It’s pretty damn amazing to see what our gym accomplishes day in and day out. From people getting there first pull-up, hitting a PR on a Front Squat, all the way up to qualifying for the CrossFit Games. This year there will be 280 individual athletes competing at the CrossFit Games. That’s 280 boiled down from some 275,000 participants in the Open this year and FOUR of those athletes are from Champlain Valley CrossFit. Holy $hit. That means just shy of 1.5% of the athletes competing as individuals at the CrossFit Games are from our gym. 5 years ago when we opened, when there were only 2,000 affiliates that would have been a big deal. Now with some 13,000 affiliates and a few million active CrossFit athletes at affiliates I find it almost ridiculous that we’ve been able to now send 4 athletes this year, and we’re talking homegrown athletes, we didn’t recruit people from other gyms, athletes didn’t move here just to train here, these are all athletes that have spent their entire CrossFit career training at Champlain Valley CrossFit. I’d like thank everyone at the gym for building and fostering the community and environment that has enabled this to happen, it’s truly awesome. As an affiliate owner it’s awesome to have such amazing athletes behind our brand, but it’s also so awesome to see our community support these amazing athletes and see the motivation and inspiration that these athletes provide all that are involved at Champlain Valley CrossFit. So thank you all for making Champlain Valley CrossFit the place it is.

A couple of notes for you all leading up to the CrossFit Games…

As we’ve done every year (actually we didn’t last year because I was so bogged down with work) we’ll be pumping out an awesome new T-Shirt just for the occasion of the CrossFit Games. I wanted to do something different, and wanted to bring in a Reggae theme which is something big in my life but also big in VT, and I believe it shows a lot of great and positive traits that go with leading a good life and carry over to the type of people that train at Champlain Valley CrossFit. I think my thoughts and the design we ended up coming up with turned out pretty cool. Check it out below. I’m going to get these ordered up by June 19th so please make sure you sign-up ahead of time, don’t wait until the last minute, just do it, it’s $25 which gets you not only a super awesome t-shirt, but a super comfortable one. If you’re from out of town and want one we’ll be more than happy to ship them to you, price will be $31. For now all you guys have to do is put your name down, we’ll charge you for them when they come in. We are doing T-shirts and Tank Tops in both a Unisex/Mens cut and a Womens cut so pick appropriately. Everything will be printed on Canvas/Bella Tri-Blend shirts, the best of the best. Sign-up is at the link HERE.

In addition to the T-shirts we will also be doing a raffle/fundraiser to help pay the way for Dani and myself to get out to the CrossFit Games. Every year we have done this and people from the CrossFit community both in our gym and outside of it have been beyond supportive. I’m not one to just blatantly ask for money, so we will be doing everything we can to offer stuff back to those who participate. I’m putting up a year membership, Kill Cliff and Rx Bar have already offered up some product and we will be reaching out to the rest of our suppliers and Dani’s sponsors to get some stuff to give away. Each year this seems to become an increasingly expensive trip and in a sport that is now a multi-billion dollar industry it still baffles and frustrates me that the best athletes in the world are having to pay for literally everything but the clothes that they are required to wear at the CrossFit Games. I’d like to say this is a vacation, but that wouldn’t be fair for us to ask for help if we were going on vacation, and this is very likely the most stressful time of the year for both of us, maybe only 2nd to tax time 🙂 Any and all help is beyond appreciated. Check out the link HERE for the donation page which I will make sure to update as new raffle prizes are added.

Last but not least I want to let everybody know that come the week of the CrossFit Games there may be some classes cancelled. I’m doing everything in my power to keep the gym open as much as possible, and this year because we have so many amazing athletes qualified and making the trip I am actually in a position where I may not attend because I need to stay and keep the gym open. So, just a heads up, we open up on Memorial Day, the 4 of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, even Christmas Day, so I hope it doesn’t pose too much of an issue to cancel some classes that week. Thanks you all for your understanding.

Again thank you all for all of the amazing support you provide to myself, our athletes and each other. Champlain Valley CrossFit wouldn’t be what it is without each and every one of you.