Hardly ever do the fundamental rules of a high school sport change, but weightlifting has broken the norm and added the snatch lift to its lineup. The snatch has been represented in Olympic events along with the clean and jerk, but until this season, it had never been included in high school competitions. The snatch will be an optional lift for now, but many lifters and coaches have expressed interest in competing.
In past seasons, both bench press and clean and jerk were measured to determine if a lifter qualified for districts. These two lifts are still scored together, but the snatch is a completely separate competition.
Girls weightlifting coach Harry Meyers is all for the addition and hopes it will soon become a mandatory lift. The boys coach Isaiah Cabalwas also excited about it and expects that the snatch will eventually replace the bench press as one of the two main lifts for high schoolers.
“I’m really excited about it because when you look at Olympic weightlifting, [the clean and jerk and the snatch] are the lifts that are measured, right?” Cabal said. “The bench is just not something that you see internationally.”
Junior Jackson Salinas was also a supporter of the snatch and said it’s a much more fun and beneficial lift than the bench press. The snatch is great for increasing speed and quickness while also being a safer lift than the other two lifts according to Meyers.
“I think the snatch is the most athletic of all three lifts we have mentioned,” Meyers said. “I also think it’s easier to learn, and when taught correctly, it’s a much safer lift than the clean and jerk.”
The snatch is a completely separate competition from the other two lifts, so a lifter can qualify for districts just from the snatch. Senior lifter Alyssa Dorrien is in favor of the snatch because of its benefits for lifters that may not regularly make districts.
“I think it will help people go to districts because if they feel like they can’t with the other lifts, they’ll be able to with the snatch,” Dorrien said.
Cabal would like to normalize workouts for the snatch in practices and see all of his lifters participate. Meyers said there could be struggles incorporating all three lifts into practices, but both coaches want all of their lifters to begin the snatch now so that underclassmen will have more experience than students from other schools in the future.
“It’s kind of a given that it’s just a daily part of our routine,” Cabal said. “So that eventually, one or two years down the road when the snatch is a part of weightlifting in Florida, we’ll have been doing this for years.”
Though both teams lost many seniors last year, hopes are still high for the upcoming season. Meyers said he’d love to fill every weight class for both lifts but isn’t confident he will because many of the lifters aren’t comfortable with the snatch. Despite this, Meyers is confident that the girls can win districts in not only the clean and jerk and bench but also the snatch.
Cabal and Salinas agreed that the boys team has a lot of young talent and should be able to repeat the success the team found last year.
