Unbeatable Chemistry – The Sharks’ 2025 United Grid League Dominance
The Southwest Florida Sharks had an outstanding 2025 season, going undefeated in the regular season and winning the championship in a close finish.
Their success? Each other.
A roster of 20 athletes with big personalities and limited in-person practices could lead to disaster. But for the Sharks, virtual team check-ins and holding each other accountable have been the key to their success.
Remind me: The United Grid League is a spectator sport that features CrossFit-style movements, where two co-ed teams compete in a head-to-head race on a grid floor. The goal is to complete the movements as quickly as possible and out-race the other team to the finish line.
The Sharks have been dominant recently, going undefeated in the regular season in both 2024 and 2025, and advancing to the championship match in both years. The Sharks lost that final match in 2024 but returned with vengeance this season.
Breezy Leins has played with the Sharks for four seasons and is a former NAIA college volleyball player who credits the team’s success to their team dynamic.
- “It’s great because we are all working for the same goal. It’s not on one or two people to stay motivated and to stay dialed in. There are eight to ten of us constantly checking in. I love that piece of the team,” Liens told the Morning Chalk Up in an interview.
Similarly, co-captain Samuel Martin praised the professionalism of the Sharks team and the athletes’ ability to set aside their egos and work toward a common goal.
- “I think when you get a team that has really good chemistry, you kind of develop this family mentality. We’re all going through life; we’re all adults with families and careers, but we also prioritize each other. I think chemistry is what really is the outlier for a successful team,” Martin told Morning Chalk Up.
Martin has been part of the Grid League for eight years, and as co-captain, he regularly checks in with team members. The roster is spread across the country and mostly depends on virtual meetings and required video submissions to stay accountable.
The team members keep it fun by holding internal competitions and motivating each other to work harder. Usually, the roster of athletes doesn’t come together until the day of the match, which calls for a lot of collaboration and teamwork.
- “I just find it super fascinating because we ultimately just send videos and do our assignments, and then somehow, some way or another, when we get onto the grid and just kind of know where we need to be,” Martin said. “And just by doing a few runs together, it all becomes cohesive. It’s the first time I’ve seen anything like this in a sport.”
Jessi Kuhlman, a fellow Shark, says it’s not just what happens on the grid that makes the team successful. It’s also the roles team members take on the sidelines.
Since typically only one athlete works at a time, the teammate’s role is vital for strategic reasons and overall team camaraderie. Kuhlman views it this way: there are two roles, one as a grid athlete and the other as a teammate.
- “We all have our people, every team you have your little mini cliques, but at the end of the day, we all believe in the greater purpose of our team, and we want to succeed for the greater good of the team, not just ourselves,” Kuhlman told Morning Chalk Up.
An example of the extraordinary team dynamic of the Sharks is the unanimous decision among teammates to reinvest their championship winnings in the team for the next season.
- The United Grid League is currently in its off-season but will resume in 2026. Stay up to date with the Sharks here, and the League here.
