Teesside powerlifters get top training facilities

THE Teesside Barbarians Powerlifting team has recieved a huge boost to its training after access to new equipment.

The club has been given permission to use the Centuria South building for training which gives it access to greater equipment to help them perform at the highest quality.

Club chairman Andrew Richardson is pleased with this new development.

Andrew said: “We’re very grateful that the university has allowed us to train there.

“It has recognised that we needed this extra equipment.

“Where we’re training at the moment is good but this gives us extra space and the freedom to a lot more specific training.”

The Barbarians team were launched in January as founder Andrew wanted a club that would help him train for competitions.

The club membership grew quickly and was boosted by the Freshers Fair event in September.

Andrew, who studies Applied Sport Science, said that the fair helped greatly with getting the club noticed.

Andrew said: “The Freshers Fair helped well and we got a lot of advertisement out of it.

“A lot more people became aware and a lot more people signed up.

“We missed the fair last year having started in the middle of the year, so we didn’t quite have the stage to put ourselves out there.

“Despite that, we still got a good response at the time but this helped us build our membership even further.”

The Barbarians have also recieved help from other sports, as they planned to get all the clubs linked together.

They formed a partnership with the American Fooball team The Teesside Cougars to offer a discounted membership to joining both clubs, allowing those that join to get the best of both worlds.

Andrew has established quite a powerlifting career since taking part in the sport after getting injured playing rugby.

In 2013, he began competing in powerlifting in the under 18-19 category.

It didn’t take him long to make an impact as he was able to win the National powerlifting, European powerlifting and the World powerlifting tournaments in the under 90kg event.

He’s currently training to take part in the Irish National competition in February and the World competition in June where he is looking to try to break the squat world record in his age category.

Andrew said: “This would be quite the accomplishment for me after the work I’ve put in this year.

“Last year I really struggled with the squat but this year I’ve busted my backside off for it.

“It’ll be great to have the chance to compete at a high level for it.”

Andrew also represented Ireland in the Four Nations against England, Scotland and Wales.

Hailing from Coleraine, Ireland, Andrew lifted a total of 607.5kg overall from the squat, bench press and deadlift events while representing his country.

And he’s hoping for more success in the future for him and the Barbarians.

To get involved in the Powerlfiting club, see the Teesside Barbarians Powerlifting Club Facebook page for more details.