Regional Youth Squads

What are Regional Youth Squads?

The Regional Youth programme is a lifters first introduction to working with the BWL Talent Pathway coaching team. Athletes will be guided through a progressive syllabus of learning which is intended to increase their understanding of what it takes to succeed in the sport and reinforce some of the fundamental skills they need to develop to achieve their ambitions.

 

Who are Regional Youth Squads for?

Regional Youth Squads are designed for 12-17 year olds who have made a commitment to weightlifting and want to understand more about their long-term development. Squads are divided in to 2 groups;

Development Groups (Pathway stage 1)

• Are usually younger teens age 12-15 years old
• Train 2-3 days per week and compete regularly (4 x per year)
• Are committed to exploring the sport as a main sporting options and want to learn.
• Development athletes are invited to up to 5 squads per year and must attend a minimum of 4 squads

Talent Groups, (Pathway stage 2)

• Are usually older teens age 15-17 years old
• train 4-5 days per week and compete 4-6 x per year
• Are committed to the sport as something they want to excel in long term,
• Are leading youth athletes in their region who role model the importance of effectively applying themselves to their training, support their teammates and are open to learning
• Development athletes are invited to up to 10 squads per year and must attend a minimum of 8 squads per year.

In the interest of safeguarding young people athletes may only participate in these squads until their 18^th Birthday. Squads are divided in to 2 groups of athletes;

 

How do I get selected for a Regional Youth Squad?

BWL uses the Sport80 system to store essential athlete information and track & monitor their competition progress. All regional athletes must be BWL members for both insurance and communication purposes. The criteria for selection is as follows;

Development Groups

• Athlete must compete in a minimum of 3 x Regional Open Series competitions each year
• New athletes should send an email to the Pathway Coach for their region squads to introduce themself as soon as they become interested in joining a squad
• Squads are selected annually after the England Age-Groups

Talent Groups

• Athletes must compete in the England Age-Group Championships, and a minimum of 2 x Regional Open series competitions each year 
• Athletes must send an email to the Pathway Coach for your region to express interest in being selected for their Regional Talent Squad.
• squads are selected annually after the England Age-Groups

Athletes who do not communicate non-attendance sufficiently will be removed from these squads if they drop below the minimum amount of engagement expected for each squad (e.g. 80%)

 

Which Region Youth Squad should I join?

We encourage lifters who don’t know which region they should be attend to email stuart.martin@britishweightlifting.org to explore which squad might be best for them to join.

Regional squads currently operate across 3 key regions;
 
North -             Common Squad Locations: Sheffield, Warrington and North Tyneside

Midlands -        Common Squad Locations; Bristol, Nottingham and Oxford)

South -             Common Squad Locations: Colchester, West London and Southampton

 

BWL Pathway Coaches

Jenny Tong (North) is the Assistant Head Coach at Sheffield’s Hallam Barbell.  Since starting the sport in 2015 Jenny has represented Great Britain internationally four times and made her international coaching debut at the EU Cup in 2019. Outside of weightlifting her roles include working as a research assistant on Clean Sport Projects at Hallam University. Please email Jenny here

Josh Telling (Midlands) is passionate about supporting the development young people. In 2017 he set up Wildboar Weightlifting to provide better opportunities for young people in the Forrest of Dean. Since then he has developing a number of Youth National champions, set up his own facility and established a number of satellite clubs. Josh feels very fortunate to have the opportunity to aid the development of young weightlifters across the midlands and support other clubs in their development.  Please email Josh here
 
Kristian McPhee (South) is the head coach of Brunel University Weightlifting, a British Champion at senior, student and U23 levels and coach to multiple GB athletes and national champions. He trained under Olympian Mike Pearman and learnt from some of the best athletes and coaches across the world. As a previous member of the National talent squad, he has been through the system and hopes to build the next generation of sustainable talent to make British Weightlifting a global competitor and build on our ongoing success. Please email Kristian here

 

The sport of weightlifting continues to evolve across England and the UK and as we discover and identify new hot spots, we look carefully at how is best to support lifters and coaches in those areas. If you feel like there is a lack of representation of athletes or clubs from your region in BWL programmes, but a number of emerging lifters or clubs in your region please contact stuart.martin@britishweightlifting.org

 

England Youth Squad

What is the England Youth Squad?

The England Youth program is designed for athletes who demonstrate behaviours and abilities aligned to potential future international performance. The purpose of these squads is to bring together the country’s leading athletes to encourage their growth as a team, raise their awareness of how to prepare for international competitions and drive each other towards higher standards of competition. This environment is an athlete’s first interaction with the BWL performance team.

The England Talent Squad meet 3-4 times each year at BWL’s High Performance Centre, Loughborough University

 

Who is the England Youth Squad for?

England Youth Squads are designed for weightlifters who demonstrate early potential to win medals at future commonwealth games.

• Athletes are usually age 14-17 years old
• Athletes performing at a high standard nationally within their age-group
• Athletes making regular progress in their competition total in-line with the Commonwealth pathway Standards found here
• Athletes who are commitment to the sport long-term
• Leading youth athletes in England who role model the importance of effectively applying themselves to their training, support their teammates and are open to learning

In the interest of safeguarding young people athletes may only participate in these squads until their 18^th Birthday.

 

How do I get selected for the England Youth Squad?

Squads are selected annually at the British Age-group Championships

• Attend Regional Youth Squads
• Compete at the British and English Age-group championships
• Be ranked in the top 12 England Youth Pathway Rankings

The minimum standard of athletes invited to the England Youth squad in 2019 was 95% of the Commonwealth pathway standard for their age, stage and category.

 

BWL National Youth Coach

Rhodri Thomas – has coached a variety of international and commonwealth standard athletes and medallists including 2013 World Junior Bronze Medallist Darius Jokazadeh and 1998 Commonwealth Champion Leon Griffin. Rhodri is the current coach for SA1 in Swansea and has been the National Youth coach for GBR since 2013. Rhodri is passionate about the development of youth athletes and has contributed to the development journeys of many of Britain’s leading Junior lifters.

 

England Talent Squad

What is the England Talent Squad?

The England Talent program is designed for athletes who continue to demonstrate behaviours and abilities aligned to potential future international performance. The purpose of these squads is to bring together the country’s leading athletes to encourage their growth as a team and raise their awareness of how to prepare for international competitions or manage key transitions from ‘Age-group’ to Senior Weightlifting or further to higher education and work.

BWL view this period as a critical time in an athlete’s development, additional support is often provided to these athletes through TASS and other scholarship schemes to help athletes manage key transitions and prepare them for the challenges of senior international competition.

The England Junior & under 23 Squad meet 3-4 times each year at BWL’s High Performance Centre, Loughborough University

 

Who is the England Talent Squad for?

England Talent Squads are designed for weightlifters who continue to demonstrate potential to win medals at future Commonwealth Games

• Athletes are usually age 18-23 years old
• Athletes performing at a high standard nationally within their age-group
• Athletes making regular progress in their competition total in-line with the CWG pathway standards found here
• Athletes demonstrating continued commitment to the sport across over 3-5 years.
• Leading Junior & Under 23 athletes in England who demonstrate high standards of performance, potential, behaviour and support for their teammates.

 

How do I get selected for the England Talent Squad…?

Squads are selected annually at the England Senior Championships

• Compete at the British and English Senior Championships
• Be ranked in the top 12 England Junior & Under 23 Pathway Rankings
• Occasionally Talent Transfer athletes will be invited to this squad

 

Commonwealth Pathway Standards

Pathway standards should be used as a guide for coaches to use to them understand what an athlete’s development journey could look like prior to winning a commonwealth medal.

These standards are based on analysis of Medal zones across the last 5 Commonwealth cycles with regression from the medal standard based on the progress rates of Medal winning English athletes competing at Golcoast 2016.

• Women’s Commonwealth Pathway Standards found here
• Men’s Commonwealth Pathway Standards found here

Any queries about pathway standards should be sent to the BWL Talent Manager here