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I hear yea Kaleb, these weightlifting meets can really dent the wallets, but in the end its all worth it.  Some people buy cars and paintball guns, we buy plane tickets and hotel rooms.  damn this sport!  I am 24 years old almost about to turn 25 in January and I dont want to talk about it!  I am like peter pan, I dont want to get older!  I will say that I feel 18, I feel young and I think that is very important in this sport and any sport.  feeling young, being young hearted helps keep that fire burning within you, keeps you strong, motivated and energetic.  Everybody puts a time limit on me, “you only have a few more years in you”!  fuck that and fuck you. People who think like that are sheep, I am a wolf, and so is Michael Savag!  I will compete intel this body dies.  I started this sport when I was 22 years old, and I wish everyday that I would have started when I was 8.  But instead I played football tell the age of 22 intel I found weightlifting.  I played football throughout highschool, Junior college and d1 ball at sac state intel my career was shut down by 11 or more concusions that I collcted throughout my career in football.  I had to stop playing becuase they said that if I get one more I could go into a comma and not wake up, so I foud myself at a cross roads.  I was depressed, confused and lost, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.  Football was all I ever new, football was the one thing I could lean on, football made me who I was, and when football stopped I stopped.  Tim Frizby was my strength coach at my jr college called college of the siskyous in weed california, and he is the man who got me into this great sport, he is the reason why I am not in jail, working at wallmart or dead.  He is the reason to all my succes.  I told coach Friz that I had to play a sport, I had to compete, I have way to much fire, motivation, athletic ability to stop now.  Thats when I told me about Olympic weightlifting a new the head weightlifting coach at sac state.  My eyes and ears where wide open as I hung on everry word and hand movement that coah was saying and doing, I was like a lost puppy about to find a new home!  I told him “yes”  “I want in”  “game time”  hahaha  he then made a few phone calls and got me on the team at sac state.  I o so much to him, I still dont know how I will ever pay him back.  I was a few weeks into the program at sac state and it turned out there was a coaching switch the day I came down there.  different coaching, different programing, different everything.  The change way not good, and I was not all that happy with my new sport.  I was good right off the bat, I picked it up like that.  I was snatching 110kg my first month, it was game time and I new it, but team sac didnt.  I didnt know anything about weightlifting so I had nothin to compare our team to, so I thought this was just how weightlifters did things.  we only trained 2 to 3 times a week, never really did the snatch clean and jerk, never went heavy and there wasnt any team bonding, leadership, or energy in the gym.  Intel my angel came down from weightlifting heavan, my Chines angel coach Jackie Mah!  “yes”!  she helped out at team sac a little hear and there and saw that this program wasnt fitting me, I was not to happy, she then went to tell me about a club down the street at sac highschool call Hastlee Free!  she looked around like she was telling me something top secret, we both hoped the sac state coaches didnt hear this mission impossible converstation, she said to meet her at sac high tomorrow at 3 then just walked away into the night outside of the bright green sac scate doors.  wow, that women is awesome!   I went to the weightlifting club hastlee free at 3, met the head coach Paul Dourghty, saw how they trained, the intesityand energy that was bouncing off the walls, the athletes where all going heavy in both lifts, it was paradise!   it was heavan!  I asked caoch jackie and paul is this max day, they said, “jon everyday is max day”!    I asked if they trained more than 3 times a week and they both looked at me like a was crazy, we train everyday jon.  this aint sac state, welcome to the promise land Jon North.  hell yea!!!!!  where do I sign baby!  I am in, I beleive, tell me to jump and I will ask how high.  That same day I became team hastlee free and left sac state without looking back, and I loved it.  I was not only art of the team but I was helping coach paul with coaching, learning, competeing in every meet out there, found myself as a weightlifter, I found jumpin, screaming Jonathan North, I foud myself at that club, that club made e a man, made me grow up, made me more confident than I ever was in not only weightlifting but everyday life.  Paul and Jackie where and still are the two people who found me and saved me and helped create this crazy man jon jon north!  even though they traied hard to settle me down witch was good, i needed that balance becuase I was over the top whe I first started out, uch much more that I am now.  lol   I was working and going to school full time and training when I could, so I wasnt getting the training I wanted, i wasnt hitting the numbers I wanted becuase of this school and work thing.  California strength all started when I was my favorite USA weightlifter, roll model, the one and only Donnie Shankle.  I was competeing at a locol meet down south the first time i got the guts up to talk to the legand, the myth, the man Donnie shankle.  He was standing in the very back of the meet with his hands in his hunting looking jeans, jeans that said yea I am tough strong and well just a bad ass.  he had this Millitary swet shirt on with this blue hat that covered his eyes with a dark shadow.  I told my coach Jackie mah that I wanted to talk to him, but I ddnt know what to say!  his presents was out the roof intimadating and scary, he never moved once, he just stood there like at any min he was going to jump over the crowd at lift the weight with one arm!  fuck it Jon lets do it, your a strong republican man, you can do it!  hahaha  I walked up and said, “Donnie”?  he said “yes”  I said “  I just want to say high and that I am a big fane.”  he told me thank you and thats it, then turned around ad kept his post!  i just walked away happy that i told him and that I had to courag to do it.  It wasnt tell a few months ater that he actually approached me at another locol meet and scked me a few questions about the program I was on, who coached e and so forth.  we got to talking and the whole time I was like holly shit is this really happening!  he told me that I was always welcome to come down and train with him at his gym called California strength in san ramon California.  My whole body went numb and into shock!  I said yea before he could even finish, even though I wanted to jump up and down and yell hell yes!! but didnt, I had to be cool.  I drove down there once, trained with my idol, had the best day of my life and then Donny mentioned me joining the team.  I thought I was dreaming.  I talked to the one and only Dave Spitz, the boss, the godfather the owner of the gym.  After a few more ties of training at California strength and showing them my talent and persanality, they offered me a spot on the team, not only spot on the team but I would be a full time weightlifter training two to three times a day 6 days a week, fully sponsered and paid.  I took it.  I love hastlee free but I had to take this offer, if I wanted to go to the olympics I needed to train full time and focuse more on weightlifting.  so I dropped out of school, quit my job and the next day bought a uhal and moved down.   a year later I am still hear writing to you now.  I still stay very close with hastlee free, coach jackie and coach paul, and Tim Frizby.  Now I have been training under Coach Glenn Pendlay, dave spitz, trained with Caleb Ward, max aita and Donny Shankle for the last year, and they have taken me even farther into the hard and dark world of weightlifting.  thats it, thats my story.  2012

Jon… I am sooo happy you shared your story with us… I had no idea on how your journey started… Everything that happened in your life had a purpose and reason…It’s really incredible! 
 
You did the right thing by following your dream by having the courage to introduce your self to Donny and pack up all your stuff and move… You are an inspiration to ALL!  Not just in weightlifting but life in general… You had a dream and a vision and went for it… It’s a scary road but when you put your ALL you can make your dreams come true…
 
Thanks again… Great read to start off the new yea!

thank you llulko, i agree, it was a scary journy but I am glad that I took it.  Some people get upset that I dropped out of school my senior year in college, but I am glad that I did, and if I had to do it again I would.  To me it wasnt even a choice, its something I had to do, its game time, and if I wanted to get my numbers up and lift with the best then I new i needed to train full time and get my weightlifting career going.  I was 22 at the time, i was not 12 or even 15 years of age, my weightlifting career was ticking, it was now or never, so i chose now.  I can always go back to school, school is not going anywhere, but weightlifting is.  I will hit a certain age where I cant compete at a high level like I am now, and when that time comes I will finish up at school.  When that tie comes I will do something else, but for the next few Olympics weightlifting is what I need to be doing.  Yea you could say 22 is still young you have time, but in this world 22 is old.  It takes many many years to build the strength and technique you need to compete at a high level, and then once you are there you have to put in years and years competeing at a high level to win medals.  I look at this weightlifting career as college.  The more meets, the more goals I reach, the more international teams I make, records I break, seminars I coach, and just overall experiance I gain in my journy through this sport at the end I will graduate with my masters dagree in weightlifting.  I will not only have the knowledge but the most importang tool and that is the experiance.  I am building my name, and once my career is over as an athlete i dont think there is any strength and conditining programs that will not take me.  Expecially once I go back a get my school dagree.  I dont tell anybody what to do, I never tell anyone to drop out of school, and I never tell anybody to stay in school, they know what they need to do, who ever they are.  I needed to find a career in something becuase while in college I had no idea what I wanted to do, but thankfuly weightlifting found me and I took weightlifting that same day, and told college it can wait, thats just me.  Lets put it this way, the weightlifters that win gold medals in the olympics dont have jobs and go to school, they train full time starting at a very young age, thats it nothing else.  2012

what do yall think about the decision to dropp out of shool to persue a dream?  dont people do it in hollywood all the time!  

That’s a tough one.  I guess it is VERY individually based.  I think having a college degree is VERY important. However sometimes in life the right opportunity comes along and you have to take it.  College does not only teach you skills needed in your field; you learn your likes, dislikes, time management, interpersonal skills, your learning process ect.
 
In your case you can always go back to college and finish your degree which i think is important.  It makes you more credible in the work field and gives you a good sense of pride… That is just my opinion. There are many successful individuals who did not go to college however it is a rarity.  

Holly molly you sound like my mom!  and thats a good thing.  I couldnt agree with you more, going back and getting my dagree is something I will do.  I promsed myself, and most importantly I promised my parents that I woud, so I will.  It dosnt matter how many olympic teams I make, if I dont have a college dagree than I cant coach at sny typ of school, weather itsmiddle school or college, I need that dagree if coaching at a school program is what I decide to do, ut I will say now, if I decide to do something with my life after being an athlete that does not take a college dagree like running my own gym, then I will stil go back and get my dagree, I think everyone should.  IF I DONT MY MOM WILL KILL ME!

dam right JON!! jk.. i really think its a good thing.. Even if you dont ever use it it is still an accomplishment in life that you will never have regrets

I agree.  My mom read this post last night and she said “I like that llulko girl, see jon I am not the only one”!!  i was like damn!  

That was a great story Jon. It is great to see how you started. But its just the beginning. I’ve seen your 160 snatch. Are we going to see an American record in your weightlifting story any time soon?

Great Story Jon, You are doing what many just Dream about, the Competitive Bug is in your blood and will neaver leave you, no matter what age you become…..Take Care………….BROC

Exactly broc man… some people are just born with the competitive bug… Jon has it and he will get the gold!!

broc man thank you, that motivates me more than you know.  what is your story, what are you in training in?  what are your goals?

This is about the baddest story ever (in a SWEET way). You are the man.