The 2016 Open was pretty exciting. I couldn’t compete because of the broken ribs – and truthfully in some ways was a little relieved. But I didn’t want to just sit it out either. Then I found out that if you do an online course (I have to say, Crossfit does a great job of their online course material), which is very focused on proper technique and what to watch for in a movement for it to be considered proper as compared to “no rep” which would not count, I could be a judge in the Open. My responsibility was to watch the athlete complete the reps in each movement, count them for them, while only counting those that met the movement standard. Simple enough. I just had to learn what all of those movement standards were and pass the online tests (there was a series of them grouped by movement type, complete with demonstration videos, and then a final exam).
I completed the course and was then permitted to be a judge. Like many others at Rocky Lake that had done the same thing, I volunteered for various time slots for the athletes that were registered for the open. And I wound up spending a lot of time at the box doing it. Not only did I get a chance to see a whole lot of people, beginner and experienced athletes alike, complete each weekly workout of the open, I got to meet a large number of people at the Box I had never previously met. We all kind of get into a groove with the time of day that suits us best for class and so we can go a long time without actually seeing let alone talking to anyone from another class that isn’t right before or right after our own.
