2022 USAW Nationals Recap & New Field of Play Format Discussion
Before we get into the controversy, how about we recapitulate on the lifters representing Daidalos Weightlifting performed this week.
First to compete in the Nationals week was Lorelei Dalton:
A little background and context I’d like to point out: as a coach, I’ve inherited an amazing athlete in Lorelei, who was a level 9 gymnast training at level 10 before she retired from competing in gymnastics. She didn’t learn to snatch and clean and jerk until she walked into my garage in September 2021. That being said, in little under ten months, she’s competed in three meets and one of them was on the national stage. I couldn’t be any more excited and happy for her. As a coach, I feel absolutely blessed to be given the opportunity to coach her.
Lorelei competed in U16-17 of Youth Nationals in the 59kg body weight category and went 5 for 6. Her competition session was the first of the day at 8:00 AM on Monday, June 27, 2022. She finished 23 out of 29 in the same age and bodyweight category as her.
Click here to watch her lifts!
Sn.: 49/52/55
Cl. + Jr.: 59/62/65
Total: 120kg
Her total of 120kg sets her training up beautifully for the remainder of the year. She has now qualified for the 2022 American Open Finals in December as a Youth U16-17 59kg lifter and will be the last meet where she competes in the Youth category.
If you enjoyed watching her performance, watch her Last Heavy Day of training before Nationals.
Second to compete in the Nationals week was Trent Hagiya:
This is Trent’s third senior national competition as a 67kg bodyweight category. Going into this meet, we didn’t know where he would be. The past 6 months he’s been nursing a back injury and I honestly was ready to see him bow out of the competition months ago. But his stubbornness pursued as he looked to redeem himself after his bomb out at AO Finals last December in Denver. And redeem himself he did.
Trent competed in the 67kg A session on July 1, 2022 at 2:00 PM and went 5 for 6. Trent finished 4th in the nation.
Click here to watch his lifts!
Sn.: 107/108/112
Cl. + Jr.: 133/138/141
Total: 253 kg
With this meet in the books, he qualified for next year’s Senior Nationals and this year’s upcoming American Open Finals in Atlanta as well.
If you enjoyed watching his performance, watch his Last Heavy Day of training before Nationals.
Now, let’s discuss the ever so controversial competition format change!
I’m only weighing in my opinion because I’ve been asked by a handful of people what I thought about the change. It’s my opinion, take it with a grain of salt.
For the record, I initially didn’t like the format change because it was my visceral, conservative reaction based on tradition. I simply didn’t like the change because tradition dictates it to be so. But you know what, I’m wrong for thinking that way and ultimately, it wasn’t as bad of a format as I thought it would be. Coach Jim Malone commented in regards to the announcement of the field of play format change, and I paraphrase: "It's like announcing a week before the World Series is to start, MLB decides to switch from the traditional 3 strikes per inning to a new and radical 5 strikes per inning format." And I'd have to agree. It's a highly unprofessional move by the federation and truthfully, the uproar is somewhat warranted for the specific reason of how it was announced and the lack of timeliness of when it was announced. I was one of the vocal people who didn't like the immediate change with such short notice. Either way, after the dust settled, all I could think of was Kobe’s reaction when asked if he was happy being up 2-0 games during the 2009 NBA Finals: “What’s there to be happy about? Job’s not finished. Job finished? I don’t think so.” At the end of the day, the field of play format wasn’t going to revert back to the way it was in previous meets. I still had to focus on my lifters, they still were going to compete and my focus reverted back to them.
Based on the reaction from several facebook forums and instagram posts, the National Office should've done a better job about handling the announcement and the situation. Telling your constituents days before competition starts is a true disrespect to all of us, regardless of whether or not we enjoyed our experience. Then to release a secondary announcement but turn off comments is not just a genuine slap to our faces, but a big, two handed “FUCK YOU!” That’s just not how you go about doing this. I know many people throughout the community didn't like and appreciate how the social media manager, whoever it is, responded to in the comment section of the initial instagram post.
Nevertheless, I’ve asked feedback from not only my own lifters, but friends who are also fellow athletes, coaches and technical officials. Below are some of the more agreed upon pros and cons.
Pros:
As a coach, it was less chaotic with each designated group of lifters in each session staying in their designated area. Athletes and coaches were able to share their respective warm up platforms and equipment while not having to deal with spillover of athletes from other simultaneous sessions. As a coach, being able to use the large monitor above the competition platform to card count was a nice bonus. I know most coaches unanimously agree this being an advantage.
As a spectator and active fan of the sport, being in the stands was fun. Watching A sessions where you can tell what the lifter's openers were going to be and enjoying the usual shenanigans that happens behind the curtains did make for an enhanced experience. As coaches jockey for position and athlete take turns making big lifts, it made the few battles this year very exciting.
From the handful of athletes I've spoken to, overall they didn't seem to mind the change. The extroverts loved it, but the introverts weren’t too thrilled. Even the introverts were somewhat ambivalent. Some athletes even expressed liking the format simply based on it feeling more familiar, like typical gym setting and a fun max out day.
Cons:
As a coach, getting around the platforms was claustrophobic, especially when there was distance between your warm up platform and the marshall’s table. Even thought we weren’t supposed to walk behind the speaker of each session, we simply didn’t have a choice. Another downside, the event felt like just a run-of-the-mill, larger local meet as opposed to a prestigious national meet. I didn't like the fact athletes who spent their blood, sweat and tears, to qualify and work towards a national meet got awarded with an underwhelming experience of prestige. If Nationals is supposed to reflect how the federation holds international meets, then this ain't it. If you look at any other continental championship meet, the format and visuals has always been better than what we offer our current body of lifters. However, I've always been bitter about this particular point. All that money that pooled from such a large group of athletes and coaches, and you give us large black curtains on rods? Honestly, it just makes me think: C'mon man!
As a spectator, I don't think there really are any. The only individual who I spoke to that doubted the spectator’s experience was Bob Takano. Bob’s gripe was that he believes the spectators won’t comprehend what’s happening in the warm up platforms to dictate the significance of seeing lifters warm up. I see this as an opportunity to educate those ignorant to the sport with proper commentary regarding not only the competition platform, but the field of play.
From an athlete's perspective, I know some said seeing people cheering from the peripherals did distract them from the task at hand. But, I don't think that changed the overall statistics of bomb outs and potentially lackluster performances. Some were hesitant with this new format change based on the lack of privacy from the glaring eyes of the spectators in the warm up platforms. Then those same athletes felt a lack of privacy on the competition platform from their fellow competitors. For the introverted athletes, this is their handicap.
When I asked several Technical Officials, some said as a speaker, barbells dropping loudly behind them made their job extra difficult. I’ve never worked as a speaker, but I can empathize when the speaker's job is already so chaotic at times. The TOs also pointed out that because there's no space between the warm up platforms and the speaker's table, having coaches walking behind them was problematic at times.
So what changes would improve this format?
My suggestions:
Spacing: A wider amount of space between each competition platform and their respective warm up platforms seems necessary. From a logistical standpoint and because in certain scenarios, coaches, athletes and TOs all felt claustrophobic. I know some media folks didn’t like aspects of the format because it made the competition platforms a hassle to cover. The next problem you’ll run into is what happens when there are 5 competition platforms like there are in AO series at times?
Visual barriers: Between each competition platform and their respective warm up areas, there needs to be a clear separation in the field of play. You simply can’t allow for the opportunity for athletes to be distracted as they walk up to the competition’s field of play by someone or something else in a different session.
Competition platforms: If you’re going to do without the curtains, something needs to change to highlight the athlete who is approaching the competition barbell to give them the respect they deserve at the moment of their attempts. You would never dare to see a distraction of any kind away from the lifter on stage at the international level.
After spending a week with the new competition format, my reaction has changed from a “hell no” to resemble a solid “meh! *shrug*.” Seems like the overall consensus was positive where coaches and athletes didn’t feel much difference in getting the job done. Those who are repulsed by the format change seem to be in the minority. Moving forward, could there be improvements to this format? Absofuckinglutely. Will it bring more engagement to our glorious sport of weightlifting? Probably fucking not. But I hope I’m wrong.
I’d be inclined to discuss the new field of play further. Comment below with your own opinion, whether you agree with me or not.