MIINNESOTA STATE MEETING 19 AUGUST 2006 CENTURY COLLEGE

 

Those attending: Cheryl Anderson, Jim Cahill, Mitch Edelstein, Fran Hurston, Brad Madvig, Maura Shuttleworth, Angela Simons, Joe Warpeha , Judy Drenth

1 Update from NGB Meeting

Summary of important topics from the NGB meeting which was held at Men’s Nationals in Miami FL 6 July 2006. Minutes from the NGB meeting are available at the USAPL website: All members are encouraged to read through the minutes.

2. Meet Calendar 2007

The Gym is willing to host USAPL meets. They will be making attempts at the Twin City Open to address the issue of the venue not being spectator friendly. The gym has been extremely helpful with setup and cleanup. The feedback that was received from lifters after the state meet was very positive.

Meets in 2006

MN state meet (25 Feb),

Zumbro Valley Open (29 April),

Twin City Open (23 Sept),

Hudson Natural Open (28 Oct)

Meets in 2007

 MN state meet (early March),

Zumbro Valley Open (?)

Twin City Open (Sept. at least 6 weeks away from Hudson)

Hudson Natural Open ( late Oct./early Nov)

There was discussion about the timing of the state meet. The fact that its placement so close to women’s nationals influences the number of woman that compete and further that by putting it too far into March may influence the number of master lifters that participate. It was decided by those present that the meet should run in March. Steve Johnson will be in touch about Zumbro, i.e. whether it will run and if so when. Unless a meet director steps forth there will no longer be a Push/Pull meet in MN. This issue, however, is being addressed by having a bench only portion of the state meet and by allowing lifters to do single lifts as is being offered in 2006 at the Twin City Open.

Meet Director Month

MN State Angela L. Simons March

Zumbro Valley Steve Johnson ?

Twin City Open Aaron Wellborn/Tom Hines Sept.

Hudson Natural Open Shawn Cain Oct/Nov

3. Procedure/time-line for procuring a meet sanction

Available from at the website is a form entitled Meet Director Timeline. Although this timeline is generally used for national meets, the form does outline the order in which events are to take place. It should be noted that the first 2 items on the entire list are to “Obtain the meet directors approval to run the meet” and “Establish provisional meet dates”. Meet dates should not be announced publicly until those two items are done. Furthermore, the next few items on the list are ”Confirm date and location with the state chair and apply for the USAPL sanction”, not until AFTER those items are done should one “Post meet listing on State web site and coordinate with National Office to post on National site” The point of this whole discussion was to make it extremely clear that the first point of contact with regard to procuring a meet sanction is the state chair. The state chair can refuse to sign off on a meet sanction (very unlikely) and the national office can also refuse to sanction the meet (also very unlikely).

4. Information about the state referee test

Again the point of contact for those interested in taking the state referee test is the state chair. The following are criteria that one must meet in order to qualify to take the exam.

1. Must be at least 18 years of age

2. Must be a current member of USA Powerlfitng. Registration cards must be presented to the state chair prior to test administration.

3. Must have the approval of the state chair to take the test.

4. Must have been involved in the sport of powerlifting for a minimum time period of one(1)

year in any of the following categories: Athlete, Coach/Trainer. Meet Director, Scoring

Table Official

The test includes both a written portion (2 hour, open book, proctored exam) and a practical portion which is to be done at a meet under the direction of a referee. To successful complete the test one must pass the written and the practical portions with a minimum score of 90%.

16 September 2006 has been set for those that have contacted the state chair to sit for the written exam.

5. Referee clinics

In 2007 there will be offered at least 2 referee’s clinics. One of which will focus on the administration of the drug test. Dates, times and location will be posted on the MN State website.

6. Joe Marksteiner’s scoring program

Joe Marksteiner had put much time and effort into developing an excel spreadsheet that is extremely useful for scoring meets. He offers his program free of charge asking only that if it is found to be beneficial that money be donated in his daughter’s name to specific charity. It was decided that some of the money from the MN designated beneficiary account be used for this purpose. Also an email has been sent to Joe asking his permission to have a link on the MN website so the program might be downloaded.

7. What should be done with the money in Minnesota’s USAPL designated beneficiary account?

Minnesota has approximately $975 in a designated beneficiary account with USA Powerlifting. There was some discussion has to what should be done with this money. Besides using some of the money as stated in item 6 above no decisions were made. Minnesota USA Powerlifting members are encouraged to email the state chair Angela Simons at sigmazee196@yahoo.com with any suggestions.

8. National Meet Bid?

Discussion ensued about the possibility of Minnesota putting in a bid for a national meet. Ideas were tossed around that were we to pursue this the venue should be located near the airport/ Mall of America, that the meets that we would most likely bid would be Teen/Junior Nationals or Women’s Nationals, and that Angela Simons would be listed as the meet director provided that commitments were made from the majority of the members of MN USAPL. We would also look into getting help from our friends in Wisconsin.

9. Items from the floor

a. Should single lift deadlift state records be kept?

What do other states do so that there might be uniformity? In checking a few sites during the meeting we discovered that some states keep single lift records for all 3 lifts and some only for bench. It should be noted that the national website does list single lift deadlift\ records. There was a motion put forth for MN to begin keeping single lift deadlift records with the usual understanding in place i.e. if a lift in a full meet supercedes that done in a single lift meet the 3 lift is put in its place. It was suggested that this could boost participation. MOTION PASSED.

b. 50kg plates

Are 50kg plates still legal to use in meets? Yes they are legal to use. Most meet directors, however, choose not to have them available because of the wear and tear on the spotters

and loaders.

C. Inquiry about Minnesota’s membership numbers

At the end of the fourth quarter last year USAPowerlifting had 89 lifters from Minnesota. At the end of the second quarter Minnesota’s numbers were 43. USAPowerlfiting’s total current membership as of (as of 6-30-06) is 2842.

d. Marketing of USAPL Merchandise

It was suggested that we pass on to the national office a suggestion that window clings or bumper stickers be available as part of the merchandise USAPowerlifting sells. (Lance Slaughter as head of the marketing and publicity has been forwarded this suggestion)