Upper East Side

Whats up my fellow EVF’ers!

As many of you know a few of our members competed along side one another inthe 2nd annual Scream and Clean competition in Danbury. We had a total of 6 teams with 4 competitors to a team. Thats 24 athletes giving it there all, throwing down with one another and majority of them their first taste of competition.

Awesomeness ensued.

As a coach it was one of the greatest moments of my career. The amazing part for me was watching how supportive and excited everyone was for each other. The most amazing part was how everyone came together to cheer each other on, how we yelled, screamed and jumped high in the air at the performances that took place. Needless to say it was pretty emotional for me to watch. Damn right awesome!

Inspiring moments one right after another.

Watching Coach Matt fight with everything he had to get that tenth rep home on a 10 RM Front Squat was truly amazing. Every one of us, yelling with encouragement, rooting for him, the energy in that moment was something magical. It was like you knew the entire crowd felt each rep with him. When he crossed the finish line and hit that last rep, we erupted with cheers, high fives and massive bear hugs. It was CrossFit at its finest.

Carissa shared the same moment as she jumped underneath that bar with less than a minute to go and 120 lbs on her back. I knew she had to get moving if she was gonna bring this home. 30 seconds to go and five hard reps in front of her, the little honey badger yelled with each rep and would not be stopped.

As she rose for that last rep, Earle jumps ten feet in the air, the crowd erupts and the loudest roar you can hear was from Carisa herself. Amazing. Breathtaking. Coach was about to get very emotional. Not only at the performance but in watching everyone and how into it they were and how supportive and excited they were for her and each other.

I couldn’t be more proud of that than anything else. That was our finest moment as a community.

It was an amazing day which was capped off by the first place finish in the scaled division by the team of Coach Blair, Jay, Kate and our friend Zack from Team Dangerous who jumped in as an alternate at the last minute to help out. YEAAA BUDDY! I couldnt be more proud of them and everyone else.

To get out there and compete is not an easy thing to do. These athletes went out there, nerves and all and gave it there all. Not only did they give an amazing effort but they all learned something about themselves that day. The also learned how strong our community actually is. Watching our members compete in their first competition and do so well was icing on the cake.

Watching them together well that was the best part for me.

A little under 2 years ago I competed in my first competition. At the time I was living on Long Island and going to CrossFit Garden City. My first comp and I was going RX, not smart but then again I’m usually not.

I did not do well at all and actually walked away with an injury. Here is the crazy part, it was the most amazing weekend I have ever had. We had over 35 athletes competing together. All of us decked out in CFGC green, we flooded the place and it was awesome.

It was there that I knew this is what I wanted to do with the rest of my career and life. It was there that I watched my community come together for one another and it was there that I did not feel defeated but rather accomplished because I went out there and gave it my all together with them. I felt that way because of my community and because of my coaches encouragement.

It wasn’t about winning or losing. It was about competing, community and camaraderie. I will always be thankful to Coach Dennis and the rest of the Garden city community for teaching me that.

From that moment on I knew I had to share that vision. I wanted my new community to know what that felt like. How although I did not perform well, I was still inspired by my fellow members and coaches in going out there and giving it my best.

Watching you all cheer for another, hug one another, fight for every rep with each other, that vision came full circle. Which is why it took me so long to write this. Because right there in those moments on that amazing Saturday, you all made my dream come true. They say its not everyday that you get to see your hard work and effort pay off, well I have the luxury of watching it on a daily basis but this was truly different. This was truly magical. This was a dream and it was actually happening.

Thank you all for an amazing day! Thank you all for being so awesome to each other. Thats what this is all about. Its not about the games or the open, its about the people who do it on an everyday basis and achieve something they did not think they were capable of. To see a group of people come together for one another and share in those moments of victory, defeat and sportsmanship is what it is all about.

It was CrossFit and it was awesome.

Coach James