Junior Provincial Championships - Recap!
Last weekend was the 2017 BC Junior Provincial Championships, held in Port Coquitlam. What a fun, slightly chaotic, and successful weekend for the Siemens Weightlifting Club!
Let's start with the chaos...
First, coming from the Island can be a little messy, especially if the weather is bad or its a long weekend. The ferries were cancelled Friday from the afternoon onwards, so Saturday morning traffic was a nightmare. But we made it on the first scheduled sailing. Second, coming from the Island can make the mainland seem like a massive expanse of confusing highways and aggressive traffic. After getting lost only FIVE TIMES, we made it!
Chaos averted!
This competition had two girls competing, Georgia and Nicole. No boys were registered from the SWC.
This was the first competition ever for Nicole, and she did great! She went 6/6, including a massive jump in weight for her 3rd CJ for an 'icing on the cake' lift. She also went home with the gold medal in the -48kg class - well done!!
First competitions can be very stressful for an athlete. Because of this, we treat the first competition uniquely. Generally the lifter will not attempt PR lifts. Instead, they will open with a light weight and finish the competition 6/6. The goal of the first competition is to learn how to compete and to come away with success, positivity, inspiration, and motivation. The goal is not to set new records, 'beat this athlete', or 'win that title'. Competition is always centred on creating the best possible performance for the specific athlete.
Nicole did great this weekend! She nailed all the goals and can now start working towards her next competition with confidence!
The second athlete to compete was Georgia. Unlike Nicole, Georgia is a seasoned athlete with lots of experience. She had some BIG goals for this meet. Georgia finished up the competition going 6/6 with PR's in the Snatch, CJ, and Total. She also went home with the -53kg Gold and the Best Female Lifter title. It was a great performance and she met all her goals!
During the competition, I told Georgia to focus on great lifting, not perfect lifting. There is no such thing as perfection. Any athlete who aims for perfection will constantly feel disappointed and eventually lose confidence. I wanted Georgia to focus on lifting with her own style and maximum confidence.
Great lifting creates confidence.
Confidence creates great lifting.
Perfection diminishes both great lifting and confidence.
Georgia pulled through and crushed her goals with some GREAT lifting!
The next competition for the club is the Canadian Masters Weightlifting Championships (Kelowna, BC) in one month! We will have a huge crew competing there so stay tuned for updates & results!
Cool beans!
Rachel
