The Rochester Amateur Sports Commission (RASC) is proud to be hosting a new event in Rochester Feb. 26-28 at the Mayo Civic Center’s Presentation Hall. The 2010 USA Weightlifting Junior Nationals will bring 170 of the best 15-20 year old male and female weightlifters to Rochester.
Typically, five of these athletes will go on to the Summer Olympics. To follow is an inside look at how the RASC brought this event to town and a glimpse at the teamwork within the RASC and the local sports community that is critical to winning a bid and then executing a successful event.
As the sports sales manager for the RASC, when prospecting for new events, the first connection I make is with our local partners. In this case, I spoke with Scott Safe, owner of Safe Weightlifting in northwest Rochester and Roger Sadecki, a 40-year veteran of USA Weightlifting participation as both a lifter and a USAW board member. Scott is one of our most enthusiastic local partners and is living his dream of growing the sport of weightlifting in southeastern Minnesota.
Roger is a tireless advocate for the sport of weightlifting and travels the country and world judging national and international meets.
I asked Scott and Roger if they would like to partner with the RASC on a bid to host the Junior Nationals that were up for bid at the June 2009 USAW Pan Am Trials in Chicago. Their answer was yes but came with a couple of questions. Did we know we’d be up against Altamonte Springs, Florida, a suburb of sunny Orlando, Florida? And that the event is held in snowy February?
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Yes, we knew the odds were against us but when the bids were delivered, we were the only sports commission present and gave a well-prepared, professional presentation that highlighted Scott and Roger’s support as well as the virtues of selecting the RASC and its five-person staff that has such a strong record of hosting national events.
Three weeks later, we won the bid and the event was turned over to the RASC event operations team.
Shelley Boettcher took charge and has done an excellent job planning every event detail with invaluable input from Scott and Roger. She stated, "We’re very excited about having the USA Weightlifting Junior Nationals here in Rochester. All of the planning with Roger and Scott has been a fun experience and we’re looking forward to seeing a lot of great competition."
For more information on the Feb. 26-28 USA Weightlifting Junior Nationals, visit http://www.swsc-usa.com/championships.html . Two local athletes will be competing, including 15-year-old Andrea Bartz from Plainview and 20-year-old Nic Scudamore of Rochester.
