Your first WL meet

It could be coming up on February 4th! And here is what to expect from your first meet.

First thing, have fun! You're new to the sport, and like any sport it takes years to get good at it, and a lifetime to master (if you master it at all). So don't worry about it. Go out, have some fun, see what you can do, and watch some great lifting. (and probably some not so great)

What happens at a WL meet? Good question.

First thing is your weigh in. At your weigh in you will tell the judge what your opening attempts will be. This happens 2 hours before your session starts. These are the following weight classes you could fit into.
Women:
48 kg
53 kg
58 kg
63 kg
69 kg
75 kg
75+ kg

Men:
56 kg
62 kg
69 kg
77 kg
85 kg
94 kg
105 kg
105+ kg

If it's your first meet don't concern yourself with "making weight". That really is just an added level of stress you don't need your first time out. In fact, unless you've actually got a shot at qualifying for Nationals or something, I wouldn't worry about it for quite a while.

After your weigh in, you can hang out and watch the other sessions, go get some breakfast/lunch, whatever you want. You'll want to start warming up a little before your session starts, I think 5 minutes before it starts (maybe it's 10 minutes?) all the lifters in your session will be lined up and introduced to the crowd.

The first lift that is contested is the Snatch. Lifters will lift in order of lowest to highest weight attempted. There is 1 minute between each attempt, unless you are following yourself, in which case you get an extra minute of rest. You get 3 individual attempts at the heaviest Snatch you can manage. You need 2/3 white lights for it to be a good lift.

There is another break of about 10 minutes between the Snatch session and the C+J session. It goes the same way as the Snatch session.

The winners of each weight class is chosen based on their Totals. You get your Total by adding together your best successful Snatch and C+J of the day.

And that's it.

I'd love to see our new lifters make it out for this meet, it's only in Saskatoon so we don't have to travel all that far. And if it's your first meet you aren't required to wear a singlet, as long as your elbows and knees are uncovered, and your clothes aren't really baggy (to allow for proper judging of the lifts) you will be fine.