Standing in his jeans and a pair of rubber boots, Allen Hall points at three shining medals he received in 2010 at the Special Olympics national powerlifting championship, chalking his accomplishments up to a lot of hard work.

“Practice. Practice. Practice,” he says, pointing to each medal.

He never mentions talent, strength or resources — just training hard.

His medals hang in a display case at ARC of Baldwin County’s fitness center, along with proof of the 13 state powerlifting records Allen and his teammates hold.

Like any other athlete, Allen is proud of his past accomplishments, but he doesn’t want to get soft. There’s a big competition approaching in February, and he says it’s time to start working harder.

“I’m holding onto the title right now, but I’m about to lose that title if I don’t get back to getting stronger and get on my bench (bench press is one of three powerlifting events),” says Allen, who is 33 years old. “Everything else I do good except for my bench — I don’t know why.”

A day at practice

Allen and his teammates, who all have intellectual disabilities, started practice Jan. 3 with deadlifting, a powerlifting event that showcases lower-body strength.

Still in his jeans and boots, with pockets full of an array of noisy items, Allen started small at 175 pounds. The men took turns, the weight increasing every few minutes. Allen ended his deadlifting practice after successfully matching his personal record, 345 pounds.

Another teammate, 21-year-old David Hall, set a personal deadlifting record at 250 pounds during the Jan. 3 practice. The fitness center exploded with celebrations, and chalk from the athletes’ hands flew into the air as high-fives were exchanged.

“This has been one of those things that has really challenged David,” said Barbara Hall, David’s mother. “And he’s accomplished so much that it has built his confidence. When he goes to a new situation where he doesn’t know the people or how it works, he’s more confident and he’s willing to walk in and receive instructions and get involved right away.”

Challenge accepted

David has been a member of the powerlifting team for a year. In that time, he has not only become more fit and gained a new group of friends, but he’s also learned how to follow the sport’s intricate rules.

It’s easy to be disqualified in powerlifting, said Daryl Haskew, the team’s coach.

The athletes must know when to lock their knees, when they have to stop adjusting their feet and a host other detailed regulations.

It’s a challenge, but Haskew said that’s exactly what people like David, Allen and the other 19 members of the team crave.

“They don’t want to be treated any differently than anyone else, and they don’t want to be given everything,” Haskew said. “They want to feel like they deserve it.”

Haskew has been coaching Special Olympics powerlifting since 1989, when he started a team at Augusta Evans School in Mobile, where he was a vocational teacher for 20 years.

He said the sport was life changing for the teenagers he worked with.

“A lot of the people who came into the program changed drastically because we talked about proper behavior and social skills,” he said. “It started opening the door to travel — if you mess up, guess what? You don’t get to go. Some of these people went from the meanest thing in the world to a role model just like that, because they get to go and do.”

Even though the ARCBC team is made up of adults, Haskew said the sport is still an important learning experience for them.

Allen, who has been powerlifting for three years, said being able to focus on the sport and have goals has kept him from making bad choices and getting angry.

“It has kept me from getting into trouble, and I work out hard and I’m active,” Allen said. “I’m just trying to get away from people causing me headaches and stuff like that. I’m trying to do the best I can do and show the world I can do this.”

Competition

When Allen became the 198-pound Special Olympics national champion in 2010, Haskew said it wasn’t because he was the strongest man that day.

“He wasn’t the strongest, but he was the only one who could do it correctly,” Haskew said. “At these competitions, you better know the rules, or it’s going to be a short day. I’d rather have them lift less weight and do it right.”

And the powerlifting team doesn’t always just compete with other Special Olympics athletes. Their rules are the same as the mainstream sport, so at some meets, like the U.S.A. Powerlifting state championship in February, they have the option to compete with athletes who do not have disabilities.

Haskew pushes the team members like any other coach. He playfully punches their arm, gives them a hard time and yells words of encouragement as they push the limits of their strength.

Barbara, David’s mother, says David appreciates the normalcy of the way Haskew interacts with him.

“There’s nobody higher up than anyone else, and he treats them like he would anybody else,” Barbara said. “He goes way beyond what the average person would do as a volunteer or an employee.”

David and the rest of the team members value the realness of their accomplishments. Often, people with special needs are babied when they’d rather be pushed to try new things, she said.

“They’re challenged to do something new everyday, and they do,” Barbara said. “When they come here, they are not given it on a platter. It’s something genuine they accomplish.”

Developing the whole person

Although Haskew is competitive, his goals aren’t to win medals and break records.

“I’ve learned that we can challenge people and at the same time develop interests and personalities,” he said. “We also talk about nutrition and cardiovascular stuff. Hopefully we are developing the whole person.”

In order to be a part of the weightlifting team, ARCBC members must first get into shape at the fitness center.

“So we’re hitting two birds with one stone,” said Claudette Baker Steele, coach and trainer at the fitness center. “We’re promoting health, a better quality of life and are enabling them to become competitive.”

Barbara said the team members’ hard work also develops their character.

“If you’re given things all the time without earning them, you come to a point where you expect it, and your character is impacted by that, and you’re not fun to be with,” she said. “But these people now see that to earn something recognition, that you have to obey the rules, you have to apply yourself and you have to work at it, even when no one is telling you to.”

Although David is not a member of ARCBC, he is still allowed to use the gym for free and participate in any of ARCBC’s activities. Barbara said she would encourage other parents of children with special needs to get involved in sports or any other activity.

“There are so many that could benefit who are just sitting in a room watching TV,” she said. “Even the part of it that’s just fitness training — there are many who come here and don’t even do weights — it just makes them feel good. And there are people who are not given this opportunity because they don’t know about it. This is of no cost to us. It’s an extremely valuable opportunity.”

In late February, the team will compete in the U.S.A. Powerlifting state championship. Results will be published in the sports section.

For more information about how to get involved in ARCBC’s powerlifting team or the fitness center, contact ARCBC at 334-964-6201 or Daryl Haskew at 2haskews@bellsouth.net.