The CrossFit Open has more global participants than any other sporting event in the world. It provides a great opportunity to energize the CrossFit community, provide our athletes with something to strive for, and create even more buzz about CrossFit so we can get more people excited to walk into our gyms.
As you prepare to harness these opportunities by running the Open at your gym, we’ve put together a checklist to help you make sure you’re ready to keep everything running smoothly. Whether you’re running Friday Night Lights, orchestrating intramural fun, or just planning to run the workouts during regular class times, keep reading to be sure you’re armed with all the information you need for you and your members to fully enjoy this year’s CrossFit Open.
First Things First
You should do a few things well before the Open starts on Feb. 29 to ensure you don’t run into unnecessary hiccups.
- Make sure your affiliate is in good standing with CrossFit HQ, meaning your fees and insurance are up to date, and the LOR holds valid credentials. Remember, you do not need to register your affiliate on the Games website. If you’re in good standing, athletes will be able to select your affiliate when they register.
- Double-check which email address you have on record with CrossFit HQ — the licensee of record (LOR) address. This is necessary for you to register yourself as an affiliate manager, which you will need to do in order to validate scores. If you’re unsure about who is listed as your LOR, contact affiliatesupport@crossfit.com. LORs also can assign the affiliate manager role to a staff member, but to do so they’ll need to forward an email that will be sent to the LOR’s account.
- Complete the online CrossFit Judges Course and ensure coaches and athletes who want to judge do so as well. The affiliate manager must complete the Judges Course before they can validate scores.
- Read the 2024 CrossFit Games Rulebook. Encourage your athletes to do the same.
- Make sure you're stocked up on equipment in good working condition to avoid mishaps. Rogue has everything you need to outfit your gym for this year's Open.
- Come up with your game-day plan and share it with your athletes. Things to consider include days and times you’ll allow athletes to test and retest Open workouts, heat registration, drop-in policy, and whether any of your athletes need to be filmed. Similarly, inform your athletes of your expectations for them — at minimum, each athlete needs to keep track of their own scoresheet, which must have the judge’s name and tiebreak time if applicable. Open athletes also must submit a score before the deadline.
- Make sure you know the deadlines for submission and validation of scores. Consider setting calendar reminders.
- Have all the supplies you need to host the Open so you don’t run out of ink when printing scorecards, tape when creating lanes on the floor, or pens when your judges are ready to rock.
- Inform your athletes of your score validation plan. If they know you're going to validate scores just once a day by 6 p.m., you’ll be less likely to be bombarded with text messages each week.
Overall, planning and communication are key — just as they are when running your daily workout.
Game Day
- Print enough scorecards the night before to handle the volume of athletes who are participating. Print extra in case more athletes show up.
- Tape the floor to establish lanes and work areas to ensure safety and organization. Check out GoodEarth on the Affiliate Partner Network for high-quality tape that won't damage your floors.
- Read the workout description and watch the workout demo video the night before you host the workout. Anticipate questions and present important info to athletes and judges well before the workout.
- Make sure you know which athletes need registered judges (those who intend to compete past the Open).
- Make sure you have enough judges.
- Meet with your athletes in a group. Brief them about the workout and give them a chance to ask any questions before the first heat begins.
- Reiterate important info, such as tiebreak time or scoring details, to all athletes and judges.
- Should you run into any snags, or if you have questions, check out our social-media feeds for updates and news first. If you have a question, it’s likely others do, too, and we’ll get the info out to everyone fast.
Things to Consider
Every affiliate owner runs the Open a little differently, and over the years best practices have emerged. Check out the tips below and decide if any of them may work for you and your community.
- Use a scheduling tool to allow athletes to sign up for heat times.
- Streamline a general and specific warm-up for each workout and write it on the whiteboard. Better yet, take advantage of the free class plans that our CrossFit Affiliate Programming team will be releasing closer to the competition start date.
- Recruit judges ahead of time so you’re not scrambling to find them right before the heat starts. Ask some of your members if they’d be willing to help judge several athletes. Offer a small token of appreciation like a coffee gift card or a free affiliate shirt in return. As an alternative, have your athletes pair up to be each other’s judges before the heats start. Bonus: Create a scheduling tool for judges to sign up, too!
- Upon each workout release, assess your gym space. How will you set up the workout? How many athletes will be able to work out at once with ample space and equipment?
The CrossFit Games team is here to help make the Open a great experience for everyone. Check this site regularly for articles like this, stay tuned for additional marketing tools and graphics on the CrossFit Games Affiliate Resources page, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Download the CrossFit Games app, and be sure to watch the live announcements, beginning Feb. 29 (details on how to watch coming soon).
Have a great season!