By Travis Rogers
As powerlifting meets have gained popularity, so has the desire to organize them. Meet directing has fallen into two categories: either overcomplicating and overproducing to the point of forgetting the basics, or barely scraping by without safety and staffing, with the bare minimum not even being accounted for.
This article aims to initiate a conversation about this issue, while also discouraging prospective directors from holding meetings too early. To help aspiring or seasoned directors, I’ve ensured that I provide checklists to establish standards and order.
“Smoke, fireworks, and zoomed-in slow-mo replays? Sounds like powerlifting is making its way to ESPN!” Although that is far from the truth, too many directors have focused on what looks visually appealing and popular on a livestream, rather than prioritizing the overall function and safety of the lifters during an actual meet. Beautiful stage setups with all the best camera angles have overshadowed the need for a competent staff and an organized, safe setup.
Efficient meeting day flows are nonexistent. Warmup rooms/areas are absolute dog shit: some so tightly packed that it's hard even to call it an actual “room”. I’m here to tell YOU, the meet director, that even though you think you have it all together, you most likely don’t have what it takes…yet. Whether you are invested in the growth of the sport or not, chances are you shouldn’t be a meet director, no matter how grand your intentions may be.
Simply put, if you aren't prepared and you’re flying by the seat of your pants, your lifters, staff, and audience will notice and won’t be that thrilled.
I’ve coached and handled lifters at way too many meets that were simply dangerous and thrown together. And I’ve refereed just as many where, along with a few others, I had to step up and save the meet. Many directors are retired lifters or ones who still compete, but in the last few years, we have seen a considerable influx of people who don’t belong; are in it for the wrong reasons; and want to BE someone in the sport because they can’t hack it on their own to get noticed. Running a full-fledged powerlifting meet requires a lot, including the necessary equipment. We aren’t just talking about a couple of combo racks and calling it a day.
We are talking about making meet days safe, efficient, and minimizing the variables that can disrupt your lifters' performance on their big day.
One of the first things to consider is whether you have all the necessary equipment to ensure the day and flights run smoothly. From weigh-ins to the warmup room, and last but certainly not least–the platform; do you have absolutely everything to set yourself and the lifters up for success? The amount of last-minute “borrowing” that goes on before a meet is ridiculous. Using everyone else’s goods for YOUR benefit, so at the end of the day you can call it “my meet” and have the title of director. One or two items is one thing, but I've seen meets where more than half of the equipment is on loan from another gym or director, and at the end of the day, no recognition or compensation is given to those who really saved the meet.
You Fail to Stay on Top of Email Correspondence:
Everything starts and ends with communication to your lifters. From 12 weeks out to the night before the meet, posting the lineup, flights, and final roster: a meet director needs to establish a good line of communication with their lifters early on. This enables you to not only answer questions and provide updates, but also CYA with any lifter, starting with the old “I didn’t know this” type shenanigans. When you send an update in 4-week increments beginning at the 12-week out mark, and ending with a day before weigh-in email, you’re essentially making it difficult for a lifter to respond with “I didn’t know you had to read the rulebook”. When you repeatedly remind the lifter and directly link the rulebook 8 times over the course of prep, you cover your ass as well as theirs. You’re creating a foolproof setup. These emails should also always specify the meet address, times, and necessities for weigh-ins, as well as any additional costs for spectators and coaches, and what is and is not allowed in and at the venue.
Your Organizational Skills are Simply Dogshit
How your meet may go is directly summarized by weigh-ins and registration. As
Someone who has trained many meet directors, issued an immense number of referee practicals, and coordinated with rulebook revisions, I can tell you that opinions and first impressions are definitely.
Formed on that day. Unorganized weigh-ins and lifters just going wherever without direction is usually an indicator of how a director will operate on meet day. This also applies to being understaffed, missing company equipment, or having a generally carefree vibe – especially when they continually say, “Don’t worry, it’ll be here tomorrow morning.”
A method that has always worked for me and has become my tried-and-true standard is as follows, in this order: rack heights, registration, gear check, weigh-in.
Weigh-in / Registration Checklist:
- 2 calibrated scales
- 2 bathrooms / changing rooms
- Pre-printed lifter cards with registration information on the front and gear list on the back
- Extra blank cards
- Blank chart to fill in rack heights for each lifter
- Event t-shirts
- Folding tables for a professional and organized setup
- Enough staff for the size of the group of lifters checking in
- Updated rulebook for any questions on the fly
- Tape Measure for gear check
You Don’t Have the Equipment
The warm-up room should consist of a minimum of three combo racks and three platforms for deadlifts, as well as utilize the same plates in the weight conversion used on the platform. This is also true for bars. No one wants to be pulling on a stiff bar for warmups when a deadlift bar is to be used on the platform, or vice versa.
Minimizing variables that disrupt your lifters' performance should be a top priority, as it makes for a safer and more organized meet.
Having kilo charts and a warmup room attendant are also great additions to avoid any lineup issues and help keep the pace before the flight begins. Keeping an eye on the flight order and time, ensuring lifters are being spotted and staying safe, and keeping the floor clear of any mess that could be hazardous are just a few things that a warm-up room attendant can bring to the equation for a successful meet.
Warmup Checklist
- 3 combos (with pins and adjustable heights)
- 3 deadlift areas (balanced and can withstand the weight drop)
- 3 bars of each type (depending on the meat and feed)
- Deadlift jacks, or at the very least, wedges to load heavier weights
- TV to broadcast lineup
- Speaker/PA system for announcements/commentary
- Ample weights that match the unit of measure used on the platform
- Designated area for baby powder
- Collars for warm-up bars
- Ability to see starting flights (whether online or printed and posted in all lifter common areas)
You Can't Take Care Of Your Staff:
A team that is present, trained, and experienced is what makes or breaks a meet, second to the equipment. Bad refereeing calls, preemptive takes on spotting, and an overall lack of efficiency and expertise bring a meeting to a screeching halt. While training and acquiring new staff who want to donate their time to the sport is essential, managing a whole team of these newbies is challenging. Without proper leadership and demonstration, it leads to a large group of, for lack of better terms, the blind leading the blind. This situation makes it easy for mishaps to happen across the board. With that being said, make sure all 3 of your teams.
(Referees, Spot and Load Crew, Floor Staff) know their roles.
Teams / Staff Checklist:
- 3 refs/judges to sit minimum (preferably more, so you can rotate out)
- Score card and computer input (can be one person, but it depends on experience)
- Announcer (can also be done by a ref or table worker, but again depends on experience)
- Warmup room attendant (serves as an overseer of the warmup area and a second set of eyes to report any issues to the director)
- Admission/door attendant (takes and checks wristbands for coaches/spectators and lifters)
- 5 spotter/loader minimum (may be more if you need a designated mono operator)
- Platform manager (preferably an experienced staff member who can oversee and relay the protocols and direct the team on the platform)
As a director, it is your responsibility to ensure that your staff are taken care of and that safety rules are followed. You are covered with your platform manager while you hold your referee team meeting. All this, along with testing lights, microphones, TVs, and platform equipment, should be done before the commencement of the meet. I generally do my once-over while Flight A is warming up to start at 9 am sharp, after the rules briefing for lifters at 8 am.
Compensating your team is of the utmost importance, and I always run an online signup sheet to fill all staff spots with pre-meet agreed positions/terms, as well as the monetary compensation and extras like lunch and a staff t-shirt. I handle door cash first to pay the staff, then ask who is okay with digital methods. Keeping a signup also eliminates any arguments about funds and tracks who is owed what, so even at the end of an exhausting day, it is easy to count and cross off.
Head Ref’s Table
Your table, where referees report and lifters make their selections, should be easily seen and accessible, both on the way to and from the platform. It should be professional, with a tablecloth, multiple kilogram/weight conversion charts for acknowledging selections, a copy of the updated rulebook for your federation, and a medical kit nearby. I encourage using two different laptops/computers: one for streaming and broadcasting to the displays for lifters to view the current lineup and weight, and the other for editing and inputting without interfering with the broadcast (basically streaming to TVs with one and working on the meet with the other). This table should also include backup batteries and cables for electronics and microphones, as well as extra supplies for filling out lifter cards, and a safe/organized way to store them.
You Don’t Have The Space
What this next topic boils down to is simply this: do you have enough area to provide
What is the necessary movement and flow needed for a meeting?
Is the warmup area separate from the platform, and are they both a safe enough distance from the audience?
Are there enough bathrooms to handle the influx of people for both lifters, staff, and spectators?
What is the parking situation like?
All these are non-negotiables for a successful meet. If you overlook these aspects, you are setting yourself up for problems and complaints before the first flight has even taken off. Meetings are already fast-paced and stressful. Adding issues regarding ample space to the mix is not going to help things run smoothly on the day of the event. And finally, ask yourself: “Do you have a projected plan for direction/flow for your meeting?”. A designated entry and exit point for lifters to and from the platform, where they must also come in contact with your head referee's table for attempt selections, is something not to be overlooked.
The Actual Platform
As the focal point of your event, your platform should be based on two things before
Anything else: safety and quality. The platform should, in no way, jeopardize the flow, smoothness, or safety standards of a meet for the sake of a “cooler” setup or livestream. The quality of the overall meet and lifter wellbeing is always the number one priority: not fog, lights, and a DJ. Lifters should enter one side and exit the other, allowing the loaders to prepare the next immediately attempt weight instead of playing “I’ll let you by if you let me pass” with the lifter.
Competition Area Checklist:
- 1 combo or monolift and comp bench that matches what the lifters used to get their rack Heights
- One of each platform bar in the best condition possible
- Approved kilo collars and a backup pair
- An 8x8 platform that is carpeted and fitted
- Bar brush and hygienic cleaning supplies (for blood and other bodily fluids)
- Full set of kilos and fractional plates for records
- TV that shows the lineup and attempt/weight for the loaders and refs
- Lights that signal good or bad lift (digital or analog)
- 3 remotes or phones/pads that correspond to signal lights and a way to charge them
- Deadlift jack.
All in all, the current market for powerlifting is oversaturated, not only in federations and Individual ideas, but also in the number of meetings with directors themselves. Federations now have less stringent requirements for who can referee and direct, in hopes of attracting more yearly memberships and a larger demographic of the powerlifting market. I’ve seen the testing requirements and rates to pass go down. I’ve seen multiple attempts at an open-book test, and when I spoke out about it, I was released from my position.
Powerlifting is at its biggest and most popular point ever, but also, without a doubt, the most fractured.
Everyone wants to have a piece of the pie when the pie isn’t enormous enough to share in the first place. This results in feuding territories and directors cannibalizing meet registrations, even within their own state. I’ve lost meet registrations to directors who are far less prepared and experienced, ones I've even taught how to do the damnthing, all thinking they know it all and can create a name for themselves.
Directing should be about giving back and providing for your community and sport, not about how to nickel-and-dime the ones who sign up and support you. If you are going to direct meetings, do it right. Discuss with the surrounding states and other federal agencies to explore potential collaboration on scheduling. Try to keep those you can together and on the same team. Try to remind the lifters who attend your events why they came in the first place. Make that experience safe and about them…Period. This sport already has way too many egotistical people with delusions of grandeur involved. As a meet director, you do not need to be included among them.
Travis Rogers
Instagram: @papabearrogers
Owner of The Bear Cave, MD, Papa Bear Strong Foundation, and Outlawed Powerlifting Co.
WRPF National Referee and Meet Director for the DMV
Elite FTS Columnist
