History

Whilst the North Brisbane Weightlifting Association (NBWA) became an official entity early in 2008, the club itself has a proud history spanning back over four years.
 

In January 2004, NBWA’s Head Coach David De Rose was appointed Gym Manager at Nudgee College (NC), and set about resurrecting the Olympic weightlifting club that had existed years before under long-standing Coach Peter Thomsen.  De Rose quickly recruited a number of NC students as part of a new weightlifting squad, and coached them to compete regularly in club competitions staged at the NC gym.  Before long the new squad of school boys were winning medals at Queensland Junior Championships, and qualifying to compete for Queensland at Junior National Championships.  In November 2004 a team of NC weightlifters competed at their first Queensland Secondary Schools Titles and were crowned champions, overcoming St Lawrence’s College by a single point.  The NC weightlifting team went on to defend its title for the next three years, with a healthy flow of competitive school boy lifters filtering through the club.

 

Midway through 2004 De Rose was granted permission to offer weightlifting coaching services to the general public, and so a completely new breed of lifters were born into the club.  Scott Clark and Daniel Mc Farlane were amongst the first of the male lifters from outside the NC schoolboy ranks to join the club, and have continued training with the squad ever since.  Julie ‘Maloolie’ Davis and Karen Seebohm were club pioneers in their own right, joining as the first masters and first female lifters to train and compete for the club.  The likes of Julie and Karen, both still resident NBWA lifters today, have inspired many other women to join the party, which has seen their training squad flourish into one of the strongest of its kind in Australia today.

By the end of 2004 over 40 lifters had competed as members of the Nudgee Weightlifting Club.  Key figures to have joined the ranks and maintained their involvement with the club by this stage were Vicki Brady, Michelle Kinanne, ‘Scottish’ Dave Allan, current Club President Ben Paris, Patrick Shannon, Christian Hopper, Mitch Barnaba and Physiotherapist Lawrie Townsend. 

The club’s inaugural Christmas function took place in December 2004 with club members competing during the day, and attending a club presentation dinner during the evening.  Lawrie Townsend was awarded Honorary Life Membership for the excellent service he’d provided lifters at Nudgee over the past decade, and weightlifters in general over the past 30 years.  From 2005 onwards the club’s end-of-year function became commonly referred to as “The Lawrie”, with the club’s best overall lifter receiving the coveted “Lawrie” trophy. 

Along with aspiring to win the “Lawrie”, Nudgee’s lifters began making their mark on the broader weightlifting stage from 2005 onwards, with success at state, national and international level.   The Club hosted the Queensland Masters Championships in 2005 which saw the emergence of many lifters, including Lorraine Hibbert and Patrick Shannon.  The strong Masters lifting contingent went on to help Queensland secure the National Masters’ Championships in 2005-6, and continue to compete at the highest level each year.  In 2006, Vicki Brady overcame adversity to claim three gold medals and world records at the World Masters’ Championships in France.  

The Club’s senior lifters competed well at State Championships each year, with many winning medals and gaining selection into the Queensland team.  Melinda Janke, Liana Lambert, Alison Noble, Justin Flack, Ben Paris, David De Rose, Christian Hopper and Paul Wheeler are amongst senior lifters that represented and won medals for the club at past National Championships.

In 2006 the Club adopted the Honeybadger as its official mascot, as well as sponsor Mark Slade, who generously funded the costs for new training and travelling apparel.  The club’s numbers gradually grew with over 50 lifters donning their Honeybadger kit in competition from 2005 to 2007.

In 2007, a Club Organisational Committee was elected at the Club’s AGM to aid the governance of the Club.  The Committee quickly put its members to work, by coordinating the arduous task of relocating all of NC’s gym equipment downstairs from the centre’s top level. 
 

In November 2007, the professional relationship between NC and Head Coach De Rose broke-down.  By the end of the year, the situation became apparent that the Club was ready to part ways with Nudgee College, and so the hunt for a new training venue commenced.   The Honeybadgers staged their final ‘Lawrie’ at Nudgee late in December 2007, packed up their equipment and bid farewell to their original training venue forever. 

By early 2008 the club entered into a lease agreement with the Zillmere Eagles AFL Club, and the club had found a new home.  A new committee was formed, and the club’s application for incorporation was successful, which made way for the beginning of a new era for the North Brisbane Weightlifting Association.