Lifting Spirits: West Monroe’s Obie Sims impacting lives through powerlifting

WEST MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) —

The West Monroe High School girls power lifting program has been a dominant force for years now.

16 total state titles including back-to-back-to-back championships more recently.

That is the norm when it comes to lady rebels powerlifting–but that hasn’t always been the case.

“When I first took over as the head coach, we had 25 kids and we are taking 55 this summer,” Sims said. “We had 58 last year. It’s a lot of kids, but they all enjoy it and they get a lot out of it. It’s going to help them physically and mentally later on in life.”

Sims was named a National High School American Coaches Association Coach of the Year finalist for his stellar career as head coach.

But the recognition goes further than the sport of powerlifting–moreover–the way he uses the sport to prepare the student athletes for life.

“You’re going to hit walls in the weightroom,” Sims said. “You’re going to get to a point where you are thinking why am I doing this. Life is unforgiving. It’s not easy and if you can learn how to push through barriers here while you’re in high school, you’re going to be that much more prepared when you get out of high school.”

And not just getting them ready to take on the real world–but how to do so successfully and putting on the right track to do just that.

“You don’t know how you affect a child or affect a lifter until you know,” said Sims. “That’s the biggest part of it is what they learn here and just the lessons they learn in the weight room. We have kids that if they have an issue, they’ll come talk to us because they trust us. It’s more about getting the kids ready to go when they walk across that stage