The Growth of American Weightlifting

The Growth of American Weightlifting

  

A few days ago USA Weightlifting rolled out their brand new scholarship program. At that point, I slowed down for a minute to realize just how far that we have come as a National Governing Body while under the leadership of Phil Andrews. I remember writing articles when I was with MuscleDriver USA circa 2015 suggesting what America needed to do to become competitive on the International level. I listed things like more money for athletes, sports medicine, sports psychology, more exposure to the general public, recruiting, and a scholarship program. These things seemed like decades away, but they were something to strive for.

You might not like Phil Andrews for whatever personal reason, but you sure can’t deny what he’s accomplished as the CEO for USA Weightlifting. He’s done more in his few short years as the top guy than the entire prior years combined. Do you know what it does for coaches like me to look parents in the eye and tell them that there are scholarships available? I just recruited the newest member to the Mash Mafia, who I will announce to all of you at a later date, and I was able to tell her father that scholarships are available to the top athletes (she will get one of these and a lot more). It made the whole process so much easier.

Thanks to people like Phil, Mike Gattone, and Pyrros Dimas, the mindset has changed. We are medaling during International competitions because the people at the top are expecting medals. No one cares about making the World Team or American Records anymore. We are finally starting to talk about Gold Medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games, and we are starting to take peaks at the World Records and Olympic Records. Athletes like Harrison Maurus and CJ Cummings are lifting world records in the Youth and Junior Age Groups, which sends a message to the world of things yet to come.

This scholarship program allows me to recruit local athletes and athletes from around the country to my facility to train with some of the best athletes in the country, and all the while they can pursue a higher education at any of the amazing Universities near our facility like High Point University, Wake Forest University or UNC Greensboro. This new program completely changes the dynamics of my recruiting strategy.

I have tried for years to start a scholarship program with local colleges, but the red tape is simply too thick to unwind for me. I am one person trying to do everything for this team, so trying to find my way through the bureaucracy of a University is simply too daunting. Now I don’t have to. Now there is a University Scholarship Program wherever there is a great coach and University in the same town.

There have been a few programs throughout the US for quite some time at schools like ETSU, Lindenwood, and Northern Michigan University. Here’s the big problem with athletes going to these schools. If an athlete is successful with a coach and a certain program, it’s difficult for them to start up with a whole new program, coach, and culture. This is not a knock on the University Programs at all. I am sure that the programs are awesome. It’s just that athletes get used to a certain coaching style, a certain program, and definitely a certain culture. There haven’t been a lot of amazing results at these schools, but this is probably why. I know the new coach at NMU, and I am sure that he’s going to kill it. However, my athletes are training with 4 Senior World Team Members, 4 Youth Pan American Team Members, and about 4 others that are about to make a team. That’s like training at an Olympic Training Center, but with a more fun and exciting atmosphere. It’s simply hard to beat our training environment.

Think about it for just a second, would you really want to peal Harrison Maurus away from Coach Kevin Simons, or CJ Cummings from Coach Ray Jones? Heck no! Now thanks to people like Phil Andrews, athletes can stay in their home gym during their college years, and they can continue to flourish. This also gives coaches ammunition to recruit locally. If you’re a weightlifting coach, there has never been a better time to recruit.

Now you can go to parents with more perks than a lot of popular sports like football, basketball, and baseball. Think about the perks of USA Weightlifting:

·      New Scholarship Program

·      Stipends and Sponsorships

·      Weight Classes so athletes can’t be too big or too small

·      Team USA

·      Travel around the world for free

·      Sports Medicine

·      Sports Psych

·      Weightlifting is complimentary to other sports

·      Low Risk of Injury

·      Of course the OLYMPICS!

There might not be the dream of making millions in the NFL, but I can promise that CJ Cummings, Harrison Maurus, and Mattie Rogers aren’t poor by any means. Our athletes are making thousands of dollars per month, and they are going to have their brains intact when they retire unlike many football players. I love the sport of football. It was my first love for sure, but I hope and pray that my sons don’t play. Yes, I’m a sissy father. You can call me what you want, but I just read another article about a high school football player in Georgia dying from a brain injury sustained during a football game. There are over 13 deaths every year related to football. Are you reading that statistic and understanding what that means? That’s one death in 25% of every state in America. That scares me to death, and you can call me what you want.

Personally I’d rather my sons and daughters travel the world wearing the red, white, and blue. This is the father-side of me talking. I still love my football players. I am going to watch one of my athletes play college football tomorrow, and I am going to go crazy in the stands. I am simply giving you the facts. If you look up the statistics of injuries, weightlifting is easily the lowest risk sport. You can check out this popular study and see for yourself: Weightlifting versus other sports Risk of Injury.

All of this is exciting for our local team. We are projecting 4-6 Senior Team USA Athletes, 4 Junior Team USA Athletes, and 4 Youth Team USA Athletes for next year. This news makes it easier to raise money for 501c3 that I set up for our team. I have the same vision as Phil in the fact that I want to provide as much for my athletes as possible. I want to support their Olympic Dreams, so that I can directly affect the future of the sport that I love so much.

We can all just sit back and watch Phil do all the work, or we can work as one big team to help USA Weightlifting flourish. I plan on doing my part by recruiting new talent, providing those athletes with as much assistance as I can, and coaching them on a daily basis.

However, I need help like my 501c3 not for profit businesses. I am a one-man show, and all the funds that we receive from our amazing sponsors (Intek Strength, Harbinger, WodFitters, Nike Weightlifting, and MG12) go directly to our athletes. That means that I don’t have extra funds to pay people. However, I need volunteers in the following places:

·      Grant Writers

·      Recruiting New Sponsors

·      Event Planner for Fundraising Events

·      Content Contributors

·      At-Risk Program Coordinator

·      Videographer

·      Video Editor

I’d love for these positions to be paid positions, but right now there are no extra funds. If someone did a good job in any of these areas, there would be more funds to pay for that position. I’d love to hire a full-time person for each of these positions, but we have to raise some money first. Right now we need some really good people to help out a team that is lighting the weightlifting world on fire.

In case you’re wondering what we need the funds for, here are a few reasons:

·      Travel for the Team to National Events

·      More stipend money for our athletes to have less burden, so they can focus on obtaining their goals

·      Sports Medicine for the athletes not on the Senior World Team (USA Weightlifting provides this service for the Senior World Team Members)

·      Marketing our Team and Sport to local and National people unaware of the sport of Olympic Weightlifting (this is to create awareness and bring the sport alive)

·      Provide Scholarships for my athletes (the amount not covered by USA Weightlifting)

·      Recruiting new athletes to our team (travel, marketing, etc.)

·      Growing our At Risk Program within our local community. We mainly need a full-time coordinator to grow and nurture the program.

Right now, our team is still mainly supported by Mash Elite Performance, which is my for profit business. Mash Elite Performance will of course always support Team Mash Mafia, but we are tapped out as far as the monthly investment. Now we need help from the people that enjoy watching our team succeed, and that love watching the smiles on the faces of our young athletes as they experience their body’s unlimited capabilities.

I know that we can grow a weightlifting legacy right here in North Carolina. We’ve already done that. I just want to grow something special of which the likes has never been seen in this country. I want to start a program that will make America fall in love with Weightlifting. Is this a big dream? Of course it is, but then again would you have believed that in four short years I would have 20% of the Team USA Athletes in America? I dream big, but I deliver on those dreams.

If you want to help with the following positions:

·      Grant Writers

·      Recruiting New Sponsors

·      Event Planner for Fundraising Events

·      Content Contributors

·      At-Risk Program Coordinator

·      Videographer

·      Video Editor

Email me at masheliteperformance@gmail.com

If you want to help support this Team, we have several options that you can check out right here:

Support Team Mash Elite

If you are interested in sponsoring our team, please email me at:

masheliteperformance@gmail.com

Thank all of you so much for reading my blog and following this team. Of course anytime that you buy anything from www.mashelite.com a portion of your purchase goes to our team, so thank all of you that frequent that site. Thanks Phil Andrews and the entire team at USA Weightlifting for helping to make Weightlifting great in America.

The World has Changed so Much

What Has Happened

I grew up in a small mountain town in North Carolina. West Jefferson is the name of that small town. It’s a beautiful town possessing the smell of Christmas year-round because Christmas Trees are the number one form of commerce in that sleepy little town. If you ever watched The Andy Griffith Show like I did so much growing up, then you have a pretty good idea of the town.

I love that place and the people in it. As I grow older, I miss it more and more every year. This quaint little village is located smack dab in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains. My wife is enamored with the blue-gray appearance of the mountains from a distance. Quite frankly, so am I. I’ve been to a lot of towns and cities throughout the world, and I am yet to find a more beautiful place.

I know that I am biased now, but there was a time that I thought I hated that place. Looking back, I was just a foolish young boy that longed for something different like most young adults. If you grow up in the city, you want the country. If you grow up in the mountains, you want the beach. Sometimes I wonder if anyone is really happy or even content with his or her circumstances. Now that I am older with a family, I have learned to be happy wherever my family rests their heads near mine.

In the mountains of North Carolina, people are born, go to school, get a job, and raise a family. That’s the pattern, and now that I am a little older that pattern seems more and more attractive to me. I grew up determined to be different. I didn’t want to conform to any such pattern. I was going to follow my passion even if that passion led me straight over a cliff.

Now that I am a little older I can see beauty no matter which path people take. I look back at my own father with more respect than ever because he worked so hard to provide for me in as many ways as possible. His only passions were his family. Finally I get it. Now that my life isn’t so self-centered, I get it Dad. My heart pounds when I watch my boys play. At night sometimes, I go to bed after my wife and children. Most of the time we let them sleep with us, so I get to watch all three of them sleeping. It’s my favorite piece of art in existence. I listen to them breathe. I take note of the peaceful look on their faces. During every moment like this, I thank God for the gift of family. If I had the choice, I would trade every world championship and ever world record for this incredible family that God has entrusted to me on this otherwise lonely Earth.

With that being said, I am blessed with a successful athletic career especially in the strength sports. My education along with my background allows me to coach some of the most phenomenal athletes from around the world. Now I will actually get to the point of this article. During my childhood, if you had told me that I would be coaching people from all over the world via something called the Internet, I would have thought that you were crazy. I mean, we didn’t have cell phones yet. Barely anyone had a computer. Therefore, no one communicated with people from other countries. Back then, the thoughts of going to Canada was a big deal. Nowadays, Canada simply seems like a different state or something.

Here’s what really sparked this article. Last week, one of my awesome coaches, Jacky Bigger, brought it to my attention that we had a girl, Louise Vennekilde, from Denmark that Snatched 100kg/220lb. Here’s where it gets crazy. She was the first woman in Denmark to Snatch 100kg. Can you believe that? I can’t.

I grew up barefoot in the middle of the mountains playing in the mud, and now I own a website with Online Coaching that provides programming and video analysis for the strongest female in Denmark’s history. Wait, what? It just blows my mind. A lot of you guys reading this that are younger than me are probably wondering what the big deal is, but for me it’s absolutely baffling.

I am so thankful for my business now more than ever. I am able to work with my team everyday from 2pm until 5:30pm. I coach some of the most talented athletes in all of America. I tell my team all the time that I love showing them off. Most entrepreneurs show off their nice cars. I show off my incredible athletes. My passion is humans not cars or other possessions.

I love the athletes that I coach on a daily basis as if they are family. Heck they are my family. However, when it comes to accomplishments, I am probably most proud of coaching athletes from around the world especially those athletes that have made it to the top of their chosen sport. I think that Lace Rhodes from Canada was the first foreign athlete that I coached all the way to the IWF Weightlifting World Championships.

Last year I coached my man Isaac Lawgun from New Zealand all the way to the IWF Youth World Championships. I still coach Isaac, and we are planning for him to come over for a month long coach to bang around with our team.

Joanne Greagen is one of the strongest powerlifters and strong woman competitor in the entire world. She lives in Australia, and she’s way more than just some lady throwing around heavy weights. She’s an awesome mother and business owner as well. It was an awesome experience coaching her all the way to the Arnold Strongwoman and Powerlifting Pre Events.

Nada Hassan is a lady that is a star that is ready to be born. She has hang snatched 100kg/220lb, bench pressed 245 pounds, and deadlifted 455 pounds to name just a few of her accomplishments. Oh wait, did I mention that she only weight 152 pounds? She’s incredible.

I’m done bragging, sorry. I just wanted to show you guys what I am talking about. Of course I love working with my studs at Mash Elite including my professional football players and D1 athletes, but it will always amaze me when I get to work with foreign athletes. Sometimes I laugh inside wondering if they know that I am some country boy from the Blue Ridge.

I met Sarah Davies, Weightlifting World Team Member from England and Miss Continental England beauty pageant winner, at the 2017 World Championships in Anaheim. We were at the same table during dinner one evening. She was with some of her mates from England of course. They told me that several people in England read my books and use my programming to train. Once again, this blew my mind to think about these incredible athletes from across the big pond reading my books.

Here’s my point. It really doesn’t matter where you come from, or what family you are born into. You can accomplish anything that you set out to do as long as you are willing to be persistent and work hard. I didn’t pursue my dreams blindly. I sought out the best in the industry to learn from like: Louie Simmons and Joe Kenn. I continue to read and research on a daily basis even though I have been training for over 34-years.

I also want to make it clear that you don’t have to take a path like mine to live a fulfilled life. My father was one of the most content men that I’ve ever known. There is something so admirable about living a life of service to one’s family. My Grandfather worked his entire life in a Coal Mine from West Virginia. When I saw the coal mine in person, I gasped thinking about what this man did his entire life to support his family. He was literally lowered into a potential grave every single day that he went to work under the most dangerous conditions.

If you want to be a great man, take care of your family. I failed miserably at this early in my life. Now I refuse to take one day for granted where my family is concerned. No goal or accomplishment is worth neglecting one’s family. However, if you can pursue your dreams and take care of your family, well that’s pretty darn cool. I thank God for that ability each and every day.

Travis

P.S. If you guys live near me in Lewisville, NC, come check out our Clean & Jerk and Squat Clinic to be held Saturday September 29th from 11am until 2pm. For more information, check out:

==> Mash Squat, Clean, and Jerk Clinic

Check out www.mashelite.com for everything else.