Eric Roza Gives CrossFit Staff Reasoning For Dave Castro Firing via Zoom Call
CrossFit CEO Eric Roza organized his second all-hands staff Zoom call Monday to further explain why Dave Castro was fired last week from his position as general manager of Sport. The overall CrossFit community has been deeply divided as to Castro’s firing as some feel it was the wrong move concerning the direction and integrity of the CrossFit Games given Castro’s long history with the sport, however others applauded the chance to start a new era.
One big thing: Roza offered his most straightforward rationale for Castro’s firing on this second call, according to a staff member who attended and spoke to Morning Chalk Up on condition of anonymity.
The big picture: Castro retains a lot of loyalty among many at CrossFit Home Office, especially among the CrossFit Games staff and training department, which he co-led for years alongside Nicole Carroll, as well as a large fan base across the community.
- One staff member from Home Office on the Zoom described it as a “very closed off and insincere” response. The person said only Roza was visible and he primarily read from prepared remarks and questions submitted ahead of time.
- “It felt very rehearsed and insincere. The call was scheduled for 30 minutes and exactly at the 30-minute mark, he cut it off, the person said. No other questions besides what was emailed to him were taken,” the staff member added.
According to an audio excerpt that was played back for Morning Chalk Up, Roza underscored a need for CrossFit’s leadership to be highly collaborative, to be open to other perspectives and to listen and learn from others.
- Roza: “While I have infinite respect for Dave’s contributions to partnering with so many of you to build CrossFit, I did not feel he was the right fit to build this collaborative leadership role for the sports team going forwards. This simply is the why, there is no other reason. While not all of you may agree with my decision, my hope is that you will understand and respect my right to make it.”
The bottom line: In Roza’s original email to staff announcing the departure, he said the decision was “to best support CrossFit’s go-forward plans.” According to the staff member, no further vision or plans for the Games was offered on the call.
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