Ontario Powerlifting Association

Last update:

01/26/2006

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Steel City Powerlifting Club and the Ontario Powerlifting Association 

–Bill Jamison

In 1969, the Steel City Powerlifting Club was established by Bill Jamison, Ned and Bill Gvoich and Bill Angelo. At that point in time, there were no powerlifting organizations in Ontario or anywhere in Canada.  Individuals and clubs registered with the Ontario Weightlifting Association.

In the spring of 1972, Bill Jamison and Ned and Bill Gvoich formed the Ontario Powerlifting Association.  That summer, the Canadian Powerlifting Union was organized and in the fall, Bill Jamison and Bill Gvoich attended the inaugural meeting of the International Powerlifting Federation in York, Pennsylvania. 

In 1974, Bill, Ned and Bill Gvoich attained their Cat. II referees status.

In 1975, each of these men successfully achieved their Cat. I cards in Birmingham, England.

Right from the beginning, we realized the value of developing an organization with a strong club system. Each club could utilize the veteran lifters to coach the younger, inexperienced lifters. Many of these veteran lifters could also become referees.

When contests were held, meet directors were asked to have team trophies. This developed a club rivalry which in turn, forced clubs to find more lifters for their team and therefore increased the membership in the O.P.A. 

During the early 70s, a keen rivalry would develop between clubs in Ontario.  Some of these were the Steel City Powerlifting Club of Hamilton, the London Powerlifting Club and the Sioux Ste. Marie Powerlifting Club.  Each club would try to attain more lifters to make their club stronger.

Later in the 70s, more clubs were formed, such as Kitchener Golden Triangle, Pattyn’s Gym in Alexandria, the Ottawa Strong and the North Bay Powerlifting Club.

Clubs began to wear team uniforms such as the orange and black colours worn by the Steel City Powerlifting Club.

The Steel City Powerlifting Club has had peaks and valleys in its development.  Presently, the club is on an upswing.  My two sons, Billy and Jesse trained with weights for high school sports and have taken an interest in lifting.  We have attracted new lifters through the internet and others because of our high school development program.

Steel City ran the Hamilton Open for 20 years from 1971 to 1991, and in the last three years we started to hold an annual contest again.  We have also hosted the Canadian Championships and the Ontario Championships many times.  Several international contests were also held by Steel City. The Pan Ams were held three times, the North Americans once, and the World Masters were held in conjunction with the World Masters Games. 

The World Masters and Juniors Championships that we hosted in 1993 attracted nearly 400 lifters from 35 countries and is still the biggest IPF contest held to date.

It is important to note why the club system is strongly stressed.  Sometimes the question is asked, “Why isn’t powerlifting in the Olympics?”  If we expect our sport to achieve this goal, we should present ourselves with respect and dignity, such as other prestigious sports in the Olympics.  We want young lifters to develop the proper attitude and sportsmanship, so that we can develop our sport with an excellent reputation and have it taken seriously.  All of these things should be instilled into our young lifters at the club level. When all of these things are done and practised, our sport keeps its integrity.

The club system has been a proven method of promoting our sport. Our website is one tool that should be upgraded and better utilized. Recently, I had a conversation with our sport’s consultant from the Ministry about our need to grow through the media and other forms of communication. It is our challenge to continue to find ways to advertise powerlifting and give it exposure.

The final analysis is this.  Keep developing your clubs and encourage new clubs.  As people enter our sport, it will be the club system that guides them through their education in powerlifting.