April 1, 2005

Coming This Month – Canada’s Newest IFBB Pros

April is the month this year for many Canadian fitness and figure competitors. On the 23rd the CBBF Canadian Fitness and Figure Championships will be held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It’s there that women from all over Canada will convene to compete to win their individual classes (Short, Medium and Tall for figure this year; just Short and Tall for fitness, mind you), and then for the prestigious "Overall" title which pits the individual class winners against each other, and where only one will emerge as the winner in each discipline. That winner, of course, will receive a coveted IFBB Pro Card application that will let them ascend into the professional ranks. A dream come true? Yes and no!

Getting an IFBB Pro Card can be, quite surprisingly, a mixed blessing. On the one hand, going to the pros can open a whole new set of opportunities. Competitions are held throughout the United States, and sometimes worldwide. Likewise, the competitors you are up against don’t just come from Canada; they come from around the world. And of course, you can win money – not much, mind you, when you compare the winnings to those in other sports, but there’s something.

On the other hand, though, making a dent in the pro ranks is tough – bordering on impossible. To-date, the only Canadian figure or fitness competitor I know of who's won a pro title is Mindi O’Brien. Mindi swept the CBBF Canadian Fitness Championships and then amazed everyone by winning her first pro show, the SW USA Pro Cup, just one month later. That is an accomplishment very few competitors will ever achieve, regardless of what country they come from. Unfortunately, no other Canadians have left the same kind of mark Mindi has, although a number of them have developed good reputations by competing strongly and consistently for many years. Stephanie Worsfold, comes to mind. Although she’s never won a pro show, she always looks great and she always has an upbeat attitude and positive outlook that helps make her a good role model in the pro ranks.

This mixed blessing of the pro ranks is precisely why some people, myself included, have advised competitors to "milk the amateur ranks" for as long as they can before turning pro. You see, there’s a little-known secret about that IFBB Pro Card application that comes from winning the Overall title at the CBBF Canadian Fitness and Figure Championships – you don’t have to use it right away. For example, Nathalie Tabouillet earned her right to the pro ranks at the Championships in 2002, but has not taken it yet. She’s still competing as an amateur and has won her class at the CBBF National World Qualifier two more times since, and she’s represented Canada at the IFBB World Championships in 2003 and 2004. Although I don’t have statistics to verify this, I’m pretty sure that Nathalie has won more Canadian fitness titles than any other competitor in this country. You see, that IFBB Pro Card doesn’t have to be cashed in right away – you can win it, but not use it until you’re ready, if ever.

But, undoubtedly, that good advice is rarely heeded. The allure of the pro ranks is too tempting for most to put off for very long, and the hope of achieving something in the pros is every competitor’s dream. And who can blame them? They are, after all, competitors, and competitors love to compete. Plus, being a bona fide pro can have other benefits, such as enhancing your reputation for endorsements, personal training, etc. There are more benefits to being a pro than just competing.

The decision to make the switch from the amateurs to pros, then, becomes a personal one. Everyone’s needs are, obviously, different. All I know is that, coming this month, there are two new eligible pros from Canada, and you’ll be able to read about it all in May in our exclusive "behind the scenes" coverage of the CBBF Canadian Fitness and Figure Championships, right here in SeriousAboutFitness.com.

...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com

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