Sponsoring Athletes and Competitions


Since Lifting Large began in 2004 we have always been proud to sponsor strength contests and strength athletes. With both Teale and I competing on powerlifting, strongman and highland games we felt giving and helping where we could should go right along with our passion and our business. Most iron athletes know there is no big bank account at the end of the PR rainbow. The gifted few get some sort of compensation for being the best of the best.

We decided that we wanted to help support the average everyday athlete that pours their heart and soul into the sport but will most likely never be at that top level and garner the interests of the company that only want the big names on their advertising programs. We wanted to give back to the competitor that also gives back by helping other lifters or helping promote their sport or sports and just loves the competition every day. The person that has a fulltime job and kids at home and squeezes in a few workouts a week between the kids’ school and work meetings. The person that breathes rust from being addicted to the steel and iron and the thought of lifting heavier year after year. To us this is the person that deserves the recognition also and deserves a few perks for the dedication to their sports.

I would say on average we get 15 requests a week from athletes or athletes parents asking for sponsorship. Most of these requests are from lifters that say they just started and set a state record and that in a few years they will be setting set American records. They almost always ask for money and free t-shirts. Parents also email for their high school kid that has incredible potential and will most likely win the state competition. It is great to see a parent put such faith in their child but as with the newly crowned state champion I refer them to our annual sponsorship contest that starts in December every year.

Our Annual sponsorship contest is designed with about 20 questions to help us pick the 6 deserving winners that Lifting Large will sponsor through the following year. We look at some of the following items: What do you do for your sport? Do you judge or ref? How long have you been in the sport? What will you do for your sport in the new year? We generally get about 1000 entries from around the world. The replies to some of our questions are amazing. You can quickly tell who is in it for themselves and themselves only. They only care about how many trophies can I buy at the meet. This is the exact opposite of the person that Lifting Large is looking for. We don’t care what iron/strength sport you are in at all. We care if you care for the sport and giving back. It takes hours and hours to comb through the entries and narrow them down.  We are very proud of our 2019 winners and all the have achieved so far this year.

Sponsoring meets and contest is a tricky situation for even after 15 years. We want to help all contest directors but that isn’t possible. We try to set up a booth at a couple larger multiple day meets and sponsor those. We also pick 6-7 smaller meets a year and sponsor those at some level. We receive 5-6 requests a week from powerlifting or strongman contest directors asking for money. Usually it is a cut and paste email crudely put together and it usually start with “Dear sir or ma’am”. That usually signals my right hand to hit the delete button.  If the meet director does not have enough courtesy to at least look at our “who we are” page as address us by name, then how could we want to help them. I have run close to 30 powerlifting and strongman competitions and I know it is hard to drum up sponsors, but you have to play the game to get support. It is a two-way street. A sponsor does not just want to hand you money or freebies without something in return. As a meet director you are selling a product. You are selling the sponsors company to the competitors and spectators. Think of it as a job interview and the sponsor is the boss looking to hire someone.  Sorry I am done with my rant.

As I said earlier our sponsorship contest start in mid-December. If you would like to enter then either watch out website or enter your address at the very bottom of our main page to get notified when the contest is open for applications

Check out our athletes for 2019

Joe Grossi @strongmangrossi
Liz Stewart @liz_beast474
Andrew Clayton @runningstrongman
Cassandra Misiak @bonschro
Peter Nguyen @peterpowerlifter
Marisa Golob @marisagolob