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View Full Version : American Strongman Setup???

ScottDowney
06-13-2005, 06:35 AM
Hey guys, I was reading through the forums and it got me thinking about an old topic I used to discuss with the English guys about strongman competitions.

In the UK, it would seem that we lack structure with regards to the outcome of competitions.

If I am correct (and please correct me if Im not :) ) in the USA you can compete and earn a pro-card....Im not quite sure what that means, but Im hoping you guys will let me know!

Strongman in the Uk seems to be somewhat of a weekend sport, tent amount to playing soccer to cure the boredom, when it should be a serious sport for serious athletes.
I have nothing against anyone that competes as I know it must take a serious amount of guts to get out there and do it, and I'll find that out in the next 18 months or so, but I beleive that strongman in the Uk as a whole, seems to be somewhat of a dying sport and its a damn shame as its an awsome sport that has some great charectors and all of the people I have met have been great.

The Uk needs some kind of structural overhaul to improve it and not just people competing in a novice competition 4 years running.....I was kinda hoping we could kick some ideas around and maybe come up with some kind of a solution to help it out.

This isnt just a simple topic, any ideas that seem like they could kick the Uk strongman circuit right where it needs it, would be discussed with people in the Uk and maybe applied ASAP.

Thanks fellas

Scott
srojv
06-13-2005, 10:22 AM
You are right in the United States there is an organization NAS INC. North American Strongman. This is a feeder system which allows amatuer strongmen to earn a pro card, which can be done either by winning a certain level show which earns you a shot at a national show win that earn pro card. Or enter a Pro Am show win that earn your pro card instantly. The sport is gaing momentum in the U.S.
Mac Smith
06-13-2005, 10:42 AM
check out www.nastrongman.com.
Ryan Brown
06-13-2005, 01:28 PM
You are right in the United States there is an organization NAS INC. North American Strongman. This is a feeder system which allows amatuer strongmen to earn a pro card, which can be done either by winning a certain level show which earns you a shot at a national show win that earn pro card. Or enter a Pro Am show win that earn your pro card instantly. The sport is gaing momentum in the U.S.

this is correct, but just to clarify just a bit:

you can win a pro card in the US by beating all amateurs at a Pro-Am contest or by winning Amateur Nationals. To compete at amateur nationals, you must qualify to compete at it, which requires placing top one, two or three in your weight class at a regular NAS show (depending on whether the show is classified as a silver, gold or platinum show).

Earning the pro card allows you to compete at Pro Ams or other pro contests for the chance to win money or qualifications to other big pro shows.
ScottDowney
06-13-2005, 01:54 PM
Id love to see the Uk gain a structure such as that, Im almost certain it would improve the way people look, think and feel about competing!
Rob Okey
06-14-2005, 06:08 PM
...people competing in a novice competition 4 years running..

That's definitely one of the worst things I can see about the comps over here in UK. As I understand it there are novice comps in NAS Inc and you get ONE novice comp in your career, that's it. After that you're put in your comps in an amateur weight class.
It would make a change to the UK scene for sure if this type of policy was put in place. Thing is it'd probably scare a fair few people off unless there was a proper lightweight division too as the impression I get is that lightweight guys over here do more novice comps than they should cos they don't want to play with the big boys. :IMHO:

Colin's "White Cliffs" comp in July is the first I've seen to have lw and hw rather than novice and open and is a step forward.
This wouldn't be too tough to do in reality, all the competitors could go together on the same equipment and then just segregate the results into lw and hw.

A ranking system would be good too.

Oh, there is one benefit to the lack of pro status over here...when you do an open comp you could be competing against some of the bigger names from UKs Strongest or BSM rather than all the good guys being in a seperate set of competitions.
ScottDowney
06-15-2005, 02:46 AM
I wouldnt mind if it scared a lot of people off mate, theres too many weekend wannabes in the sport in the Uk anyway!!

There are people competing in novices classes for years on end without ever progressing and to be honest, if they call themselves strongmen, then they should move on up and try something bigger!!
srojv
06-15-2005, 10:17 AM
I went right to open class. The heavy weight novice classes that I have seen at shows that I have competed at usually use the same weight for events that light weight opens use. If you hang just in a novice class you would never better yourself. It would be no different then trophy hunting (meaning you only enter contest you would place at)
Patrick McGuffin
06-15-2005, 06:46 PM
thay should be real men and join copetitions that are way over their heads, like me!!!