For a small school, Jim Thorpe shows remarkable ability in the weight room and on the playing field. That outsized strength can be traced to a home gym and a man who motivated athletes. Paul ‘Paulie’ Yaich was instrumental to Jim Thorpe’s reputation for strength in the weight room.

“Paulie Yaich was the beginning of weightlifting in Jim Thorpe. Kids came to his house, and he took them to the next level,” said John McGowan, the school’s powerlifting coach.

Over 50 years ago, Yaich opened his home gym to young athletes at Jim Thorpe Area High School. And he remained committed to local athletes until his death at age 80 on Jan. 1.

In the late 1960s, the school had only a few pieces of equipment, kept in the boiler room. Yaich had more equipment and a knowledge to help them safely improve as athletes. As an accomplished lifter himself, who could bench press 400 pounds, he was also an inspiration to them.

“If you needed anything, he was there to help,” McGowan said.

Yaich and his wife Claire treated the lifters like family. All he asked in return from the lifters was that they show respect for the facility, each other, and weightlifting.

During the ’70s they moved and built a bigger home gym. At the peak of its popularity, over 40 weightlifters worked out at the Yaich house at different times throughout the week. Paulie’s wife Claire recalled that the house could be pretty busy, but they welcomed it.

“The door was always open to them,” she said.

To this day, Yaich’s family members hear from athletes about how much he influenced them.

One of those lifters was McGowan, who built upon what Yaich created with the Jim Thorpe powerlifting team. Yaich always helped out with the team and supported them in competition.

The boys and girls who McGowan coaches bench, squat and dead lift hundreds of pounds in competition. Some of them are the children of the athletes who Yaich coached in his gym.

When Yaich passed away at 80 years old, his wife Claire wanted to raise money for something her husband was passionate about. She chose the powerlifting team. With an $1,800 donation, the school purchased a combination bench which will be used in competitions and training for years to come. When the team received the bench, they dedicated it with a memorial plaque to Paulie Yaich - ‘The Founding Father of Powerlifting in Jim Thorpe’.