The NPC national bodybuilding and fitness schedule locations for 2001 represents a cross section of the country featuring many of the NPC's best promoters working for you, the athlete. It is important for you to support these contests by competing or attending the best amateur bodybuilding and fitness contests anywhere!
In late breaking news, the NPC will begin sanctioning "Figure" events starting this year. What exactly is an NPC Figure event? It's a variation of our NPC Fitness events minus the fitness routine. What will be judged are the athletes in two piece and one piece swimwear. That's all! No routine's to perform. These contests will be held in conjunction with current NPC bodybuilding and fitness events. You may start to see a contest title name starting to look like this in the future, NPC Pennsylvania Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships. Trust me, we are not abandoning our NPC Fitness division, just giving many athletes who may have been injured, or a routine is not their forte, an avenue to continue to train and compete for a title. Also, an athlete may crossover and enter both the fitness and the figure contests in the same event.
This will all lead up to the first ever 2001 NPC National Figure Championships, which are scheduled to be the 2001 NPC Team Universe Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships. We will crown our first NPC National Figure Champion at that contest.
You may be wondering where this will lead for an NPC Figure champion? If these contests are a success in the NPC, IFBB Pro Division Chairman, Wayne DeMilia, has stated he may start up the professional IFBB Figure division in 2002! So these are exciting times indeed for all competitive fitness athletes.
Diving into our new schedule, on March 17, 2000, we travel south to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida for the Men's and Women's Wheelchair National Bodybuilding Championships. The promoter for the eighth consecutive year is Frank Dalto. His heart, soul and money is invested in this contest. He spares no expense to deliver a great contest for these wonderful athletes. This year's contest promises plenty of excitement as the overall winner is offered the chance to be considered an IFBB Patron Pro. For additional information, entries or tickets, you can contact Frank at (561) 627-9638 or write; 2 Old Meadow Way, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 33418.
Next up on April 28, is the 2001 NPC Junior USA Bodybuilding & Fitness Championships promoted by former IFBB pro & star of "Pumping Iron", Mike Katz and his partner Jerry Mastrangelo, who is also the NPC district chairman for Connecticut. Mike and Jerry will be promoting this contest in Hartford, Connecticut. This is the first time that an NPC national event has come to the New England area, and Mike and Jerry are promising that it will be a spectacular event that just can't be missed. The deadline for entries is April 6th. For more information, contact Mike and Jerry at 35 Marne Street, Hamden, CT, 06514, or call (203) 281-7213.
Following the Junior USA will be the 2001 NPC Junior National Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships on June 16, in St. Louis, Missouri. Promoting this event is veteran NPC promoter Pam Betz. She has successfully promoted this event in the past in Florida, plus in 1999 she promoted the NPC Junior USA Championships in Birmingham, Alabama. Many of you know her as NPC Nationals promoter Steve Karel's right hand person and events manager for that contest. Again, this is the first time an NPC national event will be held in the state of Missouri! The entry deadline is May 25th. For more information, contact Pam at 104 11th Avenue, Windermere, FL, 34786; call (407) 876-4467 or e-mail at Pambetz@aol.com.
In another return engagement, NPC Pennsylvania district chairman Dr. Gary Udit will be promoting the 2001 NPC Teenage/Collegiate/Masters National Bodybuilding Championships in Pittsburgh, PA, for the sixth time in seven years on July 21 and 22.
Gary is working with NPC National Women's Representative Sandy Ranalli to develop the NPC Teenage National Fitness Championships, which are scheduled to held on this same weekend. There would just be two rounds to this event, a routine round and a one piece swimsuit round. Get the word out now to all those aspiring fitness competitors!
The site will again be the Grand Ballroom, Sheraton Hotel - Station Square, which will also serve as the host hotel. The deadline for entries is June 29th. For more information, contact Dr. Gary Udit at P.O. Box 23294, Pittsburgh, PA, 15222, or call (412) 481-9129.
One week later, it's back to Las Vegas, Nevada for veteran promoter Jon Lindsay's return of the first IFBB pro qualifier of 2001, the NPC USA Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships, on July 27 and 28. (As a matter of fact, Lindsay will be promoting this event in Las Vegas through 2003 at this point.) The venue will once again be the Artemus Ham Hall on the campus of UNLV, which hosted this same contest in 1997, 1998 and 2000. As you know, the overall women's bodybuilding and top two in the men's bodybuilding overall posedown, plus the top two from each of the three women's fitness height class winners are eligible for professional status in the IFBB. The host hotel will be the Alexis Park Hotel and Resort once more. The entry deadline for this pro qualifier is July 6th. This is one contest not to be missed in 2001! For more information or entry forms, contact Jon Lindsay at (310) 822-2397 or fax (310) 822-2797, e-mail him at jon@lindsayproductions.com or visit his web site at www.lindsayproductions.com. Finally, after two years of jetting cross country and having these events only one week apart, we get a two week reprieve to recover until the weekend of August 10 and 11 for the 2001 NPC Team Universe Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships for the seventh consecutive year. The contest will again be in New York City and promoted by the team of Steve Karel and Steve Weinberger. This contest is another IFBB pro qualifier. The Team Universe is the contest from which we select our team to represent the USA at the IFBB Men's and Women's World Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships. If a competitor wins their weight class at the World Amateur's, they are then eligible for IFBB Pro status. For fitness, the class winner from each of the three fitness height classes are eligible for professional status in the IFBB. Each year this exciting, drug tested contest attracts more com! petitors with larger audiences.
In addition to the Team Universe contests, the debut of the NPC National Figure Championships will be held in conjunction with the Team Universe on the same weekend as previously discussed. The schedule of events is still being worked out with the addition of this brand new fitness/figure national contest. More details will be forthcoming.
Entries must be received by July 20th for all of these contests. For more information, contact Steve Weinberger c/o Bev Francis' Gold's Gym, 235-C Robbins Lane, Syosset, NY, 11791 or call (516) 933-1111.
September 8, 2001, will be the date of the NPC U.S. All Armed Forces National Bodybuilding Championships, which returns to Virginia Beach, Virginia for a third, consecutive year. Co-promoted once again by the team of Eric Hillman and Jeff Compton of Europa Sports, this year's contest looks to exceed all expectations. Last year, Hillman/Compton hosted the largest number of competitors ever entered in this national contest, which had exceeded the 1999 contest.
Since taking over this contest seven years ago, these two have continued to build up the contest to the powerhouse it became last year. It's a spectacular national contest that covers every aspect from novice to open divisions.
The deadline for entries is August 17th. For more information and entries, contact Eric Hillman/Europa Sports at 11401-H Granite Street, Charlotte, NC, 28273, or call (800) 447-4795, or visit the official NPC Virginia web site at www.npcva.com.
Rounding out the year on November 16 and 17, 2001, just one week before Thanksgiving, Steve Karel will produce the final IFBB Pro qualifier, and the NPC's crown jewel event - the NPC National Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships. He's bringing the contest back to Atlanta, where it ran so successfully in 1998.
The NPC Nationals is the number one amateur bodybuilding and fitness contest in the world and has launched plenty of successful IFBB pro careers! Starting with Lee Haney, who ironically won the Nationals in New York City in 1982, and including Cory Everson, Mike Christian, Shawn Ray, Gary Strydom, Kevin Levrone, Brenda Raganot, Mike Francois, Amanda Blank, Paula Suzuki, Don Long, Dale Tomita, Susie Curry, Gayle Moher, Minna Lessig, Nicole Bass, Tom Prince, Aaron Maddron, Vilma Caez, Melanie Webb and last year's new champion's Victor Martinez, Heather Foster and Beth Horn.
As an IFBB pro qualifier, the top two from each of the three fitness height classes are eligible for professional status in the IFBB Fitness Division, while each class winner of the men's and women's bodybuilding contest earn their IFBB pro cards too.
You won't want to miss this bodybuilding and fitness extravaganza! Entry deadline will be October 26th. For more information, contact Steve Karel for media and sponsorship information at (212) 289-5033, or write to Stonecutter Event Promotions, Inc., 201 E. 87th Street, #24R, New York, N.Y., 10128. For exhibitor and entry information, contact Pam Betz at the information listed for the NPC Junior Nationals.
Remember to get your entry in by the deadline. Each entry for these national contests will have a deadline listed, which is generally 3 weeks before the contest date. Please complete and mail your entry early as you can not sign up to compete on the day of the contest. To ensure your entry is received, we recommend you send your entries via certified mail with a return receipt.
Also remember to register early for your NPC card as we do not accept a national entry without an NPC card. (Pre-registration cards for current members were sent in early November.) Registration is the responsibility of you, the athlete, not your spouse, training partner, gym owner or your manager. You are the one training for months - take the time and responsibility of mailing your NPC registration and entry on time. Early registration will also give you a full year subscription to the NPC News, where we list our contests and any changes which could affect the event you want to enter or purchase tickets for.
Good luck to all who compete and thank you to those who came out to support our NPC contests in 2000.
