What an epic first week to the 2015 CTF Intramural Open. Wasn’t the energy simply amazing? With just over forty-five athletes signed up for this year’s open its turning out to be another spectacular event. The coaches and I were very excited by how smooth week one went down and we’re looking forward to another awesome Saturday. With that said, there have been quite a few questions that I would like to address as we roll into the workouts the next four weeks…
Team Spirit
There will NOT be an opening ceremony this week. Yes all teams were incredible last week; however we want to be fluid with the workouts and allow all athletes to get on with their Saturday. Yes that means I won’t rip any more shirts and the Lawless AMRAPPERs will have to refrain from parking their float in the front of the gym. No team spirit points will be awarded to teams attempting additional opening ceremonies.
How can I help my team bank the FIVE team spirit points for this week?
Support your team members, support other teams, step up to judge and be the most positive person in the room. Competing is about having confidence and respecting the people you’re competing against. You can support others in the room by judging, smiling and cheering for athletes the same way you would want to be cheered for during your workout. By definition, team spirit is the spirit of a group that makes the members in the group want to succeed. This can’t be faked and takes sincerity. Team spirit is banked when the majority of a team meets the above criteria.
How is team spirit and the athlete of the week selected?
There is a secret group of two to three judges that are different every week and who are not athletes of any of the CTF Intramural teams. The judges are selected at random and in secret prior to the start of the workouts. Judges are given two rating categories (team energy and support) and asked to rate on a one to five scale. The athlete of the week goes to the athlete who exhibits the most amount of courage and grit in their own workout and the encouragement they display for other athlete’s during their workouts.
Even Heats
In order for us to stay on time each week, we need more athletes to step up and even out every heat. That means being ready to go at 9:30am. We understand that the first week is nerve racking especially for those who have not competed, but please try to be the athlete who puts the group before themselves. Get to the gym early (9am ideally) so you can get a solid warm up prior to the first heat. That way when 9:30am hits you’re ready to judge or knock out the workout on command.
Score Reporting
Everyone did quite well at this last week. The scores did not take long to compute and all were accurate – nice! Thanks Captains. This week we will have your captains folders at the front desk please place your score in the correct folder when you’re done with your workoute. They will then double check scores and submit the master team score sheet. It is then reviewed before posting. A print out will be provided at the gym by Tuesday’s noon class in order to give athletes enough time to make up the workouts on Monday’s and submit scores. All workouts must be complete by Monday at 8pm. When making up a workout please do so at an Open Gym time that does not conflict with a class. If you are completing your workout outside of the Saturday group simply submit your score sheet to the front desk and it will get into the right hands.
Those who are concerned about their ranking at the international level (I.E. the CF Games) you must submit your workout on the CrossFit Games website. The scores will be validated by Thursday at 5pm because the validation deadline is two days different than the submission deadline. Please refrain from asking for validation as it will be completed as soon as possible on your behalf.
Lastly, there were a few last minute switches in divisions before the first open workouts. Whichever division you competed in for the first workout that will REMAIN YOUR DIVISION for the rest of the workouts. You pick it you stick with it. This will make you better. Don’t worry you got this!
Have FUN
From the beginning, we hope this has been your most important priority. We’ve certianly tried to roll out the 2015 CTF Open to you guys highlighting the goal of the 5weeks as having straight up fun. We have the opprotunity to be ONE TEAM every Saturday and share in the beauty of pushing ourselves to higher levels. Support one another and remember how luck we’re to simply participate.