Toowoomba athletes named in elite national weightlifting squads

A small industrial shed in North Toowoomba is developing into a hotbed of junior athletic talent with the club’s young members earning places in Australian development squads.

Toowoomba Weightlifting club member Sophie Daley, Monday, December 6, 2021. Picture: Kevin Farmer

WEIGHTLIFTING: Tucked away in an industrial shed in North Toowoomba is a club on the fast track to national success.

The Toowoomba Weightlifting Club may be small in size but they are proving to be a force on the national scene.

Several members of the club have recently been named in national squads – including the inaugural Australian Weightlifting Federation Pathway Squad.

The AWF Pathway Squad will introduce young lifters under the age of 17 to the first stages of high performance training.

Bart Steffen and Sophie Daley are among the first 15 athletes chosen in the squad and are joined by a familiar face – their TWC head coach Greg Hobl.

“I was very lucky to be named as the Pathway Squad manager,” Hobl said.

“The purpose is to introduce young athletes to the beginnings of high performance training.

“Initially they will be involved for about six months and then assessed to see how they have developed and improved.

“There is also the opportunity to attend Australian Institute of Sport training camps and low level international competitions in the future – most likely somewhere like New Zealand.”

Steffen and Daley have shown plenty of promise in their blossoming lifting careers and Hobl is glad they were selected in the Pathway Squad.

Toowoomba weightlifter Tori Gallegos

“Sophie has only been with us (TWC) for a year or so,” he said.

“She has very good technique and a great attitude – she’s always listening and eager to learn and improve.

“Bart came to us as a BMX rider eager to get stronger to improve his riding.

“He’s shown great promise very early and I think he has a career in either sport.”

Nelson Harris (Junior Squad) and Tori Gallegos (Super Squad) also gave the club reason to celebrate at the weekend.

A new addition to the club having moved to Toowoomba from New South Wales, Harris was named in the AWF Junior Squad and Gallegos in the Super Squad.

“Where the Pathway Squad is the very beginning, these squads are further along the pathway,” Hobl said.

“Nelson was named in the Junior Squad because of his efforts and his previous club – he’s a very good lifter.

“Tori’s selection is amazing because she is still classified as a junior and she is the only junior among a squad of senior athletes.”