ATTENTION AAU ATHLETICS MEMBERS

The dates for the 2015 AAU Junior Olympic Games are now available! The Multi-Events portion of the 2015 AAU Junior Olympic Games will take place from August 1st – August 2nd, with the first day of packet pickup beginning on July 31st.

The Track & Field portion will begin August 3rd and go through August 8th, with the first day of packet pickup starting on August 2nd. Packet Pickup and Competition will take place at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, VA.

For more information on this first class event, continue to check www.aaujrogames.org.

PRE-ORDER MEDAL LANYARD APPLICATION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 30th, 2014

First I would like to thank you for hosting AAU Licensed events in your District!

The end of the 2014 calendar year is quickly approaching us and we need your help ordering 2015 lanyards for your leftover medals. We would like for you to count your leftover medals and submit to us the number of 2015 lanyards you would like to order for the coming year. By purchasing these lanyards you will be able to utilize your leftover medals next year and save yourself lots of money.

If you pre-order your 2015 Lanyards and send your order to the National Office by Tuesday, September 30th, 2014 you will receive the lanyards for .75 cents each. After the pre-order special is over the lanyards will be $1.00 each.

Linked here is the order form with directions on how to submit your order.

2014 AAU JOEL FERRELL AWARD WINNER – TRAMPOLINE AND TUMBLING

The sport of Trampoline and Tumbling had two deserving athletes take home the 2014 AAU Joel Ferrell this year after their performance at the 2014 AAU Junior Olympic Games!

Rachel Barnette was the female recipient of the Joel Ferrell Award in Trampoline and Tumbling. She is from the Central District and competes with Fox Volley. Barnette has five AAU National Titles, four AAU Junior Olympic Games and earned herself a spot on the 2011-2012 National Team. She has competed in AAU Trampoline and Tumbling for the past eight years, and has participated in the AAU Junior Olympic Games for the past seven of those eight.

The other Joel Ferrell Award was presented to Dylan Bohn from the Central District, who competes with 5 Star. Bohn has been a member of the AAU National Team for the past six years and has earned 12 medals from the AAU Junior Olympic Games over the last 14 years of competing. He is also an Honor Roll student at McHenry East High School in Illinois. He is only 16 years old and 14 of those he has spent competing in the sport of Trampoline and Tumbling. He has been to the AAU Junior Olympic Games 11 times over the years and has earned numerous medals. He was also recognized three times as an All-American.

Congratulations to both of these athletes and good luck in all of your future endeavors!

START AN INLINE HOCKEY PROGRAM IN YOUR AREA TODAY!

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS UP FOR BID

The AAU Wrestling Committee has National Championship Events up for bid for 2015 & 2016! The events that are available for bid are the Frosh/Soph National Duals, the Ironman Folkstyle World Championship, and the Tournament of Real Champions.

The Frosh/Soph National Duals is a relatively new event to the AAU Wrestling program. The event is a team based event open only to Freshmen and Sophomores. Teams consist of 15 weight classes with up to 3 alternates, 3 coaches, and 2 table workers. The entry fee for this event is $800 per team.

The Ironman Folkstyle World Championship is a three style event (Greco-Roman, Folkstyle, and Freestyle) where the participants earn points for their placement in each style. The overall highest point total in each age group is crowned the "Ironman". The estimated entry fee for this event is $40 per participant.

The basis of the Tournament of Real Champions is that every participant won a tournament, any tournament, anywhere. Depending on interest, the event could have two divisions: Anyone winning a National/Regional event and anyone who won a State/Local event. The Tournament of Real Champions will begin as a one day event with plans to grow into a two day event within the first two years. The estimated entry fee for this event will be $40 per participant.

For more information on these events, or to receive a bid packet, please contact the National Office at 407-934-7200.

ATTENTION AAU WRESTLING ATHLETES, PARENTS AND COACHES!

The dates for the 2015 AAU Junior Olympic Games are now available! The Wrestling portion will take place from August 3rd – August 8th, 2015 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach, VA. Registration and practice will begin August 2nd, 2015.

This event features freestyle team competition for high school age athletes. Why go to a freestyle tournament and take the chance of only wrestling twice? Come to the AAU Junior Olympic Games and wrestle 10 to 15 times!

For more information on this top of the line event, continue to check www.aaujrogames.org.

ARIZONA ATHLETE WINS 2014 AAU JOEL FERRELL AWARD IN POWERLIFTING

On July 25, fifteen-year-old Evan Pittman, a rising sophomore at Phoenix Country Day School in Arizona, was awarded the Amateur Athletic Union’s Joel Ferrell Outstanding Performance Memorial Award for the sport of powerlifting. The Joel Ferrell Award is AAU’s top award presented each year at the Junior Olympics Games to the athlete who demonstrates outstanding athletic accomplishment and sportsmanship.

Pittman received the award after winning his sixth straight Junior Olympics Games powerlifting title at the 2014 Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa, where he set seven AAU world records in the 132 lb.,14-15-yr. old division with lifts of 308 lbs. in the squat, 182 lbs. in the bench press, and 386 lbs. in the deadlift, for an 876 lb. total in the raw (no special equipment) category.

Two days later, Pittman repeated as 14-15 age group champion in the Junior Olympic Games Combine, held at Drake University Stadium, winning four of the five combine events. The following day, he also brought home gold in the first JO Games Feats of Strength competition.

" Junior Olympics has become one of the highlights of our summer as a family," Pittman said. "I really appreciate the Joel Ferrell award, because it recognizes the efforts of my coaches and parents in helping me be the very best athlete I can be."
In five years of powerlifting competition, Pittman has set more than 60 world and 75 American records in eight weight classes, and is also a four-time world champion. In 2013, he received the Best Lifter award for youth & teens at the AAU World Championships in Las Vegas, where he also received a special award from the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee for his athletic achievements.

In addition to powerlifting, Pittman is a competitive springboard diver, taekwondo black belt, and began training in the Winter Olympic sport of skeleton in 2012. He is an honor roll student and performance violinist who routinely plays for assisted living facilities and nursing homes, as well as for weddings, funerals, and church services.

The AAU Junior Olympic Games is the pinnacle youth sports competition held annually in cities around America by the Amateur Athletic Union, and is the largest national multi-sport event for youth in the United States, routinely drawing 12,00-15,000 athletes.

MISSOURI ATHLETE WINS 2014 AAU JOEL FERRELL AWARD IN WEIGHTLIFTING

Nineteen-year-old Marissa Klingseis, a rising sophomore at Missouri Western State University, is the Amateur Athletic Union's Joel Ferrell Outstanding Performance Memorial Award recipient in the sport of weightlifting for 2014. The Joel Ferrell Award is presented each year at the AAU Junior Olympic Games to an athlete who demonstrates outstanding athletic accomplishments and sportsmanship.

Klingseis was presented with the award at the 2014 AAU Junior Olympic Games in Des Moines, Iowa, where she snatched 100 kg (220 lbs.) and clean and jerked 125 kg. (275 lbs.), to win the “Best Lifter” award at JO Games for the eighth time. Klingseis has been competing in weightlifting for ten years, and is a hopeful for the 2016 Olympic Games.

"I was very happy to receive AAU's Joel Ferrell award for the second time," Klingseis said. "It makes me feel like the work that I have put in has paid off, and I feel like I am that much closer of achieving my goal of going to the Olympics."

Klingseis said she feels like she has a "good chance" of making the 2016 Olympic team for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, and that she will continue to work hard toward breaking the existing American records in her class.

The AAU Junior Olympic Games is the pinnacle youth sports competition held annually in cities around America by the Amateur Athletic Union, and is the largest national multi-sport event for youth in the United States, routinely drawing 12,00-15,000 athletes.

MEN'S INTERNATIONAL FASTPITCH CHAMPIONSHIP

Some of the best men's fastpitch players in the world will come together at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to vie for the AAU Men's International Fastpitch Championship title January 22 – 25, 2015. Nearly half the 40-team field has already committed. Teams from Bahamas, Canada, United States, and Venezuela are already on board with more entries coming in daily. This game is a sight to see for those who have never seen men play fastpitch. The excitement begins with pool play on Thursday and Friday, elimination starts on Saturday, and the championship games are on Sunday.