Gayle Hatch (born May 7, 1939) is an American athlete and coach who was the

USA Weightlifting USA Weightlifting, otherwise known as USAW, is the national governing body overseeing the sport of weightlifting in the United States. USAW is a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), responsible for conducting weightlifting programs ...

Senior U.S. International Coach. Hatch served as Head Coach of the men’s USA Olympic Weightlifting Team at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece. Hatch is a member of the USA Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame, the USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame and the

American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame Haskell Indian Nations University is a public tribal land-grant university in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1884 as a residential boarding school for Native American children, the school has developed into a university operated b ...

. The Gayle Hatch Weightlifting Team has won 49 USA Weightlifting National Championships. Gayle Hatch athletes have competed in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

and the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in weightlifting events. His athletes have participated on 12 USA World Teams. The lifters include Tommy Moffitt, Bret Brian, Tommy Calandro, Blair Lobrano, and Matt Bruce.

High school and college

Hatch attended Catholic High School, where he played basketball under Coach Mel Didier. Hatch was the only freshman in the district playing on the varsity basketball team. In 1957, Catholic High won the District Championship. Hatch set a record in the state play-off with a double/double 35.5 points and 22.5 rebounds per game in the top classification. Hatch scored 37 points and 24 rebounds, then the best double/double in the LHSAA’s top classification. Hatch attended

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

in Louisiana. On December 12, 1961, Hatch scored 44 points and had 18 rebounds against Kentucky Wesleyan College. In that performance, he scored 18 of 21 field goal attempts (.857) which was a state college record and one of college basketball’s all-time best.

Strength training

During the 1950s, Hatch started working with Alvin Roy in his strength program for high level athletes. Their students included

Billy Cannon William Abb Cannon (August 2, 1937 – May 20, 2018) was an American football halfback, fullback and tight end who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He attended Louisiana State Un ...

, Jimmy Taylor, and

Bob Pettit Robert Lee Pettit Jr. (born December 12, 1932) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965). In 1956, he became the first recipient of the NBA's Mo ...

. After Roy retired, Hatch took over and expanded the Olympic Weightlifting program. “When Alvin got ready to sell his club in 1979, he told the group of owners that if they wanted to keep the strength and conditioning program going, then they should talk to Gayle Hatch,” Hatch, said. “They talked to me, and I ended up becoming the manager and strength coach, and I also added Olympic weightlifting to the program, which was the first Olympic-style weightlifting program in a commercial gym.” During his career, Hatch mentored many other strength and conditioning coaches. During his training days, Gayle had the privilege of training well known power lifter Paul Talbot. "Out of 15 years of the BCS, I had my proteges win eight national championships," said Coach Hatch.

Alvin Roy Award

On July 17, 2015, the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) presented Hatch with the Alvin Roy Award for Career Achievement. He received the award for producing champion athletes in

Olympic Weightlifting Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

and Football.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatch, Gayle Living people 1939 births Weightlifting coaches