Dear CrossFit,
I didn’t sign up for the Open. I’ve signed up for the Open every year except this one. I’m experiencing Open Fatigue and a lot of my CrossFitter friends are afflicted with the same condition.
Open Fatigue is when you get tired from the five week journey of doing the Open. It’s tough to peak for a 5 week stretch and it interrupts my year-long training plan. Basically, I have to plan around the Open. There are other factors too, such as the online social media blitz, which can be exhausting, and the fact that my scores are out there for the world to see.
With that being said, I do the Open workouts still and I’m happy to compare notes with my pals. I don’t have an interest in seeing my name on the leaderboard. Besides my circle of friends and training partners, I don’t have a reason to share my results with other people. A lot of my friends at other gyms are experiencing the same condition. Open Fatigue is a real thing.
From my perspective, the Open isn’t for regular CrossFitters and affiliate members like myself. The Open is really for Regionals level competitors and the guys and girls who aspire to go to the Games. If that’s what the Open is, what’s the point for someone like me to sign up? Simply being a part of the online community isn’t enough.
How can you get someone like me (I’ve been doing CrossFit for six years now), excited and involved again? Here’s my idea.
Create two more competitions under the CrossFit Games brand. Host these competitions at the StubHub Center either shortly after or shortly before the Games, depending on the scheduling of other events (such as LA Galaxy home games). To attend these events, a competitor must sign up for and complete the Open.
Here’s how it would work:
A) Amateur CrossFit Games – Anyone who completes the Open is eligible for this competition, first come first serve. You could go a step further and say that anyone who qualifies for the Games or Regionals would NOT be eligible for these Games, but that’s a discussion point. The point would be to encourage “regular” CrossFit competitors to attend a great event under the CrossFit Games banner. The only requirements are that you sign up for the Open, complete all Open workouts, and of course pay an entry fee. To be clear, this is an open competition where all you have to do is sign up.
B) Masters CrossFit Games – Same idea as above, you can’t have qualified for the Masters regionals or Games to attend the amateur Masters version. This doesn’t replace the Masters events at the Games, rather it’s another competition. Masters are one of the fastest growing segments in CrossFit. Masters have money and like to travel. This gives them an awesome outlet. Also, consider having a 35-39 age group please!
With both events, I would try to allow for 1500 – 2000 competitors each, if not more. Make it huge. Make it a big production like the regular Games with all the accruements and give folks the Games experience. You can sell a ton of Reebok schwag and grow the sport at the same time.
Since there is now a “live” competition I qualify for, I’m motivated to do the Open every year.
I would go a step further and create categories for each comp, so that your Open placing determines what category you compete in. Thus, if I finished between 5000 – 8000 in the world, I could be eligible for the C Category, or something along those lines. That encourages me to not only do the Open, but optimize my results. Each category has its own set of medals.
This is essentially the setup we have in rowing. We have the USRowing Club Nationals and Masters Nationals, which are two separate events in different cities on different dates. The only requirements to compete are that you are a USRowing member ($65) and pay your entry fees. It’s first come first serve.
There is an Elite Nationals for rowing as well, and that’s for the people who aspire to make the national team.
A cool variant would be to have the additional Games events in different North American cities. I’d love to travel to Toronto or Boston in the summer and do a badass comp.
If you interested in seeing all the different events USRowing organizes, see this page. They have a Youth Nationals, an off season long distance event, and even regional championship regattas. All of these are big moneymakers and they are the reason I forked over my USRA membership dues every year.
Boom. Let’s get this done CrossFit HQ!