[COACHES CORNER


our athletes compete for us, we have them sign agreements that they are not doping and they will not dope. If we catch wind of any unbecoming be- havior, doping or otherwise, it means dismissal from the team.


COACH AMBER SHEPPARD IN HER ELEMENT AT THE ANNUAL GAYLE HATCH MEET


Do you have members who are using weightlifting to cross-train for another sport?


SHEPPARD: Many! Most of our youth lift- ers, ages 6 to 12, come to us to get better for their sports. We currently have multiple competitive


cheerleaders, dancers and


football players. We even work with a Team USA Skeleton athlete, Allen Blackwell.


FOREMAN: Most of my athletes do Cross- Fit in addition to weightlifting. I’ve got a group of weightlifting-only athletes in the program, but not the majority. I don’t cur- rently have any athletes who are using weightlifting to train for another non-Cross- Fit sport, like wrestling or track and field. I’ve coached a lot of athletes like this in the past, but right now I’ve got either full-time lifters or full-time weightlifting + CrossFit athletes.


What do you do at your gym to address doping and promote lifting clean?


SHEPPARD: We are very, very adamant that our athletes are not to dope. Aside from it being illegal, as coaches, we value integrity and honesty in the sport. One of our men- tors was Gayle Hatch, a staunch anti-Per- formance Enhancing Drug advocate, and if we were to allow it in any form or fashion we would be disrespecting his name which is not something we would ever do. When


GATTONE: With the rise in popularity of our sport this is something I get concerned about from time to time. I worry about the younger guys walk- ing into a supplement store and getting talked into purchasing something that might have ille- gal ingredients. I use our team social media channels to talk about this on a regular basis. I urge my athletes to check out


whatever they are taking very carefully, and I ask them regularly to update me on what they are taking. There are resources now through U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and Na- tional Science Foundation for checking out nutritional products, and I try to stress this also. We have a bunch of really nutritionally “dialed-in” folks and I think this is important as it promotes real food as primary impor- tance over supplements.


FOREMAN: I don’t use any specific tactics to prohibit doping in my gym, but I make sure there’s a clear understanding with all my athletes that this is a drug-free program. I do this mainly through general conversa- tion, comments I make, and communicating to them that I was able to have a very suc- cessful competitive career while being 100% drug-free. In most of the top countries of the world, doping is an accepted (and required) part of the program. Fortunately, the US has fought the good fight for the last 25 years to keep our national program clean.


What are you looking forward to in the next quad?


GATTONE: I think Rio started to show that we can be more competitive and have more athletes placing higher at these major events if the war against organized doping by some countries can continue to escalate. For the next quad, I am looking forward to


]


seeing us have more athletes in “striking” distance of the podium. There are so many positives right now; our National Office staff seems to have some great plans to continue to grow our ranks, and identify and support talent, there are some incredibly talented young and new lifters in the sport, and the international scene continues to turn against organized doping. With these trends, and a little luck, I believe this quad can be one of our best ever.


FOREMAN: We’ve got some of the most talented lifters we’ve ever had in this coun- try right now. Our Youth World Team blew the roof off the joint at the World Champi- onships, hauling in medals and nailing huge lifts. But keeping these athletes in the sport will be the big challenge. We’ve had a lot of promising young lifters in the US over the years, and many of them quit before they really maximized their potential. If we can retain the young lifters we’ve currently got, develop and support them the right way, continue to bring in more talent, and hope- fully put a few more dents in the internation- al doping situation, we might have a shot at some big stuff in four years.


What advice would you give to someone who is trying the sport for the first time?


SHEPPARD: No one cares what you look like in a singlet. If you can safely put a bar overhead, then you should compete. Every- one has to start somewhere — just get out there and give it a shot. I promise you’ll be hooked after that first competition.


GATTONE: Be intrinsically motivated. Fo- cus on what you need to do daily to improve, and enjoy the ride. Learn and develop prop- er technique, eat well, work your mobility, be mindful of rest and recovery, and train hard.


FOREMAN: Find a good coach who can teach you the sport properly.


It’s far too


hard to master on your own. Be prepared to make a long-term commitment to it, if you want to have success. This sport takes a very long time to get good at, even if you’re talented.


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