For Mackenzie O’Reilly (10), weightlifting isn’t just a free period in her class schedule but a sport and safe space she hopes to share with her classmates.
That’s why she created the new girls weightlifting club.
“I think it’s really fun and really good for girls to do weightlifting, even if you don’t use it as your main sport,” O’Reilly said. “It’s really good to train in the off season for other sports.”
O’Reilly was first introduced to the sport through her sister. She watched in awe from the bleachers, fueling her desire to lift when she got older.
“She did it all throughout high school, and I went to all her meets,” She said.” I just thought it was so cool. As soon as I got to high school, I was like, I’m doing that.”
O’Reilly started her high school journey in Florida, where her school had a weightlifting team that competed in meets. While the sport was not well known, she pushed to inform people about the team.
“It wasn’t a big thing. It’s starting to get bigger, but not a whole lot of people knew about it,” O’Reilly said. “People were like, ‘Oh you’re just in the weight training class?’ and I’m like, ‘It’s an actual sport.’”
No matter the sport, the connections have never been a small thing for O’Reilly. A new school is already hard to just to, but missing her favorite sport left her craving her community.
“Last year we would have practices, every day after school, and had so many friends in that. We would just mess around while we were lifting and stuff, and doing handstands, and running around the weight room.”
The process of starting the club was difficult for O’Reilly. She made an effort to pick a sponsor who truly cared about the club, which she eventually found in physical education teacher Jennifer Dixon and culinary teacher Autumn Francis.
“It was a little difficult since I’m new here,” O’Reilly said. “I don’t know a whole lot of people.”
She’s driving more interest for girls to join the club through the creation of mock meets, which she hopes will help members set goals to challenge and empower themselves.
“There’s three different events, and you get three tries for each lift,” O’Reilly said. “You just try your best to get your own personal record.”
O’Reilly doesn’t want to build a community based on winning. She wants her impact to go far wider and create a community for growth and strength, whether in weightlifting as a sport or training for another.
“I play so many other sports, and it has helped me with all of them, just getting stronger,” she said. “It especially helps with grip strength. I think it’s really good for girls to do it.”
