When new gym owners start their business, one of the things they often look forward to is hosting their first CrossFit competition. Of course, there is a lot of planning that goes into making sure everything happens as smoothly as possible. If you are thinking about hosting your own event, follow these tips to help you get started:
Select A Date: When choosing a date for your event, make sure there won’t be any other local CrossFit events that day to ensure you can get the most people possible to show up. Also check for any official CrossFit Games or Regionals events that day for the same reason.
Sponsors: Reach out to not only the bigger brands, but also local businesses your attendees might be interested in, for example: coffee shops, physical therapy offices, etc.
Registration: You will need to decide how many athletes you’d like to have attending your event, as well as the price of your tickets.
Location: Make sure your gym can accommodate not only your competitors but also a check-in area, a concession area, a warm-up area, and a place for spectators to sit.
Workouts: Create three to four workouts with two to three different movements apiece that are easy to judge. Then, use Wodify Arena to publish the workouts on your event site.
Recruit: It’s never too early to track down volunteers and judges, but spreading the word about your event to find competitors is the most important thing. Get a head start on recruiting all the people you’ll need for your CrossFit event. Advertise at your gym and on social media!
Scheduling: Finalize the heat and workout schedule and make sure your judges and competitors know where and when to go on the day of the event.
Make Final Arrangements: Confirm your vendors, judges, and staff, and purchase food, concessions, and other items like napkins, first aid kits, etc.
Organize Prizes: You inevitably will have prize bags available for your winners, so make sure those are in order the day before your event. Use volunteers to help with this if possible.
Prep Your Building: Clean and organize your equipment, set up the spectator area, hang banners for sponsors, and make sure your Wodify software and leaderboard setup are working correctly before the event.
Bring in Rental Equipment: If you have to rent any equipment for certain events, this is the time to get it into your building and set up alongside everything else for the next day’s festivities.
Prep Judges and Scorer’s Table: Make sure the judges all have downloaded the Wodify Arena Judge app to ensure quick posting to the leaderboard.
Organize the Check-In Area: As people check in, distribute wristbands and verify waivers, then let competitors know where to begin warming up.
As the event gets underway, make sure you’re taking a ton of pictures and videos and uploading them to social media. The more you broadcast, the more likely it is that you’ll have customers interacting with friends and family about the event.
If you can follow these steps, your first CrossFit event will be a smashing success. It’s not an easy process, but it certainly is a rewarding one, both for gym owners and the athletes competing in the events!
