Tauranga powerlifting trainer Mike Jones will be one of 16 coaches wrangling 110 Kiwi athletes at the Oceania Regional Powerlifting and Bench Press Championships in Christchurch from November 17 to 20.

Selected to be the assistant coach for the New Zealand team, his skill is highlighted by the fact that eight powerlifting masters who train under him at The Ruthless Barbell Club in Judea will join him in Christchurch to compete in their respective grades.

Jones said his role was to make New Zealand win or place as highly as possible.

“Our whole job is to put medals around necks and make sure New Zealand comes out on top.”

Judea powerlifting coach Mike Jones will be assistant coach for the New Zealand team. Photo / Brydie Thompson

Decent record

With eight years of powerlifting experience under his belt, Jones has been coaching the sport since 2019.

“They’re not letting just anyone do it. I would suggest that I was selected because I’ve had a decent track record and history of coaching in international competitions before.”

Jones said he was pleasantly surprised so many of his athletes were chosen to compete. The Ruthless Barbell Club members would be competing, Jones said. Some would compete to try their best, while others would try to break records, he said.

This would be Jones’ fourth time coaching at an international event after the 2022 Commonwealth Championships and the Masters World Championships in 2023 and 2024.

He said the Oceania Championship would host athletes from NZ, Australia, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tahiti, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, American Samoa, Niue and the Solomon Islands.

Judea powerlifters Kelly Egan, Stacey Handley, Delwyn Evans, Karen Humphreys and Sela Kingi, with their coach Mike Jones in front. Photo / Brydie Thompson

Planning

NZ’s team of 110 would compete across the four days.

Jones said he would be busy coaching other athletes as well as his own from Tauranga.

“Every athlete needs some sort of coaching on the day.”

The trick, he said, was to do as much planning as he could before the competition.

“If I’m unfamiliar with an athlete that I’m going to be working with, I get in touch with them, I talk to them, I look through their powerlifting history and I look where their strengths and weaknesses are.”

He said whether he was coaching one of his own or not, his plan stayed the same.

“I’m there for them. They have 100% of my attention and resources. Sometimes you might be coaching two athletes at the same time, but same thing; we work as a team, we work together.”

The Ruthless Barbell Club’s Masters athletes ranged from 41 to 81.

Inspiring

For Tauranga athlete Kelly Egan, the competition would be her first after starting the sport two years ago. The 50-year-old said when she started, her lifting total was 280, now she’s at 360.

“It’s not easy at all,” she said, adding that she often thought she was too old for the sport before remembering there was an 81-year-old on the team.

“We do it because we love it, and every time you do a PR [personal record], you want to get another one, and it’s just addictive.”

She said Jones was a professional and inspiring coach and she was proud to be on the team to represent NZ on the world stage.