Phil Andrews has established himself as one of the leading sports administrators in the United States since he was named the CEO of USA Weightlifting at age 26 and became one of the youngest executives to lead a U.S. National Governing Body (NGB).
Andrews was appointed USA Fencing CEO in August 2022 following 10 years at USA Weightlifting and oversees the NGB for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of fencing in the United States.
Since taking the helm, Andrews has been instrumental in guiding USA Fencing’s historic growth, including forming a seven-figure partnership program with Avis, Bell Bank, Hilton, Naked Wines, and other well-known brands; changing the culture of the organization and sport; unveiling new membership products that have resulted in a nearly 20% increase in total memberships; and creating a dynamic CEO Advisory Group to fuel the continued growth of the sport.
Additionally, Andrews has launched a series of DEI initiatives at USA Fencing, including a Refurbishment program to make equipment more affordable, a Women’s Mentorship program, a series of Cultural Community Forums, and the GRACE Program offering financial relief for fencers. The GRACE Program received the 2023 USOPC Large NGB Diversity & Inclusion Award.
During the 2024 Olympics in Paris the USA Fencing team had a historic performance, securing four fencing medals including two gold medals during the same Olympics for the first time, and the first-ever team gold.
While with USA Weightlifting, Andrews transformed the sport’s culture, instituted new governance reform, attracted record participation, and secured unprecedented sponsorship and fundraising levels. Additionally, during his tenure, the team achieved their best showing in decades, including world records and the first-ever Olympic silver medal in women’s weightlifting.
In 2020, along with leading USA Weightlifting, he took on the interim crisis leadership role of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) becoming the only person in the sport’s history to oversee the International Federation and NGB at the same time, in the process earning a worldwide reputation in sports integrity.
Earlier in his career, Andrews worked for the Coventry Blaze, a British professional ice hockey team competing in the Elite Ice Hockey League, that won back-to-back championships while he was there. He has held additional roles with Basingstoke Bison, Unite Group PLC, David Lloyd Leisure, and the University of East London.
Andrews currently sits on the board of the International Paralympic Committee’s World Para Powerlifting, the Sports Event & Tourism Association and Visit Salt Lake, and has been named to various USOPC, USADA and U.S. Center for SafeSport leadership groups.