February 1, 2007

Meet Our Girls of SAF and Learn How You Might Become the Next One!

GirlsofSAF.com is a SeriousAboutFitness.com "companion site" that features photos of some of the best-known women from our publication. They include Christy Wolfe, Natalie Waples, Stacey-Lynn Mlinarevic, Kelly Taphouse and Deanne Ortman. This is our current lineup that we call the "Girls of SAF," and their pictures get viewed thousands of times every day!

How this current group of women was selected is simple: We at SeriousAboutFitness.com picked each one based on the image they project. In our opinion, they all possess a positive, athletic, and healthy appearance, which is exactly what SeriousAboutFitness.com is about, and what we believe women who want to get into shape aspire to. You could say that these young women are role models for fit-minded females.

But, although all these women share these similar attributes, they don’t look alike. In fact, they’re all very distinctive, and that’s something we strive for. After all, we’re not about cookie-cutter physiques; we want variety, and we believe our readers do too.

In 2007, though, things are going to change quite a bit as the Girls of SAF roster expands. Starting this year, instead of having our staff select models from those who apply to us, each new Girl of SAF will come from the winner’s circle of our upcoming SAF Model Searches. The first one is going to be held in North York (Toronto), Ontario, Canada, on June 15, 2007. All the information will be posted on the SAFModelSearch.com website. This is an event you don’t want to miss, either as a spectator or as a competitor.

The event

The SAF Model Search will have two categories – Fitness Model and Figure Model – and, therefore, two winners will emerge from each event. However, competitors will only be able to enter in one category.

First-place winners of each category will each get a cash prize, and there will also be gifts and awards for the top-three in each category. The top-three in each category will also receive photo shoots and be featured on GirlsofSAF.com, SAFCoverGirls.com, and SeriousAboutFitness.com. Furthermore, the top-three in each category will earn "Elite" status, which will allow them to compete against other SAF Elite competitors in future competitions that have this class. (Note: The five current Girls of SAF are not eligible to enter this first competition. They will be allowed to enter the SAF Elite division in future competitions, along with competitors from this event who achieve SAF Elite status.)

The categories

The Fitness Model category will be judged over two rounds. The first round is "swimsuit of your choice" (one- or two-piece swimsuit, tasteful of course), and the other is "fitness wear of your choice" (a fitness-related outfit that can be as flamboyant and attention-getting as you wish, but, obviously, in good taste). Women entering this category have the flexibility of wearing swimsuits and fitness-type clothes to bring out their best look.

The Figure Model category will have just one round, which will be in a two-piece bikini. We see the women who enter this category being the ones who feel most comfortable and look their best in a bikini. They will be showcasing a healthy, attractive figure that’s the result of working out.

The judging

One thing we’re aware of is that, as in any subjective competition, the question always arises: What are the judges looking for? We will, of course, have guidelines on the SAFModelSearch.com site for this, but they will only be a guide and even we don’t know exactly what the winners will look like. After all, everyone is unique, just like our current Girls of SAF. But we are looking for women who, like our current group, display a positive, healthy, athletic appearance. The winners will look like women who exercise, but this isn’t a competition for excessive muscular development, or even excessive dieting. Fit, energetic, healthy, attractive – these are words we’d like to apply to every winner.

Still, the best guide is probably the current Girls of SAF roster, since they do represent what the judges will be looking for. Therefore, I’ll tell you where we think that the current Girls of SAF would best fit in if they were competing in this event (which, as I mentioned earlier, they’re not allowed to do). Here they are in the order they were first featured on the GirlsofSAF.com site.

Natalie Waples’ resume is certainly diverse. She is a former Miss Bikini Canada winner who, in more recent years, has turned her talents to figure competitions with considerable success. But while currently focused on figure, she continues with fitness modeling and other promotional opportunities. In the summer of 2006 she won her class in figure at the OPA National Qualifier, and she also won the prestigious Miss Toronto Grand Prix title. In November, she placed in the top three at the 2006 Face of Champ Car finals held in Mexico City.

Natalie has a stunningly proportioned figure with just the right amount of muscle to make her a knockout in any type of clothing. She has competed successfully in fitness modeling, and could obviously do well in our Fitness Model category; however, given her perfectly proportioned physique that looks great in a two-piece bikini, we think she’d be best suited for the Figure Model division.

Christy Wolfe is one of Canada’s most popular and most photographed figure competitors and fitness models. She is also a Canadian figure champion, winning her class at the 2005 CBBF National World Qualifier and competing for Team Canada at the 2005 IFBB World Women’s Figure Championships.

Christy has a beautiful, distinctive look that suits a variety of clothing styles – anything from casual to fitness-wear – and she looks fabulous in a swimsuit. Because of her great physique, Christy could certainly compete in the Figure Model competition. But, because she’s so versatile with the kind of clothing she wears, she’d be ideally suited for the Fitness Model competition.

We first saw Stacey-Lynn Mlinarevic when she won the 2005 Sportlab Fitness Model Search, an event our organization helped promote. Since then, Stacey-Lynn’s beauty and charisma have gained her a worldwide legion of fans. But Stacey-Lynn’s not only a successful fitness model; she’s also a top figure competitor, winning provincial titles in Canada in 2005 and 2006, and placing top-three nationally in 2005.

Stacey-Lynn, like Christy and Natalie, has a look that makes her well-suited for either category. In fact, I believe her chances to win would be equally good in both. Therefore, in her case, she would have to assess whether she can create more of an advantage competing in the single bikini round that Figure Model has, or if she should try to use the fitness-wear round to her advantage to increase her chances in the Fitness Model competition.

We also met Kelly Taphouse at the 2005 Sportlab Fitness Model Search – she was the runner-up to Stacey-Lynn. Kelly has the kind of long, slender, shapely physique that many women who go to the gym aspire to. She really stood out in the swimsuit round at the Sportlab competition.

With Kelly’s striking appearance, particularly in a bikini, combined with her exquisite facial features and long blond hair, we feel that she’d be perfect for the Figure Model competition where the competitor has the opportunity to "wow" the judges, and audience, in that single round.

Deanne Ortman took us completely by surprise when we met her at the 2006 CBBF Canadian Figure Championships in Edmonton. In a competition besieged by misguided judging, Deanne’s natural, healthy, athletic physique was completely overlooked, and she ended up placing a disappointing tenth. However, we noticed her right off the bat and agreed to feature her on Girls of SAF. We believe Deanne has the type of look that women who train seriously with weights will want to aspire to. She’s very athletic-looking, but still very feminine and beautiful.

Deanne looks great in a swimsuit, but she can really show off her well-built physique in fitness wear. Without a doubt, then, we’d recommend that she compete in the Fitness Model competition where the versatility of the two rounds can work to her advantage.

Will you be the next?

Now you’ve met our current Girls of SAF and know a little bit about why we picked them to represent us, we hope you have a better understanding of how our upcoming SAF Model Search competitions will be organized and judged. And remember, you can win cash and prizes in addition to being featured on our sites. Furthermore, placing in the top-three will also earn you SAF Elite status, meaning that in future competitions you will be able to compete against other SAF Elite competitors, including our current Girls of SAF.

So, do you want to be the next one? Do you want to be discovered? If so, simply visit SAFModelSearch.com for all the details.

...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com

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