Ohio/Michigan Clubs Collaborating to Form Youth Weightlifting Series

COLORADO SPRINGS - Candace Gorby (Dayton, Ohio), Todd Baden (Toledo, Ohio) and Ryan Kyle (Sandusky, Ohio) have come together to form the 2025 Youth Weightlifting Series. The groups’ short-term goal is to give youth athletes (17 years old and under) in the Ohio & Michigan region more opportunities to compete in youth-oriented meets leading into the USAW Youth National Championships. The first three meets of the series will all be in Ohio at Glass City Weightlifting (April 5, Toledo), Sandusky Weightlifting (May 3, Sandusky) and Clean Slate Weightlifting (May 31, Miamisburg). Competitions in Michigan will be scheduled later in 2025 after Youth Nationals. Registration for each competition costs just $30.

Gorby and Kyle developed the idea for the series from a desire to give youth athletes in Ohio and Michigan more opportunities to compete outside of the youth national championships. They felt youth nationals was too intense of an environment for young athletes who were new to the sport, and local competition opportunities around Ohio and Michigan weren’t typically youth-oriented environments, nor were they frequent enough to aid development and community. With YWS competitions scheduled to occur every four weeks, the group aims to keep younger athletes engaged and focused thanks to a regular competition schedule. The hope is that youth athletes will be eager to see friends at each competition and have multiple competitions to work toward.

“The goal of the Youth Weightlifting Series is to provide youth-only competitions for Ohio and Michigan lifters to accelerate their development and competition readiness,” Kyle said. “Personally, I’d like to see the sport of weightlifting treated like a traditional youth sport where the lifters participating in the YWS view these meets as “weightlifting season,” no different than football or basketball season. The more the lifters, and especially their parents, are frequently exposed to multiple weightlifting meets the sooner they will view weightlifting in the same context as the more traditional sports rather than viewing weightlifting as a supplemental activity to their actual sports.”

“Following the Youth National Championships, we plan to expand the series to include Michigan clubs with the goal of hosting an event in Livonia, Michigan, in July,” Gorby said. “Additionally, the Ohio WSO Championships scheduled in August in Columbus will be an opportunity to highlight youth athletes as we hope to incorporate youth-only sessions and prizes.  We envision hosting a total of 6-8 meets to create a youth “season” to provide ample opportunity for youth athletes to compete.”

Youth Weightlifting Series Meets:

Competitions are every four weeks at the locations below. Competitions in Michigan are expected to be scheduled and shared following the USA Weightlifting National Championships (June 21-29, 2025). Athletes interested in competing should contact the relevant meet director at their email listed below.

The Toledo Youth Series presented by Glass City Weightlifting

When: April 5, 2025

Where: Glass City CrossFit, 3063 W Alexis Rd, Toledo, OH 43613

Registration Fee: $30

Click here for registration info

Meet Director: Todd Baden, Cardsstrength15@gmail.com

The Sandusky Youth Series presented by Sandusky Weightlifting

When: May 3, 2025

Where: 1215 Filmore St, Sandusky, OH 44870

Registration Fee: $30

Click here for registration info

Meet Director: Ryan Kyle, rwkyle@icloud.com

The Dayton Youth Series presented by Clean Slate Weightlifting

When: May 31, 2025

Where: Freedom Pointe Crossfit, 1037 Byers Rd, Miamisburg, OH 45342

Registration Fee: $30

Click here for registration info

Meet Director: Candace Gorby, Candace.gorby@gmail.com