How To Go To College For Olympic Weightlifting
Who aM I?
My name is Calvin Lackey, and I’m currently captain of Lindenwood University's olympic weightlifting team. I discovered weightlifting in high school and attempted to learn the lifts and get stronger on my own. After securing a scholarship from Lindenwood University's program my progress exploded, most recently scoring 6th place at The National University Championships
What Is Olympic Weightlifting?
Olympic weightlifting, commonly known as just "weightlifting,", describes the competitive execution of two movements: the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. This strength sport dates back to the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, making it one of the oldest athletic disciplines. It's important to understand the difference between weightlifting and powerlifting, another strength sport which competes in the Back Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift, and is not part of the Olympic Games.
Weightlifting in College
In the United States, weightlifting isn’t just represented at the olympic level but also at the collegiate level. College competitions are run through the USA Weightlifting Federation, as opposed to the NCAA. The National University Championships (NUC) is an annual competition organized by USA Weightlifting. This is probably my favorite competition venue because it is held at the Arnold Sports Festival, the biggest convention and competition venue for strength sports and fitness. To qualify for university nationals, you must be 25 years old or younger, submit a current college transcript (or have graduated within the last year), compete in a USA Weightlifting-sponsored National University Qualifier (NUQ), and lift the minimum qualifying total in your weight class which you can find here.
Types of College Weightlifting Programs
Collegiate weightlifting programs can be broken down into two categories:
1) Scholarshipped Programs
2) Club Programs
Scholarshipped programs receive financial support from their affiliated universities, a portion of which is allocated to student-athlete scholarships. These programs usually cover competition expenses, including travel and registrations.
Top examples: Lindenwood University (Missouri), East Tennessee State University (Tennessee), Concordia University (Nebraska), MidAmerica-Nazarene University (Kansas), LSUS (Louisiana), Brewton Parker University (Georgia), Menlo University (California), and several more
Club programs exhibit a wide range of support levels and cultural differences. Unlike Scholarshipped programs, Club participants may be required to pay club fees and finance their competition and training/coaching.
Top examples: University of Florida (Florida), UT Austin (Texas), FSU (Florida), The Ohio State University (Ohio), and many more
USA Weightlifting provides a map of university programs, both Scholarshipped and Club-affiliated.
Now THIS is really important for recruits… I’ve made a spreadsheet with every college program and their contact info
Check out this full list of college weightlifting programs, last updated Spring 2024
Securing a Weightlifting Scholarship
In order to get a scholarship for weightlifting, you must reach out to coaches of programs that offer scholarships. Don’t expect to just wait around for coaches to reach out to you! I recommend finding the coach’s information through our spreadsheet with every college program here.
Tips for Recruitment
If you're looking to get recruited by a scholarship program, I would recommend creating a dedicated weightlifting Instagram account like I did to showcase your lifts, especially if you have impressive numbers. It helps coaches to get a better idea of what your numbers are and see your technique, as well as removes some of the friction in communication that would normally take multiple emails over a long period of time. Along with this, in 2024, all of the best programs have an Instagram account and follow lifters who have potential. Many of their programs’ best athletes also will post their lifting progress. Simply DM’ing them to introduce yourself can be a great way to start the conversation!
When considering weightlifting at the college level, you should consider joining USA Weightlifting-affiliated clubs, easily located through USAW's Club Finder. Many young weightlifting athletes come from Florida's FHSAA high school weightlifting league, but it's important to realize that your high school coach might not have in-depth knowledge of USA Weightlifting rules or knowledge of how to coach the olympic lifts at the high level. Athletes who really want to make it to the next level should consider working with USA Weightlifting certified coach who has lots of experience at USA Weightlifting sponsored events. This is something I really wish I had done before competing at the college level, it would have given me a big leg-up!
P.S. Click here to fill out my coaching application if you’re ready to take your weightlifting to the next level, and if you’re looking for more information about my university program, Lindenwood University, feel free to reach out to me @calvinlackey81kg or to our coach @lindenwoodweightlifting!