Through family and reform, the University of Rhode Island Club Powerlifting team has quickly sprung into one of the biggest club teams on campus.
Founded in 2014, URI Powerlifting has undergone major changes over the past few years. In 2023, the club only had seven members with four executive board positions, according to URI Powerlifting Club President and third-year student Roman Olivardia. Lackluster leadership and inconsistent participation and competition made it difficult to retain members.
“There wasn’t really much guidance,” Olivardia said. “There was no community. There were no events. Dues were super expensive for what you got.”
Dues were $80 per semester with one competition a semester, according to Olivardia. Even with the dues paid, Olivardia did not have a competition during his first-year. The discouraging reality made it difficult to stick around.
“I considered not continuing with the club,” Olivardia said. “I thought, ‘This is nothing, it’s not really a team, really even a club.’”
Olivardia’s love for the sport kept him going. After taking some time to think over winter break of his first year, he gave it another shot. This time, he brought his closest friends to increase the number of members.
“I brought one of my best friends who is now my girlfriend and the secretary of the team, Kelsi [Stickels],” Olivardia said. “Us two had a really great time. Then we convinced one of our other friends to come. … That happened a few more times until we had a bit over 10 people.”
The year came to a close and elections came around. Executive board members at the time did not run for re-election. Powered by the community that was slowly building, first-year Olivardia made a big decision to run for president.
“The main factor that made me decide to run for president was that Kelsi wanted to run for secretary,” Olivardia said. “I felt we could really work well together and do something.”
In a student senate vote on Wednesday March 11, the club was transitioned from a student senate recognized organization to an official club sport, one of the two main goals that Olivardia has set for the club.
“My current obsession is I am trying to get a competition certified combo rack,” Olivardia said. “We will use it in the gym and then eventually be able to host a sanctioned powerlifting meet in the Mackal Field House.”
Today, the club has 43 members with five current executive board positions, and two more positions being added next year, according to Olivardia. The club sent 26 lifters to compete locally this semester, as well as seven people nationally, the most since 2018.
While the due price has not changed, the $80 now pays for a United States of America Powerlifting membership as well as access to a variety of health resources, according to Olivardia.
“I worked with a sports nutrition professor at URI, Dr. Kathleen Milanson, on presentations on nutrition related to sport and exercise,” Olivardia said. “I worked with different trainers to make presentations on how to safely powerlift and strength train. […] I present them all to the club and those are all made available to everyone.”
The club has created community and changed the lives of its many members, according to fourth-year Lizzie Welch.
“I have always enjoyed working out and being at the gym, but finding this sport has changed the directory of my life,” Welch said. “I have the community in every competition I go to, in every gym I go to. Powerlifting gyms are always such a fun and welcoming environment. I’m really happy to be here.”
A staple in the community for many, URI Powerlifting provides a hand of support in a place where the competition is about bettering yourself, according to Olivardia.
“URI Powerlifting is a place for you if you want to get stronger and have a supportive community that is kind to you as long as you’re kind to them,” Olivardia said. “We’re like a small family.”
To get involved with the club, people can directly message the club’s Instagram page, join a practice at the Mackal Weight Room at 9:15 p.m. on Thursdays and 8 p.m. on Fridays or contact them through their website.
