June in Review
Sometimes I think ‘nah I’ve not been up to that much’ then I do something like this and laugh at myself.
From Peru to semi-unemployed
The month kicks off freshly back from Peru and the 2024 Youth World Championships. Highlights; Maddy, Mollie and Tia all hit new bests on the platform, being there for Tia’s bronze medal in the snatch, attending my first World event as the personal coach of one of the selected athletes, getting inspired to actually learn a bit more Spanish, and having the fastest run my of my life from ‘get off the plane to ordering a coffee on the other side’ when arriving back into Auckland. After 20ish hours of travel that was amazing.
With June my job is now simply ‘coach’, or, ‘running out of money’. This has all happened ahead of the imaginary schedule in my head, and while scary, I am aware I love a pressure cooker and honestly, this is all I want to do right now. So the countdown to build up enough income from coaching to not need to go back to employment is on. Part of the strategy here is investing time and energy in social media content (which I’m sure if you’re reading this you will have noticed), and set up my systems to be able to effectively work with more athletes in remote coaching, at Kotahi Barbell, and in strength & conditioning. Through this month and into mid-July I am also taking the opportunity to have a bit of a ‘study break’. Over the last 18 months I have accumulated so much educational resource and attended workshops, but haven’t engaged with a lot of the information in full, or in some cases completed the courses. So while I can afford to, I am prioritising some time to work through this.
South Island Champs
The first weekend of June saw South Island Champs, and two athletes I have been working with remotely in action. Will performed well considering a slow recovery from recent illness, and being in the thick of his first semester at Uni. Cory was at his first Championship event, building experience and setting future goals. It was great to see them both come away with some silverware and motivated for the next opportunities. I was also reminded how much I dislike watching athletes I have worked with compete over a livestream rather than being there with them.
North Island Champs Team Training
The next weekend, on Saturday June 8th Kotahi Barbell hosted a team training for athletes about to compete at North Island Champs, or the World Cup and Oceania Masters Championships on the Gold Coast. I was hoping we’d get 12 or so athletes, and generate a bit of atmosphere for those who often train alone or not with others at a similar level. We ended up with a very full house and 17, including friends from Taurus Barbell and Mount Weightlifting! It was a great morning and we hope the start of lots more opportunities to connect an build our local community. This also provided me with the opportunity to spend some in-person time with a few remote athletes.
Te Hāpaitanga final residential
Over 10-12 June I attended my final residential on ‘TH3’. It was….emotional, and included connecting with some previous graduates of earlier cohorts. There was a lot of reflection around what we have or haven’t achieved in our time on the programme (link to mine at the bottom of this page), a bit of raging at the system and what hasn’t yet changed for women in many environments, enjoying being with each other again, and generally a little bit of sadness that this was our final window together. I am once again left bewildered and honoured that I have had the privilege of being in this position, and as determined as ever to make a lasting impact in weightlifting both as a coach, and a female leader.
North Island Champs
June 15/16 saw me in Papatoetoe for the 2024 North Island Championships, as a coach, volunteer, and athlete! For the first time, I met people who already knew who I was through following me on social media, which was… weird?
Saturday was busy, supporting 4 athletes in the first session (3 I work with and 1 gifted last minute from Richie who was busy on the livestream at the same time). I hadn’t worked much with any of the four in competition before and there was a lot going on, but it was awesome to see Lindsay with Hayley’s guidance be brave on openers, have Jamie go 6/6 including a Clean & Jerk PR and Masters record, have Riana finally get her 80kg snatch and be up at her best numbers in comp despite heavy singles not being a focus in recent training, and to be there as Odette went 6/6 in her tune up comp before the Gold Coast.
Next session I jumped on the livestream with Richie. I love announcing and commentating, but don’t do it very often now so always feel really rusty when I do. It was great to watch the M96 battle play out with Xavier and Cam going heavier than anyone we’ve seen at this bodyweight in a while, and see Marco in the M81 hit a long time goal of International (at the time I thought Marco was new to the sport, he actually pre-dates me just hasn’t been competing in recent years. So I made a lot of comments that were wildly inaccurate…. sorry Marco and do your homework before commentating kids…). The final session of the day saw Devin competing in the M102 class. We were a little unsure on numbers as he has been managing an injury and not been able to test much, but he did really well numbers wise. After snatching 111 he was able to put 116 on the bar for a PR attempt, which was a miss but to be that close was awesome. Clean & jerk warm up went to plan, and he was confident on a reasonably heavy opener at 135…which was called for a press. We went up anyway, and 140 was an outright miss. Now in a tough situation of a heavy third attempt after 2 misses, he stepped up and nailed it on his third. Honestly I think that was a better experience for him than if he’d made 135 and 140, then missed his third. Same total at the end of it, but much bigger obstacle to overcome and a great thing to know about yourself that you can be put in that scenario and keep your nerve.
Sunday morning I worked with Holly in the W76 class- I don’t coach Holly but we are old friends and as her coach is US based, he’s not really available (lol). Holly had come in with the very specific intention of hitting International grade and being eligible for selection for the upcoming Commonwealth Champs. It was a push, but in her words and I agree watching her warm up, wasn’t unrealistic. Ultimately things didn’t go her way and she finished with 0/6. Watching things fall apart for an athlete is quite…. unpleasant. I couldn’t tell you why it went the way it did.
Photo credit- All Shots via Weightlifting New Zealand
In the W81 I worked with Ella in her first Championship event, which was a major success with 6/6, a PR clean & jerk and Junior Nationals Qualification! Not bad for 15. I rounded out the event in the W87+ and my first time competing at North Islands since 2021. I had spent the whole weekend telling everyone it was chill and I was just there to have fun. Snatches, mentally, were not that. I was totally pre-occupied with everything else going on and imagined expectation, and wasn’t able to stay present and aware of my movement. Ultimately they went OK and I snatched 65, but it wasn’t fun. I’m proud I managed to pull my head in and get things together for clean & jerk, going 3/3 and finishing on 83kg. My 148 total is 11kg up on the Club Comp I did in April. I am lifting 4 times a week and the goal remains to simply be able to stay in the game, but of course I still think my best numbers are ahead of me and I will keep chipping away until life or my body tell me no.
World Cup and Oceania Masters
Last week then saw a huge number of New Zealand masters competing on the Gold Coast, including Diogo in the M35 109kg class. He was in great shape but the last couple of weeks into comp had been a little rocky, and he wasn’t totally confident as to what would be possible on the day. He nailed his highest ever openers at 98/128, then with a 132kg on his third locked in a PR clean & jerk, bronze in both events and a total only 1kg off his best ever. Snatches over 100kg and clean & jerks pushing to 135+ are in his sights and if we can pull it all together, C grade and a senior nationals qualification is on the table.
It looked like an amazing time over there both with the beach and the way everyone there performed, supported and assisted each other. I was super jealous.
Looking ahead
It’s birthday week for me so I am alternating between ‘treat yoself’ and existential dread around getting older. There’s a lot going on in coaching, both with new athletes and others back training or home from Uni for the break.
As of this week I’ve got strength & conditioning on the go with teams or squads in netball, rowing and waterpolo, and then on the 7th of July, we have Kotahi Barbell’s first Club Comp! Looking forward to that, especially with a lot of the team getting on the platform for the first time.
