2007 Brother Bennett Award Recipient

When I came to this sport 6 years ago Rick was the first person I met. He was looking for someone to help run drug free powerlifting meets in Missouri. I knew nothing about powerlifting but Rick was willing to show me everything I needed to know to be successful.

In addition to answering my endless questions, Rick gave the new leadership in Missouri powerlifting hours and hours of his time. Rick has created logos for countless meets around the world, hosted multiple websites, moderated several powerlifting forums, served as Meet Director for dozens of meets, and still has managed to train others to serve too.

Rick’s drug free position is unquestionable. He lives drug free and he talks drug free. In fact, Rick credits drug free powerlifting with saving his life. Training for powerlifting saved Rick from a life destined toward alcoholism and put him on a path toward healthy, clean living.

The 25th Men’s Nationals hosted in St. Louis is likely to be one of the most successful and entertaining national powerlifting events in a very long time. It has been the efforts of Rick Fowler that have made this meet unique and special. Rick designed the custom medals for the athletes. Rick came up with the idea to recognize a team of the Top 25 Lifters of All Time and has done all the work in selecting that team. Rick designed and maintained the website that advertised this meet. It was Rick’s idea to treat this years’ athletes to a trip to the Mississippi Riverfront. And it was Rick Fowler who trained nearly every State and National Referee in this area.

This type of selfless behavior is not unusual for Rick Fowler. In the Midwest we enjoy this type of help and leadership from Rick on every one of our dozen meets each year. Rick renders this type of support to the meets in Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas, as well as Missouri.

Rick Fowler embodies the principles of drug free fair play. His lifestyle as a lifter, as a husband, mentor, and friend display the attributes of a man with high standards and much compassion. It is for these reasons that I whole heartedly recommend Rick Fowler for the 2007 Brother Bennett Award

Harold Gaines
Meet Director
2007 USA Powerlifting Men’s Nationals