May News

The QWA is happy to announce our Team Staff Support Personnel for National Masters. They will be kept busy working at getting our 77 athletes ready for the Nationals in Adelaide in June.

Head Coach: Jemma Cowper

Team Leader: Erika Yamasaki (Oly)

Assistant Coaches (State Level ref):

Ben Trousdell

Dale Donoghue

Bonney Douglas

Assistant Coaches (Club Level ref):

Alasdair Macdonald

Cooper Lydement

Fraser Harrison

Two pre-National squad training sessions have been scheduled to manage this large cohort.

*Rebels Weightlifting Club

17 Neumann Road, Capalaba QLD 4157

Date: Saturday 23rd May 2026

Time: 9:30am

Facilitators: Erika Yamasaki & Fraser Harrison

*Sunshine Coast Weightlifting Club 

22 Crusher Park Drive, Nambour QLD 4560

Date: Saturday 30th May 2026

Time: 10am

Facilitators: Jemma Cowper & Dale Donoghue

We wish them, and all the Queensland athletes all the very best with their preparations. Please remind your athletes that they need to wear a QWA representative lifting suit at the event, and will require either a QWA t-shirt or polo shirt at a minimum. No club t-shirts can be worn to presentation or medal ceremonies. They will find our remaining available stocks in the QWA Shop: All – Queensland Weightlifting

We have a QWA Management Committee scheduled for next week. One of the items on the Agenda is the setting of the date for our AGM – likely to be in conjunction with the State U12/U15 & Youth Championships in Nambour 26-28th June. It will be discussed at this meeting how we are going to go about ensuring we meet our, and the Governments, gender equity targets for the incoming MC. At present we only have one female on the MC – Jacqui Kami who is working furiously behind the scenes to ensure we have our new 2026-2030 Strategic Plan ready for release at the AGM. Clubs – do you know of any of your female members that have skills in marketing & sponsorship, policy formation, website management, digital technology that would be interested in joining the volunteer MC for the 2026-2027 term? Contact us now with any leads you have in this area.

The first QWA StrongKids Workshop is set to run 16th May: 

🏋️ WANT TO RUN KIDS CLASSES THAT DEVELOP ATHLETES?

Our StrongKids Workshop gives you a practical, proven framework to confidently run kids’ classes in your gym or coaching environment, no matter what sport or discipline you come from.

You’ll walk away knowing:

• How to structure sessions that build real physical foundations

• What kids at every stage actually need to move, learn and grow

• How to make your classes engaging, safe and developmentally sound

This workshop is for:

• Gym owners and personal trainers wanting to run kids classes

• Coaches from any sport looking to develop better athletes

• Teachers and community sport volunteers

• Parents who want to actively support their child’s physical development for sport

TICKETS:

• Non-member: $220 for the day

• QWA member: $30 for the day

Not a member yet? Join as a non-athlete member for just $51 (usually $180/year) and attend for $30. That’s $81 all up — saving you $139 — and you keep your membership for the whole year.

👉 Join as a member here: Queensland Weightlifting — Join Today

👉 Workshop details and registration: Link – QWA Member  OR

Strongkids Workshop – Non QWA MEMBER Rate – Queensland Weightlifting

Reminder: Entries for the State U12/U15 & Youth Championships 26-28 June 2026* in Nambour. Entries need to be made online CALENDAR and entries close 24th May. You will find Youth qualifying information here: Qualifying for Events – Queensland Weightlifting 

*Please note that it will depend on entry numbers whether the event begins on Friday 26th – this can only be confirmed after close of entries.

Technical Officials – we are hoping to secure the attendance of enough International level referees to have a Jury at this event for upgrades to National level referee, and of course State level upgrades can also be conducted at this time. Check if you have reached the minimum requirements for either of these by logging in to your AWF account and retrieving your Technical Official activity report, then express your EOI by email to the QWA.

Orders for QWA Representative lifting suits for National U15 & Youth need to be submitted by 30th May 2026 to allow for the long lead time needed by the supplier. Email qwa@qwa.org to place your order as pre-orders are the only method to ensure that athletes for this event are able to access a suit that is in their preferred size.  Athletes intending on competing at National Junior & Seniors could also get super organised and order their suits at this time also.

We can now arrange supply and delivery of your purchase of your very own QWA banner through the QWA Shop for display in your club or home gym. https://qwashop.org/collections/all/products/qwa-affiliated-club-banner