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ANB History 1985 -
The ANB like most successful organizations is merely the sum total of the individual contributions of many people. Over the last 23 years, every competitor, judge, sponsor, official, and member of the general public that purchased a ticket and witnessed a competition, has played an important role in the formation and continuation of the ANB.
To be sure there are certain individuals that have given above and beyond the call of duty and there are many people yet to make valuable contributions in our future. The ANB was formed in 1985 by Robert Powell who was a young man that had a passion for all sports, especially sports that required strength training, plus he had an irresistible urge to follow the Parramatta Rugby League team back then and when they got beat, the following day was a nightmare.
Robert Powell owned and operated a supplement store in Parramatta back then, and to be honest, supplements were a bit of a novelty back then and the going was tough. The funny thing about those days is that Ron Ziemiecki worked in the store from day one and he today is the National Secretary General and Kevin Reilly worked as a distributor for the store and today he is the ANB Vice President.
That in one brief paragraph is what the ANB is all about, sticking together through thick and thin, through the good times and bad and behaving and acting like a family. Many people throw that word around loosely but it is the core belief of the ANB and we treat every single person regardless of title or reputation, exactly the same, with open arms, respect and integrity.
In the decade leading up to 1985 all three above mentioned men were heavily involved in bodybuilding competitions and had travelled the world extensively learning how the upper echelons of international sport worked and what athletes had to do to get to the top. After ten years of this, Robert Powell simply decided to organize a competition for natural bodybuilders, of course everyone laughed and said no one would either turn up to compete or buy a ticket to see this level of athlete. Of course the rest is, as they say, history.
Now almost two and a half decades later with numerous world champions in the many natural federations that followed the ANB’s lead, we have a firmly structured national organization involving hundreds of administrative members and literally tens of thousands of members. We continue to sell out at competitions and are always looking for larger venues to stage competitions.
We have a firm and respected anti-drug policy in place but more importantly, we have evolved to the point where people who are not natural, simply stay away from us, this is a cultural respect that has taken a long time, but people really do know that we will not tolerate a competitor that has used performance enhancing or recreational drugs.
Over the years many fine people and great champions have come and gone and some still remain and it would not be fair to name a few and inadvertently miss many that also deserve a mention, but collectively to all those people that have in some way made the ANB the great and respected federation it is today, thank you.
Today in 2008 we are evolving and yet again leading the way for others to follow. We have proactively gone out of our way to befriend many other federations both locally within Australia and abroad. We have opened up new territories and declared ourselves an ‘Open Federation’. The ANB is the first and only federation in the world that encourages its members to compete in other federations without the fear of recriminations or retribution. The ANB is truly for the bodybuilders and bodybuilders need to compete, it’s that simple and we care more about the welfare of our members than we do about making money, or scoring political hits.
Today the ANB is run by an honorary board of Directors similar to a traditional corporation, who have the democratic voting rights to make directional changes in our philosophy as is always needed in any living and evolving group. The members are all voluntary and derive no financial benefit from their involvement, which means that they are running your federation purely for the love of the sport.
Below the National Executive is a layer of promoters and regional representatives that cover the breath and width of our expansive nation and their input is of the most importance for it is these people that are out in the field that come in contact with bodybuilders on a daily basis and truly understand the needs of the athletes.
Then next layer is a veritable army of helpers that are often not seen but are as important as any other link in the mighty ANB chain, these are the contest day staff, people like the time keeper, the music man, the security team, back stage marshals, the list is almost endless, these people make the competitions happen, they are very important and vital to our overall success.
Then comes the largest layer in the pyramid, our hundreds of thousands of competitors over the years. Without courageous men and women who say no to drugs and choose to build their bodies the healthy way, there would be nothing at all. Our members, those who compete and those that turn up to watch them are our greatest strength and most valuable asset.
At every competition we try to stress to each and every competitor that they are not alone up there on stage, but standing invisibly beside them are their family and friends and loved ones. We encourage our competitors to say thank you to those people who helped them get to the stage, the feeling of family is very strong within us and it is the most important message of the day.
As our current elder statesmen age gracefully, we are aware that soon we will be giving the ANB to younger Australian men and women to take into the next great voyage of the future, those of us that have had long and enjoyable bodybuilding lives, can leave no greater legacy than to see the ANB in good hands, always growing and embracing the ideals that Robert Powell and his friends started so long ago.
So it is only fitting that I end with a quote from our founding president, as far as the future is concern, he would say, “Let’s get it on”.
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