Inspiring Olympic performances have


continued to breed interest in the weight- lifting sport at home and around the globe. Enthusiasm boiled over upon the return of our young lifters from Junior World’s in Guatemala, Youth World’s in Slovakia, and the Youth National’s in Dearborn, Michigan. Overall, these young competitors are devel- oping talented teams and producing results worth talking about. Once again, Louisiana State University at


Shreveport was a welcoming host for the National University Championships in April. A quality competition is like a well-oiled machine, requiring a great amount of vol- unteers and organization—a quality LSUS does not lack. Host LSUS was diligent in preparation, helping foster competitive re- sults. “If the tournament hadn’t run well, the results would not have been as good,” said Roselli. Likewise, Israel was an attentive host for


the University World’s Championships in Eilat, Israel. Setting a University American Record of an 81 kg clean and jerk, Suzanna (Suzy) Sanchez brought home two silvers and a bronze. Jared Fleming also made a competitive showing, finishing 6th


in the 94


kg category. Even though Heather Smith couldn’t complete her snatch attempts, she successfully made a 110 kg clean and jerk and gained valuable experience in her first international meet. “Those things hap- pen,” Roselli added, “she is very athletic and has potential. Overall, the competition ran smoothly, and everyone lifted reasonably well. We’re pleased with the results, particu- larly Suzy’s medal winning performance.” As one series of remarkable competitions


comes to an end, we tip our hats to our ath- letes. “All of our top lifters, men and wom- en, trained diligently and competed hard throughout the pre-Olympic year, and while injuries hindered some in terms of their re- sults, all generally competed well and to the level of their potential,” Roselli empha- sized, “And, despite a few setbacks over the course of the last two years, the effort ex- tended was worthwhile because our partici- pation at the Olympic Games was as good as could have been anticipated.” Now, on to the next round in Rio.


THE FIRST 90 DAYS with USA Weightlifting CEO, Michael Massik


A little more than ninety days ago,


I joined the USA Weightlifting family. Since one of my first goals was to understand the culture of both the organization and the sport, I set about talking to members every day. I asked the same questions on each call: what is good about the organization, what needs to change within the organiza- tion, what should always be considered a core component of the organization, and a few other questions along those lines. The answers were both interesting and moder- ately consistent. More importantly, after a few weeks of


phone calls, I noticed that I was using the word “stupid” a lot. This is a simple word, but a strong word, and a word that had pre- viously not been a big part of my vocabu- lary. I thought about my new language and I realized that my vocabulary had changed as a direct result of these conversations that I had been having with members. Apparently one of the accepted cultural


values in USA Weightlifting is using the word stupid (or idiot) when talking about other members of the weightlifting family. It seems that most of the long-time


members of the weightlifting family all agree that they want a better organization and better competitive results. They also seem to agree that whoever doesn’t think like they think is stupid (or an idiot, or a mo- ron, or an imbecile). The only way that I can really describe this situation is to think of a group of peo-


ple in a rowboat, with simple goal of reach- ing a shore that can be seen, but instead of rowing, everyone prefers to hit each other with their paddles and the boat just stands still. And then they wonder and complain that no progress is being made to reach the goal. That kind of behavior doesn’t make sense. So, I will challenge each and every mem-


ber of the USA Weightlifting family to do one simple thing — stop calling each oth- er stupid. If you each make that one little change, then the organization will become a more professional place and it will allow all of us to use our skills to create a more professional organization and create an environment where great results are the norm rather than the exception.


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