Joe Spinello: Bringing Pro Bodybuilding Back to Quebec (and Canada!)

If you think that being involved in the bodybuilding industry automatically leads to riches and happiness, you’ve got a lot to learn.

Unlike many sports, very few get wealthy from bodybuilding. To get anywhere in the sport – whether it’s being a successful competitor or succeeding in some other aspect of the industry – it takes a lot of hard work. Furthermore, few in the industry will likely help you get ahead – for the most part, you’re on your own.

As a result, the kind of person who gets ahead in bodybuilding has passion, perseverance and skill to do it. They’re the kind of person who just won’t stop until they’ve achieved what they set out to do – look at the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. Arnold’s will made him unstoppable.

Another man who’s like that is Canada’s Joe Spinello. Joe competed in the late ‘80s and into the ‘90s and became a Canadian and World Champion, which is an amazing accomplishment. He also competed as a pro for several years before retiring to move on to other things. Few competitors ever achieve what Joe accomplished – and to do that showed his determination to succeed.

When Joe retired from competition, though, he didn’t retire from the sport. Instead, he got involved in running things, and when he turned his talents that way he brought along with him the same passion and perseverance that he had as a competitor. Joe’s currently the vice president of Quebec’s amateur bodybuilding, fitness and figure federation, the FCPAQ, and over the years he’s also established himself as one of the country’s best show promoters.

Until last year, Joe concentrated on promoting Quebec shows, so many in the country may not know his history as a promoter. In 2005, however, he branched out and promoted the ultra-successful 2005 CBBF Canadian Bodybuilding Championships in Montreal, Quebec – Simon Voyer and SeriousAboutMuscle.com’s Autumn Raby took top honors there, and Joe’s reputation for being a first-rate event promoter skyrocketed. Now, in 2006, he’s turning the dial up higher by promoting the IFBB Montreal Pro Classic, which will take place Sunday, September 3, in, you guessed it, Montreal, Quebec. He’s gone from doing local shows to the provincials to the Canadians, and now the pros. It’s sort of like his path as a competitor, but this time he’s a promoter.

The Montreal Pro Classic isn’t just a big show for Joe, though; this is a big show for Quebec and all of Canada.

Montreal hasn’t hosted a pro show there in 10 years (1996 was the last one – Ronnie Coleman won and Flex Wheeler took second), and this is Joe’s way of bringing it all back and allowing Canada to see a pro bodybuilding contest again (the Montreal Pro Classic will also feature a pro figure competition). This event is also important for our country because it gives our Canadian competitors a homegrown stage to compete on. In fact, with the unfortunate cancellation of Toronto’s show this year, this will be the only pro event in Canada in 2006; I know many Canadians are training hard right now to compete in it. Of course, there are pros from all over the world who are coming as well – Joe’s lineup of pro bodybuilders and pro figure competitors is impressive.

But promoting a pro bodybuilding contest isn’t easy – like I said, nothing in bodybuilding comes easy. As a matter of fact, I suspect that you’d have an easier time making peace in the Middle East these days than making a pro bodybuilding show a roaring financial success. To do it, then, you must have the requisite passion and perseverance that I mentioned, and you’ve also got to have guts, because running a pro show carries with it an enormous financial risk. (If you want to learn more about the ins and outs of promoting pro bodybuilding competitions, read Garry Bartlett’s June 2006 article called, "Keeping the Dream Alive.")

However, passion, perseverance and guts are still not enough. To make it work, there needs to be support, so that’s exactly why I’m writing this column one month before the show – to help drum up support for this important event, both from sponsors and fans. I want to see the Montreal Pro Classic be a huge success for everyone – for Joe Spinello, for the competitors, for fans, and for Canadian bodybuilding.

So, if you’re in the industry and you’re a potential sponsor, it’ll do your company, the event, Joe, and Canadian bodybuilding a world of good to support the Montreal Pro Classic. If Joe hasn’t contacted you already, I encourage you to contact him through the website link I am placing below, and get involved.

Mostly, though, I’m writing this article for the fans, because they’ll make the biggest difference in terms of ticket sales and sponsorship success. To everyone I say this one word: Go! It’s as simple as that. And when you do go to this show, don’t for once complain about the ticket prices – it’s a pro bodybuilding and figure event, it costs money to put it on, so it costs money to get in. Furthermore, don’t even think about scrounging up a free ticket somehow or somewhere like so many cheapskates often do. Joe Spinello is taking a huge risk by bringing this show to Montreal, so help him out by supporting it with your pocketbook.

Joe’s bringing pro bodybuilding back to Quebec, and Canada, so let’s help him out, and let’s help him make this event an annual affair. See you at the Montreal Pro Classic on September 3 – visit www.MontrealProClassic.com for all the details.

...Doug Schneider, Publisher
das@seriousaboutmuscle.com

Doug Schneider is the publisher and chief photographer for SeriousAboutMuscle.com, BodyBuildingLive.com, and SeriousAboutFitness.com.