The Intramural Open Game

2015 CrossFit Open Intramural Game - CrossFit Fringe - Columbia MO

2015 CrossFit Open Intramural Game - CrossFit Fringe - Columbia MO

So as you know, the 2015 CrossFit Open is coming up very quickly. One of the questions I get asked every year is whether or not the Open is worth participating in. I get it! If you know you aren’t super competitive and the likelihood of getting to Regionals is the same as the Olympics — is it worth spending the money? My answer to this is always “it depends.”

For me, the Open has always represented the opportunity to compete with myself. It’s a little bit of nostalgia from years past mixed with an unknown  new set of challenges, and something that, if I put my money toward it, holds me accountable for 5 weeks out of the year. For me, it’s always been worth it from that perspective. But I also have a kid, work full-time and own a business, so the possibility of doing all five workouts feels a little stressful. Not so much worth it from that perspective.

But when Tyler stumbled across The Intramural Open Game, there was no doubt — this looks FUN!

The goal

Fun, collaborative competition to make the Open workouts a little more relevant to our community and a chance to get to know your fellow athletes better.

How it’s done
  1. We chose four captains. They are:
    • Erica Hopkins-Wadlow
    • Michael Crawford
    • Kathy Sharp
    • Kristen Paquette
  2. Each captain will choose a name and be assigned a Facebook group, with us (owners) as Admins with them. We will also create one more (5 total) for the Captains themselves.
  3. We will divide our competitive athletes among the four teams with a Draft.
    We will present the Captains with a list of athletes already registered for the Open on draft day. Each are allowed to “protect” two athletes–mostly spouses or best friends–for their team. The rest are thrown into a hat. Once the competitive athletes are assigned, we will then do a “snake order” draft: 1st (ie Mike, Kathy, Erica, and Kristen; then Kristen, Erica, Kathy, Mike, and so forth)
  4. Immediately after the draft, the rest of the community is open for recruitment. Captains can bribe, coerce or otherwise attempt to sign up any member for their team. Members sign up officially (games.crossfit.com) or the front desk to indicate their intention to compete. Captains must report the recruitment of each athlete to the Captains Facebook group so two teams don’t lay claim to the same person.
  5. Because scoring favors the largest team, we have a recruitment limit to keep things even. Any team can recruit up to 25 members, but must then wait for other teams to recruit 25 members before recruiting more.
  6. We encourage teams to celebrate their spirit with shirts, noisemakers, etc. Extra points can be awarded to teams who show amazing spirit!
  7. In the event we need to level outscoring/tie-break, we will add a sixth event of our choosing. Stay tuned!

Speaking of points…

Points
  • +1 Point for Attendance: Every member of a team that completes an Open workout at CrossFit Fringe each week earns one point. Maximum one point per athlete per workout. This goes for Rx AND Scaled competitors!
  • +1 Point for Placing Top 3 (Rx): Every male AND female member who places among the Top 3 at CrossFit Fringe for each workout (Rx only) gets an extra point for their team.
  • +1 Point for Placing First (scaled): Every male AND female member who places first in the scaled group gets an extra point for their team.
  • +1 Point for Placing First (masters): Every male AND female member who places first in the Masters category gets an extra point for their team.
  • +5 Points (team) for Spirit: The team with the most noise, pride, and PRESENCE each week will receive 5 bonus points.
  • +5 Points (bonus) for 6th workout: See below.

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Charlie and Kendall doing 12.2 in our first months at Big Bear location (2012). 

Scheduling

1. All regularly-scheduled classes on Fridays during the Open will complete the Open workouts. Athletes can attend any class and score points for their Intramural team.
2. The “main” event for Open Workouts is Friday evening every week. Stay tuned, because we will have our Friday Night Lights editions in Weeks 1 and 3!
4. See our CrossFit Open post about judging and scheduling a time to complete the workout if these times do not align with your schedule.

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Amanda Quick doing 13.1 (2013) in our FIRST edition of Friday Night Lights.

Price

Admission fee for the Intramural Open is simply the athlete’s registration on the Games site should they choose to go “official.” While we encourage you to register, we still believe it should be optional.

Prizes

TBD — we want to make the prizes relevant to the teams that form with the draft!

So there you have it! This is our first year doing this and we are super excited! While Coach Mitch Johnson will be your go-to for judging, Coach Matt Keel will be your go-to for all things Intramural. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to him, or get with us on Facebook or via our Contact page.