When Is 95% Not 95%?

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• Last week, Dave Castro confirmed that the only two outdoor events at this year’s CrossFit Games have already been announced: the Run Swim and Friday Night Lights at Farrington Field.

• Upfront payments for gym memberships and personal training sound convenient, but there are a few things you should know. Learn more today.

• Jack Rozema, an active duty JAG Officer in the U.S. Army, earned his first invitation to the CrossFit Games this season. Check out his journey through the Ohio State University wrestling room and beyond.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Keep an eye on the weather out there for us [in Fort Worth, TX]…I’ll bring my sunscreen” - Pat Vellner’s parting thoughts during his nearly 30-minute interview with Dave Castro

CROSSFIT GAMES

Only Two Outdoor Events at the 2024 CrossFit Games, According to Dave Castro

Everyone in the CrossFit space with any investment in the Games has been listening closely to Dave Castro’s athlete interviews during his Week In Review series on YouTube. Here, he shares details regarding the upcoming events at the Games. 

With only three weeks to go until it all goes down in Fort Worth, we now know a bit of information about two events: a four-mile “Run Swim” and an event to be held at Farrington Field on Friday night.

Many of the details of those two events, however, are left up to speculation. 

One big thing: In the most recent Week In Review (WIR), Castro said that the Run Swim event will be held as early as 7:00 a.m. local time on Thursday morning.

• The Demo Team will run the workout at 7:00 a.m. days prior to determine if the time needs to be pushed back due to the weather. 

Ever since the announcement that the Games were moving to Fort Worth, there has been much discussion about the intense Texas heat. 

Athletes, coaches, and spectators have been concerned about the impact the weather will have on their performances and health. 

Worth noting: When asked earlier in the season if the programming would involve outdoor events in Fort Worth, Castro stated that while there would be events outside of Dickies arena, 95 percent of them would be indoors. 

Later on in Castro’s recent WIR episode, he said that the only two outdoor events are those that have been shared. 

• “Those are the two outdoor events. The first is on Thursday. The second one we announced Friday night. At this point, that’s it. That’s the extent of the outdoor events. We announced them both to get it out of the way… Logistically it made sense to get them both out,” Castro shared.

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SPEED READS

⭐️🤩 “The Happy Star”: On Saturday, Dave Castro announced via his personal Instagram account, that athletes would use an implement that appears to be a Rogue sandbag, called “The Happy Star” in Event 6. Eagle-eyed commenters on Castro’s post noticed that the bag pictured had “170 lb.” written in one corner.

• Announced on Friday night, Event 6 (at Farrington Field) will be a “Field Sprint, Rest, 1600m Run.” No additional details were given.

• Remind me: In 2020, Event 9 at the CrossFit Games was called “Happy Star” and featured different running loops up and down the hill with five rounds of increasing reps of thrusters and burpees.

🏆🚨 Seventh Athlete Announced for TYR Wodapalooza SoCal: Arielle Loewen was announced as the seventh athlete in the mix for the inaugural TYR Cup, a battle between North America and the World. She was announced last week on Talking Elite Fitness:

• Loewen now joins a growing roster of athletes for the event, including Jeffrey Adler, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, Danielle Brandon, Lazar Djukic, Justin Medeiros, and Seher Kaya. Loewen will compete with Toomey-Orr and Djukic on Team North America.

🕶️😎 ACTIV Eyewear Relaunch: Co-founded by Aussie CrossFit legend Kara Saunders, the eyewear brand for your active lifestyle, ACTIV, relaunched last week. Check it out now.

ICYMI: In a rare admission of regret, Dave Castro shared with Games athlete Jacqueline Dahlstrom that firing most of the CrossFit team in 2018 “set us back.” Get the details. 

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

A Case to Avoid Up-Front Payments

“I don’t want another monthly payment. Can I just pay for the year upfront?”

Those words can be music to a small gym owner’s ears, who realizes this person is about to drop $2,400 for the year, solving their anticipated end-of-the-month payroll problem with one single transaction.

Not. So. Fast.

As much as it can be exciting, or relieving when a client wants to pay for six or 12 months upfront, or 20 personal training sessions, it’s not always the right call from a long-term business, especially from a legal perspective. 

The Legal Ramifications 

We sat down with Matthew Becker, a lawyer, an 11-year CrossFit affiliate owner, and the founder of gymlawyers.com—a company dedicated to helping gym owners navigate the legal aspects of running a business—to pick his brain about upfront payments.

In a nutshell, Becker concludes that “from a legal perspective, there’s no advantage” to allowing clients to pay upfront, as “there are far more difficulties in legal hoops than I think it’s worth.”

For starters, according to Becker, most gym owners aren’t even necessarily aware of it, but most states have some form of Health Club, or Health Studio, Act.

• “Nine out of 10 times” these Health Club acts, not only require all gyms to have members sign a membership agreement, but they also require specific language on the agreement, usually involving cancellation policies.

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CROSSFIT GAMES

CrossFit Games Rookie Spotlight: Slow and Steady Growth Earned Jack Rozema a 2024 Games Invite

Jack Rozema was born to be an elite, competitive athlete.

Growing up in Michigan, Rozema was a three-sport athlete in high school, playing football, wrestling, and baseball, keeping him busy all year round. 

In addition to sports, Rozema had military aspirations early in life.

• “During my sophomore year in high school,” Rozema said in an interview with the Morning Chalk Up, “I applied to West Point, which was a long process. I was hopeful I would get accepted there and play football. I'd always wanted to serve in the military, and this seemed like a great combination.”

Rozema wasn’t accepted to West Point, but all hope was not lost. 

He soon received a letter that although he had not been accepted, he was offered a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship to any four-year university he wanted to attend.

Several days later, Rozema got a call from his high school wrestling coach, letting him know that the team at Ohio State wanted him in for an official visit. 

Goal #1 — The Olympics

He ended up as a preferred walk-on for the Buckeyes wrestling program. 

The wide-eyed 17-year-old who walked onto campus that fall was in awe.

• “It was definitely a culture shock,” he remembered, “I had never thought about going to school out of state, but it seemed like too good of an opportunity to say no.”

The Ohio State University is a perennial powerhouse and a feeder program for the USA Olympic Wrestling Team. And Rozema was surrounded by older, bigger, and more talented men. It was “an insanely competitive [wrestling] room,” Rozema told us.

HIGHLIGHTS

Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.

• 🎂Happy birthday to Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr.

• Congratulations to James Newbury and his teammates for taking first place at a HYROX in the mixed relay division in Melbourne, Australia, last weekend.

• Check out these heavy lifts from Games athlete Bayley Martin. Someone’s getting fine-tuned for Texas! 🤠

• Nice work to coach James Townsend on the two snatches at 120 kilos/265 pounds.

• 🙌 Congratulations to Izzie, the new coach at CrossFit Siargao in the Philippines.