More Information on the conduct of Sectionals - CrossFit Games 2011

Team Qualification and Affiliate Workout Validation for the Open

More Information On Participating in the Open

We have previously covered team competition and affiliate validation of Open workouts on the Games site. Here we provide answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.
More on the CrossFit Games Open Team Competition
Open competitors do not have to choose between team and individual competition. Competitors may run for both simultaneously, first as an individual and second as a team member. One’s scores may count for both.
The team with the most participants at the end of the first week gets two free spectator tickets per athlete to the 2011 CrossFit Games, their next affiliate fee waived, and a plaque commemorating their achievement. Yes, if the winning team has 250 participants, we're giving away 500 spectator tickets to the Games!

Only a team’s top three women and top three men for a given week contribute their scores to their team’s total score. Any active team member can contribute if their performance is good enough, even if they are different athletes from prior weeks.

For an athlete’s scores to be able to count for their team’s qualification efforts in any given week, they must still be “in the running” as an individual. This means that they cannot scale, DNF, or be disqualified for missing range of motion on any week’s workout.

There is no limit to the number of athletes who may compete for an "official" team each week. The only restrictions are that there must be at least three men and three women, and teammates must all train at the same gym and use the same equipment. "Other" teams can be comprised of any collection of athletes, but are not eligible to qualify for Regionals.

It is the team, NOT the list of individuals, that qualifies from the Open to Regional team competition. Qualified teams may select any group of individuals from their gym to represent them at Regionals. If an athlete qualifies from the Open for the Regional individual competition, and their team qualifies, they will have to choose between competing in Regionals as an individual or on their team.

Getting Workouts Validated at an Affiliate

Some affiliates have advertised that they are “registered” for the CrossFit Open Qualifier. Technically, this is not true. They may be committing to Opt-In each week, which is great, but nothing is official yet.

All affiliates who want to validate performances must Opt-In each week of the Open on the new CrossFit Games Open website. This website will go live the week before the start of the Open on March 15th. Given that the site has not been released, no affiliate has “registered” or Opted-In, for the Open.

The reason affiliates are required to Opt-In each week is to confirm that they have adequate equipment and trainers to validate performances. Consequently, an athlete may have a workout validated at one affiliate in Week 1 and find that Affiliate X is not validating performances the next week. Athletes will be able to search for other affiliates in the area who have Opted-In using the Open website. All affiliates who have Opted-In will be clearly posted on the Open website. It is the athlete’s responsibility, however, to complete and submit their results for the week’s workout, whether at an affiliate or via video submission.

If an athlete is unable to have their performance validated at an affiliate for any reason, they will be required to submit a video of that week’s workout in order to remain in the competition.

There is no limit on how many affiliates can Opt-In to validate workouts on a given week, so long as they commit to meeting the standards presented.

Games Update - 09 Feb 11

CrossFit HQ has released some more info on the games here.

You really need to dig into the comments to get all the details. To save you doing that I have cut and posted one of the most helpful bits below. 

Dear Team:
Let me try and summarize my understanding of how the sectionals and affiliate cup will be structured this year. For starters, there is no difference between Affiliate Cup and the individual competition. You must register and compete as an individual to begin with.
Competing as an individual will require the following:
1) Beginning in mid-March, Crossfit will release 1 WOD per week for a period of 6 weeks. You must complete that WOD at a registered affiliate or submit your performance via video. You will be required to complete all 6 workouts over this 6 week period. Your scores will be logged into the main crossfit computer system and your rankings will be computed and compared against others in your region. You will qualify for regionals based on your performance in those 6 WODs relative to how all others in your section are performing.
2) Affiliate Cup teams will qualify for regionals based on the scores of the top 6 competitors. So, each week as we compete as individuals, Crossfit will also be computing an Affiliate ranking based on our top 6 performances from week-to-week.
Now, assume our box qualifies for affiliate cup regionals based on the performances of our top 6 men and women. However, now assume those top 6 people also qualify for regionals as individuals and they want to compete as individuals. That means we have a team that has qualified and we can swap out athletes and put in 6 other athletes on the Affiliate team so long as those 6 other athletes also competed as individuals during the open sectionals competition.
In other words, the people who are members of the Affiliate Cup team at regionals do not necessarily need to be the people who were responsible for the team being qualified. The only requirement is that members of the Affiliate team did compete in the open sectionals.
This will be tricky to maneuver through as all the details unfold. So, here is my advice for now. Forget about Affiliate Cup and how we qualify etc. If you want to compete, either as an individual or as a member of the Affiliate team, you must first be a part of the individual open sectionals competition. Let's worry about that part to begin with and let the other pieces unfold as we go along.

2011 Games Update

Update on the 2011 CrossFit Games

The Open Sectionals begin in March, and the Regionals begin late May.

For those of you eager for information about the 2011 CrossFit Games season, here's what we have for you.

For Individual Competitors, the Open Sectionals will begin in early March and go through mid April. Each week, there will be an event to complete. You'll be able to perform it anywhere. Each performance needs to be validated, either through a video submission or by a registered CrossFit affiliate. All the details are coming, but no matter what the official rules will be, the key is fitness. The athletes who do more work in less time week after week will qualify for Regionals. Regionals will occur late May through late June. The CrossFit Games will be in late July.

Teams will compete at Regionals, but they will need to qualify through the Opens as individuals. This qualification process is similar in concept to the 07 and 08 Affiliate Cup competitions. Everyone on the team competes in the Open Sectionals and the teams with the top performers will qualify for Regionals. No limit on the number of athletes from any team that can compete in Opens. Like last year, teams qualify, so the rosters can change at each level of competition. Again, full details are coming, but the key will be bringing the fittest athletes possible.

Masters are going to have four age divisions (45-50, 50-55, 55-60, 60+) and will compete in the Opens.

As we get closer, all the details about the nature of the competitions, how to compete, the rules, limitations, and any exceptions will become clear. In the meantime, train hard, eat well, and stay healthy!

I cut this straight from the games website - there are obviously things to think about with regard to how we do this. I will let people post their ideas to comments - but there a wide range of options from incorporating it into the programming to having a games day etc. Anyway, keep training.

GAMES Update Two

Dave Hudson has mined the CF Journal and come up with some info. The bottom line is no sectionals ... at all for anyone. The video that kickstarted this conversation is here. I don't say that this is bad for us - if anything it its good and lets us do something local as part of qualifying. This is what Tony Budding from CFHQ has to say about it:

All,
This video was filmed several weeks ago. The final details of the Universal Sectionals have been worked out since then. All the details are coming soon on the Games site. But here are a few key things:

1. Last year's Sectionals were great. We loved them and it was a very difficult decision to change the format.
2. While the Sectionals were open to "everyone," really they were only open to folks who could be at that one spot that one weekend.
3. The new Universal Sectionals are open to anyone in the world who has access to the internet.
4. There will be two ways to validate a performance: with a video that you submit online or at a "registered affiliate."
5. Each week, affiliates who register can create a nearly identical atmosphere to last year's Sectionals if they want.

Again, full details will be coming to the Games site very soon. This is a change for sure, but the process will definitely identify the fittest in each Region, who will come together in late May / early June to battle for the precious few spots allocated to the CrossFit Games in July.

December 5, 2010 8:03 AM

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Starting Info CrossFit Games 2011

What is this all about? This blog documents the progress of the Iron Major Affiliate team for 2011. The team's objective is to qualify for the 2011 CrossFit games finals held in Jul 2011 in California.

The purpose of Iron Major CrossFit's participation is three fold:

-         -  Provide focus and team environment to improve individual performance;

-         - Build small teams; and

-         - Enhance awarenss of CF in Leavenworth commutity

To this end our approach should be inclusive of all Iron Major and CrossFit Results members. This will give us the capacity to consider two teams because the rule is one team per affiliate but there are no restrictions on who is in the team provided you workout in the same gym.

The games occur in three phases:

Lead up and Sectionals. The sectionals were will be mid Feb in MO. There is no team comp in sectionals. However, I suggest we use the sectionals to compete as individuals in order to: understand how the games work, get some training in “games intensity WOD” and let individuals work out if its what they want to do – some may even wish to keep competing as individuals if they make the regionals

Regionals. In CO at the end of Apr. There is a team competition at Regionals. There are six members in a team (no more than four from either sex), but each WOD only requires four members, this allows athletes to be subbed before WOD's to maximise the team strengths. If you want to know more then read the  Affiliate Cup Rules.

Some workouts from the 2010 regional are here so you can understand how it works and the standards.

Finals.  The finals are held in CA in Jul. We can talk more about that if we get there.

Costs.   I will be seeking sponsorship and support from the CGSC foundation.

If you have ideas, suggestions, comments etc please post to comments.