia in June 2024 and a World Championship event in Fiji next September. Under UMWF guidelines, a new 30-34 age category will also be featured to expand member opportunities for participation.
“We’re thrilled to join the UMWF because they are intentionally taking a very inclusive approach to growing and supporting our sport at the masters level,” USA Weightlifting CEO Matt Sicchio said. “Partnering with the UMWF provides our masters members with world-class international competition opportunities. Furthermore, we are excited to see how committed the UMWF is to clean sport.”
The UMWF is planning to apply Anti-Doping rules set by the International Weightlifting Federation and partner with WADA Code Signatory agencies to collect samples and manage results.
This partnership with the UMWF gives USAW’s more than 11,000 members aged 30 years and older the opportunity to test themselves against fellow weightlifting athletes from around the world, see old friends, and make new ones.
“We are very happy to be able to provide an opportunity and pathway for Masters lifters from all countries to continue competing at an international level in a friendly atmosphere of inclusivity and comradeship whilst each lifter strives to be the best they can,” said Coral Quinell, President of the UMWF.
USAW’s partnership with the UMWF comes after efforts to engage with the International Masters Weightlifting Association (IMWA) were rejected outright.
“Despite a long history of USAW members participating in IWF Masters, the recently-formed IMWA is explicitly excluding USAW members,” Sicchio said. “We cannot be more excited to take a different approach, in partnership with UMWF, to provide our members a welcoming and inclusive pathway to international competition.”
USAW remains committed to serving its masters members and providing opportunities for them to participate in, and give back to, the weightlifting community by competing domestically or internationally, engaging as a coach, and serving as a volunteer or official.
Email from USAW this morning:
USA Weightlifting Joins United Masters Weightlifting Federation
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (September 6, 2023) – USA Weightlifting (USAW) announced today it is joining the United Masters Weightlifting Federation (UMWF), delivering on its commitment to providing USAW masters members a clear pathway for international competition.The UMWF, based in Australia, is led by individuals with decades of experience administering world-class weightlifting competitions. With USAW joining the UMWF as a National Federation member, USA Weightlifting masters members will have the opportunity to compete in a World Cup event on the Gold Coast of Australia in June 2024 and a World Championship event in Fiji next September. Under UMWF guidelines, a new 30-34 age category will also be featured to expand member opportunities for participation.
“We’re thrilled to join the UMWF because they are intentionally taking a very inclusive approach to growing and supporting our sport at the masters level,” USA Weightlifting CEO Matt Sicchio said. “Partnering with the UMWF provides our masters members with world-class international competition opportunities. Furthermore, we are excited to see how committed the UMWF is to clean sport.”
The UMWF is planning to apply Anti-Doping rules set by the International Weightlifting Federation and partner with WADA Code Signatory agencies to collect samples and manage results.
This partnership with the UMWF gives USAW’s more than 11,000 members aged 30 years and older the opportunity to test themselves against fellow weightlifting athletes from around the world, see old friends, and make new ones.
“We are very happy to be able to provide an opportunity and pathway for Masters lifters from all countries to continue competing at an international level in a friendly atmosphere of inclusivity and comradeship whilst each lifter strives to be the best they can,” said Coral Quinell, President of the UMWF.
USAW’s partnership with the UMWF comes after efforts to engage with the International Masters Weightlifting Association (IMWA) were rejected outright.
“Despite a long history of USAW members participating in IWF Masters, the recently-formed IMWA is explicitly excluding USAW members,” Sicchio said. “We cannot be more excited to take a different approach, in partnership with UMWF, to provide our members a welcoming and inclusive pathway to international competition.”
USAW remains committed to serving its masters members and providing opportunities for them to participate in, and give back to, the weightlifting community by competing domestically or internationally, engaging as a coach, and serving as a volunteer or official.