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Council, 2018 - 2022

  Andrew Saxton, President

Andy has  been involved in the sport of Olympic Weightlifting as a lifter or coach for over 40 years.  He was British Champion at every level from schoolboy through to senior on multiple occasions.  Andy represented Great Britain at multiple World Junior and Senior Championships.  He also represented Great Britain at two Olympic Games (Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992)  He represented England at the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games winning a bronze at just19 years of age!  In 1990 he competed for England in Auckland winning 3 Gold medals.  In 1994 Andy represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Canada winning 3 silver medals. 

 

Andy has coached lifters at all levels from state/divisional level right through to European, Commonwealth, World and Olympic level.  Andy has also coached at international events for Great Britain.  Andy currently is the head coach at OX Weightlifting Club in Perth, WA.  Andy holds an NCAS 3 Coaching accreditation.

When not coaching weightlifting or running strength and conditioning sessions for cricketers and other sportsmen & women, Andy works full time as a chaplain at a local high school.

  Rebecca Levine, Vice-President

 

Rebecca’s journey with Olympic Weightlifting started when she began training under Jack Walls at Midland PCYC in 1992. As a lifter, Rebecca was Australian Champion at School Girl, Youth, Junior and Senior levels and State Champion across all age groups on multiple occasions. Holding multiple National and State records, Rebecca retired after a severe shoulder injury, and double shoulder surgery ended her career as a lifter.

On a technical front, Rebecca has been a state referee since 1993, and national referee since 1994, and aspires to become an International referee in the near future. Rebecca also achieved Level 1 Coaching accreditation around the same time.

Rebecca works part time at Western Australia’s flagship Bunnings store in Bayswater as Vice Night-fill Captain and is keyholder to the store. Rebecca also studies part time at Murdoch University, undertaking a Bachelor of Science (Medical, Molecular and Forensics) degree.

“From Olympic Weightlifting’s early beginnings in Western Australia, it is wonderful to see former International Athletes, like Jay and Andy Saxton, take the reigns and lead this state into a professional and competitive body of athletes, while providing a platform for younger athletes to develop.” 

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    Jay Saxton, Honorary Secretary

Jay was introduced to weightlifting over 30 years ago.   As an athlete Jay was British and Australian Champion multiple times, competing for Australia at three World Championships (1993, 1994, 1999) and for Great Britain once in Thailand in 1997.   Jay also had the privilege of competing for Australia and Great Britain in multiple European, European Union, Oceania and Commonwealth Championships during her career.  Jay was the reserve for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.  Jay helps with the programming and coaching of lifters and athletes at OX Weightlifting Club. 

Jay is currently the High Performance Manager for WA and South Australia, holds an NCAS 2 Coaching accredirtation and National level referee status.

Jay holds a degree in computer science and a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education.  She currently teaches ICT and Digital Technologies at a local primary school.

   Honorary Treasurer - Alfern Afonso

"I started weightlifting about 2 years ago to stay fit but soon got addicted to the sport and started training at the RevBBC in Nov of 2018 with the idea of competing. I am currently enjoying training towards the goals I have set for myself in the sport.

I have taken on the role of the Treasurer of WWA to offer my finance skills and knowledge to help the community and the sport of weightlifting within WA sustain and grow.

I work as an accountant and playing music on the side which is one of my other passions."

   Council Members.

Ordinary Council Member #1, Paul Falconer.

I’m still new at this sport, started weight lifting in 2014 and came from a running background.

I also participated in kayaking, cycling, obstacle racing and boxing

I held committee positions with the Rockingham triathlon club, the Rockingham hash house running club

Helped organise running events, triathlons and cycle races and helped coach in boxing

My aim with the committee is to move the sport forward, run the organisation in a professional manner and improve facilities and training technique for the members

 
  Ordinary Council Member #2, Renee Hogan.

Renee’s journey with Olympic weightlifting started through Crossfit in 2017, she then transitioned into full time weightlifting in 2018. Renee has represented the state in National competitions since 2019 and continues to strive to full-fill her career on the platform in the years ahead.  

Renee works as a full-time personal trainer and weightlifting coach at The Rev Barbell Club. Renee aims to provide an athletes perspective to the council and give back to the community that has given so much to her.

 

 Ordinary Council Member #3, Jackie Stanesby.

I’m not a weightlifter but the mum of one of WA’s youngest lifters, Jake.  I work full time as a Mental Health Nurse and also teach Under Graduate nursing students at the University of Notre Dame.

Since Jake started weightlifting in 2017 I have been so happy with how the weightlifting community have supported and encouraged him in his journey. As a parent I couldn’t ask for more and I hope to be able to give something back to the community through this role. 

Encouraging youngsters to engage in the sport and enabling them to be the best they can possibly be is my goal. 

 

Ordinary Council Member #4, Matt Helstrip.

I started weightlifting in May 2014 in the UK after being introduced to the sport by a friend. I used to play rugby union but injured both my rotator cuffs so olympics weightlifting seemed like a logically choice if sport to take up.
I was originally self taught from watching videos on the internet and then I found a local coach for a couple of months. When I moved to the London area I started training at a club called Europa Weightlifting club, where my passion for the sport grew immensely.
Since moving to Australia I have competed at state level several times and have qualified for nationals but have never been able to make the trip over.
I wanted to join the weightlifting council to give active weightlifters a voice on the council, to ensure that what really matters to the athletes is heard and taken on board. 
My aim is to help make weightlifting and travel for athletes more affordable and to provide opportunity for athletes to be rewarded for all the hours they put into their training.
 

 

 
 
 

 

Ordinary Council Member #5, Ant Usmar.

Having dabbled with Weightlifting throughout his life as a young rugby player, Ants attention really turned to the sport in 2013 when he wanted to improve his knowledge of the lifts to improve his coaching as a strength and conditioning coach. Since then, its been all in, turning his whole coaching and business structures towards the sport. Ant is the owner and head coach of The Rev Barbell Club and a regular member of State Coaching staff for junior and senior squads. It is Ant’s goal and passion to grow the sport of Weightlifting in WA.

 

 

 
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