USA Weightlifting Enhancing Athlete Representation

Athlete membership to double on the Board of Directors, new representatives added to committees and advisory council

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO (May 11, 2020) -- USA Weightlifting (USAW) further strengthened its commitment to its athletes today by giving athletes a greater voice in the governance of the federation.

USAW’s Board of Directors today voted unanimously to double athlete representation on the Board to four seats, giving athletes the largest membership group on the board and control of 33.3% of voting seats. USA Weightlifting proudly has more than 50% of its current Board of Directors made up of individuals with an international athletic background.

In addition to greater athlete representation at the Board level, three additional members will be added to the USAW Advisory Council. An additional athlete representative will be appointed to all USA Weightlifting committees.

"We are extremely happy to be able to adjust our governance to both increase the athlete voice, but also to include a critical category of athletes in our organization and their views across all of our governance levels," USA Weightlifting Chief Executive Officer Phil Andrews said. "This opens up further opportunities both for the athlete but also for the organization to take advantage of the deep intelligence, expertise and experience of this new pool of athlete that can serve our organization and their sport."

The new athlete representatives will come from the National Team pool, allowing athletes who have represented the United States in major international events aside from the IWF World Championships, Olympic Games & Pan American Games to be represented at the Board and the committee levels.

Elections will be held later this year in accordance with the next scheduled Board election as established in the USAW Bylaws.

Beginning in 2021, USA Weightlifting will be governed by a board of 12 voting directors consisting of four elite athlete members, two coach or technical members, two grassroots members, two at-large members and two independent members.

Ex-officio membership on the board includes the Chief Executive Officer and delegates elected as representatives of the United States to the International Weightlifting Federation and Pan American Weightlifting Federation level.

In a move to further strengthen the organization’s governance, the Board also approved an Executive Limitation Policy. The policy aims to better define the roles and responsibilities between the Board and the Chief Executive Officer and streamline operations. The goal of the policy is to allow the Chief Executive Officer to be able to conduct and lead the operations of USAW in an effective and efficient manner. The policy can be found here.

--USAW--

Press Contact:

Kevin Farley

kevin.farley@usaweightlifting.org

About USA Weightlifting

USA Weightlifting, a member of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), is the national governing body for the Olympic sport of Weightlifting in the United States. USA Weightlifting’s mission is to enable U.S. athletes to achieve sustained competitive excellence in Olympic competition and to promote and grow the sport of Weightlifting in the United States. For more information, visit USAWeightlifting.org.

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