LOCAL SCENE
Covering the greater Philadelphia area ,New Jersey, Bucks,Montgomery
counties and Lehigh Valley,Pa
From Kyle Bixler of Teambix:
Entries
should be up soon...but here are some details for this charity event we
have coming up: Date: December 12th, 2009 Time: Weigh-In Sat: 9am-11am
Rules 11am Contest Start 12:00pm Location: JBN 3864 Courtney Street
Suite
140 Bethlehem, PA 18017 Events: Log Press for Reps, Crucifix
Hold, Farmer's
Hold, Max Part...ial
Deadlift, Stone over bar for reps We will be working with the
local
Toys for Tots...entry fees will be $40, plus you must bring a new toy
of at
least a $10 value on the day of the contest. More info coming
soon!
Oct 23rd
Next PA Strongman meet hosted by Kyle:
Hello all, I just wanted to send a heads up that we will be adding
one
more contest in Pennsylvania for the 2009 season. With a bunch of local
interest JBN and I will be hosting,
"Strongmen Support Santa," on
12/12/09. It will be a similar contest to "Hope for the Holidays," in
that we will be collecting toys at the
contest for Toys for Tots. Entry
fee will be $40 plus a new toy worth at least $10. Ages we are buying
toys for are elementary school age kids, both boy and girl. Even if you
are not going to compete but wish to come and watch, a toy will count
as your admission as well, if you do not wish to bring a toy admission
will be
the usual $5.00. Entry forms and paperwork has already been
submitted to NAS and entry forms should
be up this week. Thank you all
and I hope to collect a lot of toys for the kids this Christmas.
Oct 7th
I just found out that my friend Kyle has created a new Pa Strongman site/blog. I posted the first comment after Kyles initial one. Check it out here:
Coming Oct 10th
Plumstead Christian School pancake breakfast and 5k run
register at www.plumsteadchristian.org
Oct 1st
New article posted on Examiner.com about my friend Dave Richardson:
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-20420-Allentown-Weight-Lifting-Examiner~y2009m9d30-Local-Lifter-Profile-Quakertowns-Dave-Richardson
Also, new Examiner article posted today about Bethlehem's Teambix
strongman team:
Sep 15th
See this week's examiner article about my latest visit to the York Barbell HOF
Sep 10th
See this week's article, an interview with Palisades Football & strength coach
Sep 3rd
Souderton High 09-10 Football schedule link:
August 17th
I just became the "Allentown weight lifting examiner" on an internet based
news system ( Examiner.com).
I posted my first article last week. Please check it out,tell a friend, make
a comment ,become a subscriber. Tell me what I should write about in this
column.
Read it here:
Aug 6th
Great photo album of Lehigh Valley Sportsfest Strongman event
a couple weeks ago( from the morning call)
Aug 3rd
Eagles training camp,schedule,etc
Check out this link for the scoop:
July 28th
Here is a photo from the July19th Lehigh Valley Sportsfest Strongman event
I will post results as soon as I get them.
Joseph Tedrow, 24, of Richmond, Va., channels his
inner “Arnold” as he competes in the log press during
the strongman competition. Athletes hoist a 220-pound
log above their head as often as possible in this
timed event. Photo by Steve Andres
There's strong, and then there's SportsFest strong
Annual sports extravaganza, which begins in earnest today, unveils new competition.
By Andre D. Williams | OF THE MORNING CALL
July 16, 2009
Lehigh Valley SportsFest XIII now goes to bat at Cedar Beach.
And Alton Park.
And Jordan Park.
And at 19 other locations throughout Allentown and the Lehigh Valley.
Related links
SportsFest: 14 new events and all the favorites
CCHS win ends one tourney; another set to go In all, 49 amateur sports will be contested today through Sunday, the most popular being boys and girls basketball and the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves boxing competition.
Cedar Beach will host all three events.
SportsFest has another event that might please crowds just as much -- and it's off-the-wall. Only strong men and women may participate. The event, after all, is called the strongman competition, one of 14 new events that has SportsFest chairman Ray Atiyeh declaring, ''We are all about promoting new sports.''
Strongman is different. It features a log and key carry, tire flip and other nontraditional lifting contests that require strength, confidence, and lots of training.
That's where Kyle Bixler, founder of TeamBIX Strength and Sports, comes into play.
''If you have never been to a strongman competition, I suggest you come out and watch,'' Bixler said. ''Wild and intense would be the best words to describe strongman.''
Not anyone can do it. Every contestant has to be a member of the North American Strongman Society. Bixler has been training local high school and college athletes since 2005, mostly at the Krank'd Performance Center in Bethlehem.
The competition begins at noon Sunday at Cedar Beach.
''Through training, people started asking me when I was going to hold my own competition,'' Bixler said. ''We started with some small ones and then in September 2008 we held 'The Strongest Man in the Valley.' In April 2009 we held 'The Krank'd Classic.'
Both were held at Just Be Natural, a supplement company in Bethlehem.
Now, strongman is a part of SportsFest.
''Each event I promote seems to be getting bigger and bigger,'' Bixler said.
That's what has happened to SportsFest, which began with 16 events in 1997. Professional boxing and pro wrestling attracted big crowds in the early years before Atiyeh and his board of directors decided to make SportsFest strictly for amateur athletes.
''Our main goal is to treat the amateur athlete like a pro with the camera on them and with good treatment,'' Atiyeh said. ''We want the Lehigh Valley community to cheer for them and make them feel better about their competition.''
Jim Gillespie, coordinator of 5-on-5 flag football that became a part of SportsFest 11 years ago, is just as thrilled as Atiyeh.
''This tourney is growing every year,'' Gillespie said. ''Flag football in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware has grown 10 times in as many leagues and tournaments as five years ago. The 5- on- 5 style started in this area and has expanded nationally.''
The flag football tournament starts at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at Cedar Beach, and will feature several ex-high school stars. Freedom boys basketball coach Joe Stellato is also scheduled to play.
''There is no clear-cut favorite with so many good teams playing and the talent dispersed,'' Gillespie said. ''For this tournament, I have 22 teams with nine of them traveling from outside of the Lehigh Valley.''
High school boys and girls basketball and amateur boxing begin today at Cedar Beach. Basketball games start at 5 p.m., boxing an hour later.
Weigh-ins and on-site registration for the strongman are from 9-11 a.m. Sunday. Anyone signing up must be a member of NAS. Member cards are available for purchase at the contest for $40.
The Mike Brantley story:
Mike is a powerlifter that was in a serious motor cycle accident causing los of 2 limbs,
but he still pumps iron and still competes!
Mike is from Fairton, New Jersey, and I had the pleasure of meeting him at the IPA Worlds
on June 27th. He was in the most recent Power lifting USA also!
July 7th
Check out this local Strongman page based in Hellertown,Pa:
July 2nd
Please check out our friend Ken's new Kenpo Karate studio in Quakertown
See the new website here:
June 30
Videos from York Barbell IPA Worlds
Dave Richardson's final squat at meet, for more videos, go to the forum.
( Dave is from Quakertown,Pa)
Dave also set a new World record 415 Raw amateur 40-44 class bench
( video on forum) at this meet!
Also see a virtual tour of York Barbell's weightlifting Hall of Fame, and Museum.
June 23rd
More Upcoming local meets:
In addition to those mentioned further down the page,
there are several more meets coming up in our region:
Aug 9th WNPF World BP/DL/PC and Lifetime Single lift nationals
Aug 29th USAPL S Jersey Sports Extravaganza and deadlift championships
SEp 12th APA Keystone State Championships PL,PP,BP,DL,SP,OP,SC,reps Lancaster,PA www.apa-wpa.com
Oct 3rd WNPF Winter Classic PL championship Ambridge,Pa Ron Deamicis powerlt@aol.com
Oct 12th IPA Power Challenge Royersford,Pa
Oct 17,18 WNPF World PL Championships & Intern. BP/DL/PC & Can-Am Campionships Bordentown,NJ
Oct 24,25 USAPL Northeastern USA Regional BP/PL Ft. Washington,Pa
Nov 13-15 RAW United N. American Open Greencastle,Pa
June 23rd
New idea for local scene page: local Bargain alert!
Send yours in and I'll post here.
the idea is, if you see a great deal at a thrift store, in a
local paper, on craigslist for our
area,etc, let us know,please.
I'll get it started with a nice couple of finds I saw this week.
1) Hellertown Family Thrift Store,rte 412 had a torso track
for $3.93. These used to sell for as much as $200
2) Goodwill Thrift store in Quakertown, 309 &
Trumbauersville rd had a couple of curl bars with clips for about $5 each as of the other day.
June 17th update
Richland Area Softball Association
This is the league the Harvest ladies play on.
The ladies are doing a little better in the W/L column
so far. Come out and watch a game!
The link has schedules,etc
Coming next month to Allentown:
All kinds of sporting events over this weekend July16-18, including powerlifting contest held by Allentown Y,
and bodybuilding, boxing, much more!! Check out the
website by clicking above.
Also, in August there will be a WNPF power meet in either Bordentown or AC,New Jersey.
Keep an eye out for details here to follow, or go to the
WNPF site for applications,etc
June 4th
Here is the link to the Quakertown Slowpitch Softball
League
Schedules, directions to fields, rankings, etc
There are also links to other local teams here. HARVEST
has a team on the league,
you can find out when the games are.etc