Formation
2009 has been the year when the GBPF became an official body and the formation and requirements were all in place and ready to function.
A huge amount of work was needed to reach this objective for which thanks must go to a lot of people who contributed many hours of their time.
Over the last few years a number of people have been instrumental in the running of the Sport and these same people are now doing an excellent job for the GBPF. At the time of the formation of the GBPF it was perfectly clear to everyone that these people who have served Powerlifting so well in the past should be the ones to take the GBPF forward and everyone has responded in such a way that we all owe them a huge amount of thanks and gratitude.
Divisions
Over the course of this year, there have been issues with the previous administration which in some cases did not end in our Division’s favour.
Fortunately this situation will not occur again and the Divisions can rebuild their finances as best they can. On the formation of the GBPF it was made clear that the GBPF do not have and will not have any claim now or in the future on Divisions finances or other assets.
During this year every Division has shown tremendous support for the GBPF and for this we are extremely grateful and hope we will be in a position to repay them in the near future.
Competitions
During this year we have staged a number of National Championships and each and everyone has been excellently organised and efficiently run.
For this we have to thank the promoters but special thanks must go to Fred Sterry, Doreen Dowsett and Mick Barry for the truly excellent way they have made sure that all the documentation and officials are in place. This really is a very demanding role and they have proved time and again that there is no one better. This year saw the first Masters competition held in Accrington and this was the first promotion by Bryn Evans, Jim Blanchflower and Joe Bullock.
It has to be said that it didn’t look like a first competition, it looked as though it had been done many times before and was a really excellent job. It also needs to be said that the Team of Loaders and Spotters deserve recognition as they were very very professional.
We have had a number of MC’s at these competitions and again these people Gavin, Martin, Ian and a number of others who have helped are the people that keep everyone updated and informed and who also help to generate such good atmospheres we get at the events. Not many people can do this job to such a high standard as they do and we are very grateful for their efforts.
Every competition that is staged regardless of whether it is a National event or a Divisional event, takes a lot of time to organise and in some cases a cost that is never recovered is paid by many people who never seem to get recognition for their time and effort.
There are too many of these people who help out for the love of the Sport who’s names are never mentioned but without them we could never run events as well as we do. To these people we also need to offer our grateful thanks for all the things they do. There is always something that needs to be done and in our Sport we do have a huge amount of volunteers willing to help out and of course it’s true to say we can always do with more.
We are always looking to find venues where we can stage competitions and for the future our aim has to be to make every competition as good as it can be.
Obviously cost is an important factor and is probably the main reason why it is not always possible, but we need to try to find ways of overcoming this so our competitors get to compete in the best conditions we can provide.
International Competition
2009 saw the GBPF send more lifters away than in the previous 5 years and there were a lot of up and coming lifters competing on the International stage for the first time.
Overall the results were very impressive and almost every lifter produced a PB at some stage or another. The Juniors in particular who went to the Europeans came back with medals totally unexpected and they were a credit to themselves and to the GBPF. Each and every single one of them showed a maturity and desire to perform at their very best and we hope they will very shortly be pushing the seniors hard.
The Senior Team also went to the Europeans and again with a couple of slight hiccups, performed well.
Of course we now have a European Champion in Phil Richard, who as always epitomises all the qualities needed in Powerlifting to become a world class lifter.
The Bench Press Teams and the Masters Teams also competed in European and World Championships and there were some good results.
Special mention should go to James Jeffries who won Gold in the Bench as well as Jenny Hunter, Sue Hollands, Steve Walker and George Legget and Gavin Walker all Gold Medallists at the World Masters.
Unfortunately we could not send Sub Juniors and Juniors to Brazil for the Worlds. The cost was extremely high and although one or two juniors and sub juniors perhaps could have afforded the trip, the Managers and Coaches also found the cost too high and the GBPF could not commit funds to this trip.
The Senior Worlds in India proved to be both disappointing and good for different reasons.
On arrival at London Heathrow for the trip to New Delhi, we found that there was a problem with the correct documentation and the Visa’s we required we did not have. A Letter of Complaint was received from one of the lifters and the matter was discussed at the recent Executive Board Meeting.
The conclusion was that this was an unfortunate error, unintentional, but a mistake nonetheless.
It was agreed that this situation must never happen again and from 1st January 2010 all International Teams will have their travel arrangements looked after by a Travel Agent who specialises in Team Travel. A formal apology has been sent to all those involved. It was agreed and also a wish from the Lifters Committee representative at that meeting that no further action should be taken against those responsible for this error only that we take steps to ensure it never happens again which we hope will be the case by using a Travel Agent.
It should also be noted that a tremendous amount of work took place to try to rectify the situation for which all the Management, Coaches and especially Jaswinder Singh, did everything possible to try to save the situation.
Eventually it was possible to send the three heavyweights to India and as a result Dean Bowring became the first ever British Super Heavy World Champion. After all the events that took place during the week leading up to the event, Dean, Andy Thompson and Ben Banks managed to compete with Dean winning Gold. They all showed tremendous determination to put all the events behind them, make the trip and compete.
For those that did not get the chance to compete obviously we are all disappointed for them and for those that were also going to support them.
We sincerely hope they will all be able to compete at the Europeans in 2010.
Furthermore we hope there will be additional Team members also going which we look forward to.
Finances
During the course of this year there have been a number of costs associated with the set up and running of the Federation the largest being Insurance cover which we considered to be of paramount importance for the members.
We have been negotiating with the Insurers for cover for 2010 and are pleased to confirm that everything is in place and that the costs have been increased by a very small amount less than 5% overall.
We are also adding to the cover we have and this will be advised once we have all the final details from the Insurers. We are also negotiating with the Insurers regarding a purchase of Physio cover which each member can purchase individually should they wish to take advantage of treatment for injuries by a Physiotherapist. Once the complete package has been agreed we will advise all the details and members then have the option to use it if they wish.
One other cover we think we should consider very seriously is one that relates to Child Protection and Vunerable Adults. With more sub juniors now becoming involved the time is right for us to consider taking on additional cover to help us to protect our Coaches and the Child Protection Officers throughout the GBPF. The cover will be explained fully but is one that gives legal assistance at any time for anyone who may be accused of verbal abuse or other form of physical or sexual abuse by a minor. It is one of those Policies that we all hope will never be used but one that is nevertheless important to have, to give assistance at a time that is distressful for all those concerned.
Throughout the year John Jackson together with Marian Gibson have worked extremely hard to make sure that our Finances and Accounting System are correct and that all the spending is clear for all to see. At this time the final year’s accounts are almost completed and will be available at the AGM for everyone to see. Although not yet complete it is possible to say that this year we have managed to stay on the positive side and although we don’t have a huge amount of funds available we have managed to take some funds forward to 2010. Clearly our priorities are to ensure we budget correctly and to make sure we use what funds we get wisely and for the benefit of the members.
John and Marian will make sure that is the case.
Development
One of the priorities in any sport is the continued growth of new members but especially new youngsters taking up Powerlifting.
Paul Rees was appointed as Development Manager and to date his efforts and results have been far and above what anyone could realistically expect.
There have been development squads around the country and competitions put on in Bournemouth that have been quite brilliant.
A number of Divisions have given tremendous support to Paul and in 2010 we hope that more Divisions will follow suit and do the same.
Paul has new plans for 2010 which will include many more people helping him with Development and this has to be the way we go forward.
The more newcomers we have the better the competition will be and will give us the chance to help find and groom potential International lifters for the future.
It doesn’t really need saying but we all need to give Paul and his Team all the help we can so that he can continue with the excellent work he has done so far.
Membership
The beginning of the GBPF was an unknown quantity and the estimates we calculated for membership were finalised at approximately 400.
To date we now have over 875 which is staggering and shows the tremendous support we have received from all over the country.
For this we have to say a huge thank you to every single one.
In our first year we have been overwhelmed by the continual support we have received and for this the GBPF are extremely grateful and honoured.
We are fully aware that we need to make certain that the Federation is run and operates correctly and everyone involved is doing their very best to make sure it stays that way.
There will be changes and there have been changes, which are necessary to ensure we have the right people in the right positions to make sure we provide the members with the best people in the respective positions.
Continuity is very important to the GBPF to avoid constant changes that are not necessary, also so that those people in the positions they occupy can continue with the excellent work they all do.
Website
We have far and away the best website of any Powerlifting organisation in my opinion, for which we are totally indebted to Rob Thomas.
The amount of work Rob did to set it up, plus the constant work he does to maintain it makes us very very lucky to have him.
It is important for Championship Secretary’s, Record Registrar and others that need updated information, that Divisions use it to enter results and information so that all the work Rob did can prove what an advantage this website is to us but more importantly to Fred and Mick and those promoting events.
There is also a discussion Forum that can be used to exchange information and views on topics or other items of interest.
Appointments
We are pleased to advise of the following appointments for 2010.
Assistant Manager and Head Coach Masters Teams.
Alan Moses will be assisting Stan Macrow for all Masters Squads and Teams and will be Head Coach at all Internationals. Together with Stan, they will be responsible for selection of Teams and arranging squad sessions should they so decide. As from 2010 they will also implement a selection criteria and a dress code which will apply to all those International events.
British Records Registrar
Steve Gibson will be the new records registrar as from 1st January.
British Records must be shown on the GBPF website which to date they have not been and therefore Steve will undertake this role. GBPF members should have their records and those of others available on the GBPF website and not have to search for them on other websites.
We thank Alan and Steve and know they will do an excellent job.
National Governing Body Status
On 16th December, myself and John Jackson met with Sport England in London to discuss our application for NGB Status.
Since our application was first lodged some time has elapsed and we were not happy with the delay it has taken to inform us of their decision.
The meeting resolved a number of points that were of concern to Sport England and the outcome was that our application will be processed.
We were informed that it is not a simple process to achieve NGB Status and we accept that we will have much more work to do to achieve this. However this is where we have to go and will do whatever it takes to get the result we all need.
The meeting lasted some two hours and during which we were questioned on many different aspects of our Federation which we are pleased to advise were all accepted and minuted.
We are frustrated that it is taking longer than we expected but this is how the system appears to work and we have to work with it.
Obviously we shall put as much pressure as we can on the Case Officers but we are one of many also seeking the same goal.
Sport England also appreciated our request for urgency so that we can apply for assistance with Drug Testing for 2010 so hopefully our application may well now be speeded up.
We would appreciate if members could be patient regarding this matter as we are in other hands over which we are do not have any control.
To conclude, we are aware that we have a lot more work to do to make the GBPF better and this is a work in progress situation.
The most important thing is that we retain our members and continue to try to do the best we can for them. Growth of the Federation has to be the target for us but only if we do the right things and prove to people the opportunities are there for them to Lift in the best competitions Nationally and also Internationally.
The end of this year is fast approaching for which we again wish to thank each and everyone for all the help they have given, also to remember those who won’t be with us who will be sadly missed, but importantly to wish all our members and their families a Happy Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
Sincerely Yours
Arthur Hoey
General Secretary