The opening ceremony of the 2009 World Weightlifting Championships in Korea was spectacular. Korea spent no expense with break dancers, Opera, comtemporary, and pop singers entertaining the crowd for a little under two hours. There was a little over two thousand people in attendance many of which were officials, sponsors, and general fans. The competition committee made everyone know of the their Olympic Gold Medalist Jang, Mi Ran (75+ kilo lifer). She is a national hero and is expected to easily win her weight class in this tournament. Especially considering her biggest rival Mu Shushang from China is not competing. It is still bitterly cold here and now I remember why I moved from New Jersey to Arizona. I hate the cold. Take care till tomorrow.

Coach Joe

Just received the start list. Most of the US Lifters are in either the B or C session. Not terribly bad for how young and inexperienced this team is internationally. Aaron Adam’s of Shreveport, LA by way of Millville, NJ will kick things off for us tomorrow in the 62 kilo weight class. This is Aaron’s first Senior World Team but he is a multiple Junior World Team member and Pan Am Team member. Aaron will weigh in a 11 Am and Lift at 1 pm. We are expecting a good meet out of Aaron.

I just wanted to say how honored and privileged I am to serve as Assistant Coach to Galye Hatch, the Head Men’s Coach, and Bob Morris, the Head Women’s Coach . Both men bring a tremendous amount of international coaching experience to this meet. And last but not least is Henry Meyer our Team Leader/Manager. I have been Team Leader on several other competitions and it is a tireless job that requires an exuberant amount of energy and organizational skill. Henry posses both and has been on top of every little detail. We are lucky to have him. Collectively, we all bring something to the table and I believe we will be able to have a positive influence on this team.

Tonight we will go over to the venue for the Opening Ceremonies. I am expecting nothing less than awesome from the Korean people. By for now

Coach Joe

It’s Thursday in Korea and I finally got internet access. The trip was long and tiresome. The wheather here is very cold and I’m glad I brought my heavy jacket. Living in Arizona has thinned my blood to the harsh cold wheather. Korea is an amazing country and everyone has been very nice. The food and hotel have been top notch. The competition venue is first class. I was not personally in Beijing for the Olympics but many people have compared this venue to that one. The Warm Up room is very spacious with over 15 platforms. The Training Hall which is right behind the Competition Warm Up room has 47 platforms. Uesaka weights on all the platforms. The Korean Weightlifting Federation has spared no expense on this event taking care of every little detail.

Aaron Adams trained yesterday and today and looked sharp. He is always the life of any conversation and he brings a good energy to the competition. Today I saw Kelly Rexroad, Stacy Suyama, and Caleb Williams train. All seemed to be working off some rust from the trip. Caleb is very strong and worked up to a 200 Front Squat. Caleb is still relatively new to our sport and once his technique catches up to his leg strength we could see a very dominate lifter for the US in the 69 kilo weight class. We will be attending the opening ceremonies tonight and depending on the start list will see our first lifter going either tomorrow or Saturday. More later.

Coach Joe

I am at the Phoenix Airport getting ready to board a flight for San Francisco and eventually on to Korea. I have been selected as the Assistant Coach for the 2009 World Weightlifting Championships and will be assisting Men’s Coach Gayle Hatch and Women’s Coach Bob Morris. Henry Meyer will be our Team Leader. This is the premier competition for the sport of Weightlifting next to the Olympics. Mesa’s own Sarah Robles is on the team representing the 75+ kilogram weight class. I will try to write as often as I can on my obeservations of the event, coaching, international coaching, and of Korea. Keep checking in to see how it goes.

Coach Joe

Alex Lee has been preparing most of year for this opportunity to represent his country in 2009 Pan American Championship this June in Chicago, Ill. Of all the athletes competing Saturday night in Foster City, California, Alex Lee knows exactly what he needs to do to make the team. When it comes to international team qualification all the athletes are competing against each other but also against a qualifying total. It then comes down to simple math, have a higher percentage total then the next guy and your on the team. Alex will be competing against America’s top 15 lifters only 8 will be picked to the team. Alex knows if he lifts a combined total of 250 kilos (550 lbs) he will bump out two of his competitors and place him on the team. Coach Micela is confident that Alex will hit his marks. “He had a good training cycle and he is in good shape, the rest is up to him and being able to handle the pressure of the moment.” Lifting will start at 6:30 pm and can be seen live on Justin TV enter California Weightlifting Fund to view the site.

Friday night in Foster City, California Team Arizona Weightlifter Sarah Robles made the 7th and final spot on the 2009 Pan Am Women’s Team. Sarah, whom competes in the 75+ kilogram weight class went six for six on the night. In weightlifting terms that is a perfect day completing all six of her given lifts. Sarah finished with a 96 kilo (211 lb) snatch and a 126 kilo (277 lb) clean and jerk for a 222 kilo (488 lb) total. All were competition PRs (Personal Records) for Sarah. Sarah is Team Arizona’s most decorated female or male athlete. With only about a year of training under her belt Sarah has shown that she is going to be a dominate force in the 75+ kilogram weight class. Only three time Olympian Cheryl Haworth stands in Sarah’s way of solidifying her legacy in the sport. For more information on Sarah, Olympic Weightlifting, and training go to our main site at www.performanceone.net or www.teamazweightlifting.org

US International Coach Joe Micela has attained approval from Mesa Community College to teach an Olympic Weightlifting class this summer and fall. The huge success of the Spring 2008 semester of PED 133 Advanced Weight Training-Olympic Weightlifting has allowed Coach Micela to come back for an ongoing Adjunct Faculty role. And starting in Spring of 2009 Coach Micela will be offering two classes per semester at MCC. The first will be a intro class and the second will be an advanced class for coaches and athletes.

The classes will teach the finer points of Weightlifting for competition. “My goal in the class is to expose the sport to as many people as possible from a technical, methodological, philosophical side, said Coach Micela.” The class will serve as a bridge between personal trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, physical education instructors, and weightlifting coaches. The sharing of information and knowledge will allow all of these different groups to become better educated on teaching athletes and the general public proper exercise technique.

The class will also serve as a grassroots talent identification system for finding potential athletes for the sport of weightlifting. As state director Coach Micela is always looking for talented athletes to take up weightlifting competitively. “Many great athletes have come into weightlifting from prior sports. 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 48 kilo class Tara Nott-Cunningham was a gymnast and soccer player. We need to show these athletes that their athletic careers can continue with the sport weightlifting”.

The summer class will be taught in the second summer session beginning July 7th and run through August 7th. The class will be taught Monday-Thursday from 12 pm until 1:30 pm. The fall semester class will be Mon, Wed, Fri, at 11 am. All interested can contact Mesa Community College’s Exercise Science Department and ask to sign up for PED 133 Advanced Weight Training-Olympic Weightlifting.

Day two in Cali, Colombia. The flight into Cali was fairly easy and simple. We arrived late into the airport and as typical the airport was practically closed. I have noticed that every country has very slow customs. We waited for about 45 minutes in line at the customs gate. But once at the custom gate it was easy sailing.
Transportation from the Airport to the Hotel was a little more complicated. We waited another hour. Once at the hotel waited another 45 minutes for the rooms. The rooms where better than expected. The food and service have thus far have been above bar for South America.

Friday June 13th we trained at the venue and it was very spacious. The venue is about a half hour drive from the hotel. The bars and weights are of a local brand called buffalo. They are decent and acceptable. They remind me of an older version of DHS from China. Alex trained lightly. He met the Korean Team and we trained along side some of their athletes. They came with a full team of very talented juniors. They have a very similar system to the US. However, all of their coaches are full time and they have more clubs and places to train. Athletes can go to College for Weightlifting and the government pays for it all. They spend a majority of time training from various positions as competitions come closer they specialize more on the lifts.

I have to run know for training but I will logo back on tonight

Coach Joe

It is Thursday June 12 and I sit at the Houston Airport waiting for my flight to Cali, Colombia for the Junior World Weightlifting Championships. Training for Alex Lee and Sarah Robles has gone extremely well. It is now time to see if they are ready for the biggest competition of their lives thus far. Each athlete handles international competition differently. Some get pumped up and others become like big eyed spectators and forget that they are there to compete.

Alex and Sarah have shown that the higher the level competition the greater their focus and determination to succeed. I have trained them both to handle all what this competition will throw out them. For Alex this is a culmination of almost four years of training and preparation up to this point. When I first met him I knew that he would ready for this level of international competition in 3-4 years. For Sarah this is just the begining of what could be a stellar weightlifting career. She has only been under my guidance since mid January but has accomplished great things thus far. She came well coached and with a good base of strength and conditioning. It goes to show you what a great athlete gifted for strength and power can do with good coaching. I feel this could be the start of phenomenal weightlifting career for her if she stays with the it.

I will try to update the blog as much as I can while I am down in Colombia. I plan on meeting with as many influential coaches as I can to further my knowledge of the sport. Take Care for Know

Coach Joe

The start of 2008 has been a great one for Olympic-Style Weightlifters in Arizona. In February, several Arizona athletes competed at the National Junior Championships in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Alex Lee placed second in the 62 kilogram weight class and Sarah Robles placed third in the 75+ kilogram weight class both athletes earned spots on the Junior World Team.
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