REOPEN: Some Name Changes Afoot

For many of our freshly acquired GMCF members the word CrossFit is just the name of a class. And for many of us it carries a lot more history. Recently the founder of CrossFit HQ (the business-side of this fitness category) has strayed from what we would consider good leadership. If you are interested in learning more about the details involved you can google “Greg Glassman,” but this post is not about him. What we want to discuss is the relationship we have had with CrossFit in the past, and how that is changing right now.

CrossFit is an affiliate system which means that we pay an annual fee to use their brand. In return they manage that brand, run certification systems for coaches, and generally promote the CrossFit-style of fitness training. And we use the word “style” to clearly define the type of activities we do in these classes as not a brand, but as a training protocol. So when we see the leader of the business of CrossFit straying from our morale principles and generally behaving like an ass, it becomes a decision – is the value we get from CrossFit HQ worth our annual financial investment? And when you add this recent behavior from the very top of CrossFit HQ, the scale quickly tips towards the answer of “No!”

So as of today we are unaffiliating from CrossFit HQ. We have changed the name of our classes to lowercase “crossfit” (for now) to represent this decision, and over time we will see what makes the most sense in terms of nomenclature for our high intensity functional fitness classes. This also means that our Green Mountain CrossFit logo will be disappearing, and that our new GMCF brand will be even more representative of who we are, and what we stand for – Community. A community for all people, regardless of race, sexuality, political views, religious beliefs, economic situation, or anything else that some people may want to try to divide us by. We are about unity, not division.

Last night we published a letter to our athletes who have been practicing crossfit with us for months, years, and even a few who have been at it for over a decade! If you are interested in reading this for some more perspective you will find it on our CF community Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/greenmountaincf/posts/4456700801022425