Rich Froning Announces Collaboration with Jason Khalipa’s NCFIT to “Go All in on Gyms”
On the most recent episode of The Rich Froning Podcast, CrossFit pioneers Rich Froning, Austin Malleolo, and Jason Khalipa announced that their companies are collaborating.
The details: After reminiscing about their days together competing under the bright lights of the 2010 CrossFit Games in Carson, CA, the Games legends explained that the collaboration between Mayhem Nation and NCFIT isn’t a merger; instead, it’s a way to combine their platforms, knowledge, and resources to support gym owners and coaches in their respective networks.
Why the collaboration?
- Because, as Froning put it, “There’s a need for more cohesion. And more help. Gym owners need help.”
The two CrossFit OGs hope that, through the collaboration, coaches and gym owners will be better served, as they will now have access to the invaluable business tools, systems, and programming that both Mayhem and NCFIT have gathered over the last decade.
How it Happened
In September, five-time Games athlete Austin Malleolo announced that, after 15 years of working for CrossFit LLC, he was joining Mayhem Nation as VP of Mayhem Gyms.
Malleolo’s mission was “to go all in on gyms.”
Shortly after Malleolo moved to Mayhem, he received a call from Khalipa. Khalipa congratulated Malleolo, and the two got to talking about the similarities between their missions.
- “They’re really interested in supporting gym owners, and that is something I have been very passionate about for a long, long time…That has been part of my identity forever,” Khalipa said.
Ultimately, after their conversation, Khalipa realized, “These are the guys that are really going to go out there and make an impact on gym owners, and I want to be a part of it.”
The Big Picture
Eighteen years have passed since Khalipa won the CrossFit Games, and 13 since both Froning and Malleolo competed in their first Games. Yet, all three remain as committed to the methodology as ever, and their new collaboration shows they believe they will be stronger together.
- Khalipa said, “I’m super excited about this. I think for gym owners, coaches, and the community, this is going to be nothing but a value add. And they’re going to see that through the product, and through what’s going to happen over the next x amount of years.”
