Retired special needs educator Daryl Haskew has known more than a few people who have had to lift and carry some heavy loads. Since becoming a power lifter himself as well as coach to special needs and fully-enabled athletes alike, he is acutely aware a how sports can lighten a load. And not just metaphorically. But literally through the sport of power lifting.

“I’ve seen how much it does for our challenged athletes on so many levels,” he said. “And I’ve seen it do great things for all kinds of people of any age. It’s really a sport for life. And it’s really one of the few sports where people with intellectual challenges or vision or hearing problems can step up and compete side-by-side with the mainstream people.”

Haskew, of Fairhope, works regularly with the ARC of Baldwin County and Special Olympics and recently served as the 2013 Alabama State Powerlifting meet director held in Mobile where a number of Baldwin athletes and others set new records in the sport. When he was a coach at the high school level his teams won 12 World Medals in three different Special Olympics World Games. Two of the lifters still hold open USAPL Alabama State Records in the Teen Division.

Now he is hoping the sport will soon catch on at the high-school level, especially in the Baldwin and Mobile areas. “Every sport has to start somewhere,” he said. “This is a major sport in some states and the great thing is that it ties into so many other sports already going on from football to track and field. Strength and flexibility training go hand-and-hand with girls and boys sports these days. In some schools it’s a required P.E. class, but it’s really mostly seen as a tool for other sports, and that’s great. But

still, there are—who knows how many—high-school age kids who could benefit from it, but don’t play a sport at school or can’t take P.E. so they don’t get exposed to it. A lot of kids don’t know it’s a fully sanctioned sport by itself outside of school and don’t know how to go about getting involved. Some kids may have been injured and can’t play, can’t compete anymore in their sport, but they might be able to really excel in powerlifting.”

A call is going out to high-school lifters around the state, girls and boys, to be part of a lifting team to represent Alabama in April in a meet in Mobile as a battle of seven southeastern states. But no local lifters have come forward to join so far.

“We have a few boys and maybe a girl coming from Talladega,” Haskew said. “But we can field as many as 15 (top seven scores count) and it would be great to have some kids from around here on it. It’s a chance to represent the state in a big competition. That doesn’t come along everyday.”

Time could be a factor working against the local element, however. Haskew said it generally takes about eight weeks to train for a meet. And the meet is about eight weeks away. “We welcome anyone interested and we can work with them to get as ready as possible, but it would be nice if anybody knows someone (in high school) who might work out and be a little further along training-wise.”

Haskew said a competitor’s size or weight is not the main factor in a formulated point meet like this one. Anyone of any weight, male or female, can be on the team. The goal is to lift as a team. The scores are based on individual body-weight to weight-lifted-ratios.

“It can really get exciting,” he said. “A skinny girl on the team can determine the outcome if she has the strength to successfully move a certain amount of weight relative to her weight.”

He added that training also requires learning the rules and understanding how important it is to adhere to each one during a meet. There are also a lot of different types of lifting for teams and individuals. He also said anyone interested can come and observe and simply cheer on Team Alabama at the meet.

“This is just one type of meet, but it can be a lot of fun, especially for newcomers to the sport. Powerlifting is a sport that takes dedication and you really have to put some sincerity into it to get something out. The more you put in the more you get out. But it’s also one that you can work at at your own pace.”

Haskew said that athletes can join the USA Power Lifting (USAPL) as young as 10 years of age and compete in age-appropriate divisions including teen, high school and adult as well as the open divisions for men and women.

The meet is April 27 at Fort Whiting. Anyone interested in being a part of the Alabama High School team should contact meet director Jay Todia at: jtodia@gmail.com or (251) 654-1517. Daryl Haskew can be reached at: 2haskews@bellsouth.net