 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
New schedule squeezes teams
By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer
ZEPHYRHILLS -- Their season has been halved. Their meets eliminated or crunched together. The April 26 state tournament is just a few weeks away. The sport of weightlifting has had a rough time this season, county coaches say, and today's Sunshine Athletic Conference meet at Zephyrhills could be even rougher. The sport has been hampered by sweeping changes mandated by the Florida High School Activities Association, according to coaches, changes that will affect today's competition. "None of the teams are as strong as they once were," Pasco coach Dave Gaffney said. "It just seems like everybody is sort of down this year. "I have one good lifter right now, and usually, I have four or five of them who can lift in the 500-pound range." The season used to be eight weeks. But the FHSAA squeezed it to four. Lifters used to alternate between working out and competing, doing each twice a month. But this season, county schools were forced to hold meets every week. That has meant less time for athletes to lift and, consequently, less time to improve their numbers on the bench press and clean-and-jerk. The condensed county schedule also meant that not every SAC team has faced every other. Some enter today's tournament without knowing the competition. "It's tough when you go up (to the SAC meet) and you haven't seen them or have no record of what they've done," Wesley Chapel coach Tom McHugh said. "Now you start with a (conservative) weight and you have to watch everybody. It's tough for the kids that can go on (to state)." The changes were made to make the state tournament more difficult to reach. Before, lifters needed only a qualifying weight total to reach the state tournament. But this season, the FHSAA added two qualifying tournaments to weed lifters out. The only problem is, instead of expanding the season to add the extra meets, the FHSAA squeezed the expanded postseason into the old regular season. "Conference wouldn't normally be for another three weeks," River Ridge coach Mike Marlin said. "Because now we have to do two qualifying meets before we get ready for state. "What happened was they were getting too many lifters at state. The easy fix would have been to bump up the qualifying totals, but of course, they went about it the hard way." Said Gaffney: "The state has superseded the regular season." Which, in turn, has made it harder for coaches. Now they have less time to recruit lifters from other sports. The shorter season has meant conflicts with the end of winter sports and the start of spring ones, which are keeping many athletes out of weightlifting. When the season was longer, those lifters had time to move between sports. But now they've been squeezed out. Half as many meets means half the chances for those athletes finishing basketball or starting baseball and track to participate. "None of us have had a full team with the season overlapping with track and basketball and baseball," Gaffney said. "It's almost too much. It does not seem practical." But Pasco County bragging rights still are on the line today as teams vie to replace two-time champion Zephyrhills. Bulldogs coach Chris Bounnell said his team will be missing several lifters. James Adamo, who lifts in the 219-pound class, is recovering from a broken foot sustained during basketball season. Ira Tindale is out of the 154-pound class with a ruptured ear drum. Zephyrhills already was without two of last season's SAC champions: heavyweight Shane Hand, the state champion wrestler who did not come out for weightlifting this season, and 154-pounder Josh Gainey, who transferred to Durant.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times | ||||||||||||||||||||
