“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”- Dr. Seuss
PROFILE
Teenager with Developmental Delays, Dyslexia, ADHD Takes Matters into his own Hands to Pay for CrossFit Fees
Kim Mixon was gutted to see how upset her 15-year-old son was when his first CrossFit coach left Gun Barrel CrossFit in Gun Barrel City, TX to start her own gym.
“He was very upset because he really liked her and had a little crush on her I think too,” Mixon said of her son DJ Stephens, who is developmentally delayed (DD) and suffers from dyslexia and ADHD. And when he found CrossFit two years ago he took an immediate liking to it.
So Mixon decided it was best to follow his first trainer to her new gym, but soon found out the trainer didn’t think she would be able to keep training Stephens because of his various disabilities.
Knowing how much her son had been enjoying CrossFit, Mixon then approached Gun Barrel CrossFit owner Eric Castro to see what he thought about training her son.
Castro didn’t hesitate to accept Stephens with open arms. “We’ll work with him. He’s a good kid,” Mixon said of Castro’s reply.
What Happened Next
Under Castro and the other coaches at the gym, DJ started seeing quick gains, largely thanks to their patience, Mixon said.
“If he doesn’t understand something, the trainer will go and pull him to the side and help him figure out how to do it…and if he still doesn’t get it they will work with him more,” she said.
“He has grown so much physically and mentally and just in so many different ways. It has also helped with his ADHD very much.”
All was going well until Mixon became sick and wasn’t able to work, let alone pay for her son’s CrossFit fees.
That’s when 15-year-old Stephens took matters into his own hands.
Oceania 1) Ricky Garard (32) | Tia-Clair Toomey (7) 2) Jay Crouch (34) | Kara Saunders (16) 3) Bayley Martin (49) | Ellie Turner (27) 4) Bayden Brown (53) | Bailey Rogers (55) 5) Ben Fowler (80) | Madeline Sturt (57)
South America 1) Guilherme Malheiros (26) | Julia Kato (32) 2) Agustin Richelme (44) | Luiza Marquez (36) 3) Nicolas Bidarte (57) | Valentina Rangel (46) 4) Kaique Cerveny (87) | Melina Rodriguez (47) 5) Anderon Primo (110) | Victoria Campos (57)
Europe 1) Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson (130) | Gabriela Migala (52) 2) Willy Georges (151) | Emma McQuaid (82) 3) Lazar Dukic (157) | Jacqueline Dahlstrom (83) 4) Jonne Koski (187) | Sara Sigmundsdottir (87) 5) Moritz Fiebig (257) | Lucy Campbell (89)
Asia 1) Roman Khrennikov (20) | Seungyeon Choi (16) 2) Aleksandar Ilin (30) | Shahad Budebs (26) 3) Hamzeh Tarefi (37) | Seher Kaya (27) 4) Denis Samsonov (44) | Svetlana Veselova (32) 5) Eren Kim (80) | Dawon Jung (34)
Africa 1) Jason Smith (30) | Michelle Merand (29) 2) Ruan Duvenage (36) | Michelle Basnett (43) 3) Kealan Henry (40) | Lee Keyrouz (46) 4) Richard Wollboldt (44) | Anneke Spies (51) 5) Darren Zurnamer (68) | Gemma Rader (53)
Official invitations to the 2021 Age Group Qualifiers will be sent out in the coming weeks.
Here are a few other speed reads:
Bethany Shadburne has officially withdrawn from the 2022 CrossFit Games season due to issue with her back. She spoke about her decision in an Instagram post, detailing this is not the last we will see of her for sure:
“Once healthy Bethany is on the competition floor, it’s going to be scary. But for now, I’m going to allow myself some time to feel these emotions and then get pain free/continue to do what I know to do. Because like I said, I know I’m on the right path , it’s just a ‘not right now.'”
Ameet Shah, Wodify’s CEO and founder appeared on Jason Khalipa’s EOE podcast where he spoke about Wodify’s founding story, as well as his assessment on the future of fitness technology. 🤓
CROSSFIT GAMES
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Familiar Names Flood Quarterfinals Leaderboard
The second stage of the season has wrapped, and while scores are still unofficial, there’s one thing that is very obvious: the big names are at the top of the boards in each continent.
We’ll highlight some of these in detail below, but most of these should look familiar:
Africa: Men – Jason Smith | Women – Michelle Merand
Asia: Men – Roman Khrennikov | Women – Seungyeon Choi
Europe: Men – Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson | Women – Gabriela Migala
North America: Men – Justin Medeiros | Women – Mallory O’Brien
Oceania: Men – Ricky Garard | Women – Tia-Clair Toomey
South America: Men – Gui Malheiros | Women – Julia Kato
Unofficial Quarterfinal Winners by Continental Region
On a recent affiliate town hall, CrossFit’s General Manager of Sport, Justin Bergh, revealed that longtime CrossFit Games head judge and seminar staff member Adrian Bozman has been selected to lead the CrossFit Games programming going forward.
Bergh: “We’ve chosen Adrian Bozman to lead programming for the next version of the CrossFit Games.”
One big thing: As one of the longest-serving members of CrossFit’s training staff, joining in 2007 according to his LinkedIn profile, and CrossFit Games’ head judge, Bozman is an obvious pick to lead competition programming going into CrossFit’s 16th Games.
Bergh: “It had to be someone who deeply understands CrossFit’s methodology and they had to be a red shirt at heart, so they know it to the point of fluency and there were no conflicts of interest.”
“They have to understand the mechanics of large-scale competitions, not just program a good competition that is the right test but how do we demonstrate it broadly, how do we make sure it integrates with media and how do we continue to use this in our storytelling.”
The bottom line: It’s unclear the exact timing of when Bozman took over the role as CrossFit’s Director of Competition, however, it seems like his first full-scale programming effort will be the two semifinal workouts that CrossFit will program and implement uniformly throughout all independent semifinals.
CROSSFIT GAMES
VIDEO: Pat Vellner and Fee Saghafi Weigh in on CrossFit Expanding Games Payouts
Nicole Caroll Defends CrossFit Methodology, Affiliates: "We changed millions of lives"
During a recent affiliate digital town hall, CrossFit’s Director of Training and Education Nicole Caroll laid out what she sees as the main difference between what CrossFit offers the world versus other training programs.
One big thing: Since Eric Roza transitioned from CEO to Chairman of the Board in early February, CrossFit’s titular head is the president of the company Jason Dunlop until a replacementCEO is found. However, Caroll is the most well-known and longest-serving member of CrossFit’s senior leadership who retains a significant amount of influence and loyalty inside the building as well as throughout CrossFit’s vast, global training staff.
Caroll worked for 15+ years under founder Greg Glassman to bring functional fitness from the fringes into mainstraim training metholdology as co-director of training.
She was also front and center during CrossFit’s massive global expansion from 2500 locations in 2010 to 10,000 in 2014.
The one and only Brian Friend, opened up about his unexpected career in CrossFit on the Two Toned Training podcast. Brian spoke about finding his passion, his love of Disc Golf, and gives the hardcore facts on who’s benefiting financially from CrossFit.
Grab a Couples Pack of Toe Spacers, one for yourself and one for a mate. Mobility work with a partner is always more fun, and it’s great to have someone to keep you accountable.
And...we're back. Season two of The Spartan Games has started where 16 of the fittest athletes compete for $50,000. Over four days, they will fight through nine grueling challenges that test them physically and mentally. Christian Harris, Corinna Coffin, and Meg Reardon are showing up this time to rep the CrossFitters.
Gain unparalleled insight into your body and training with a free WHOOP Strap 4.0 and a free month of membership for new members. WHOOP measures your body's data over 100 times a second to provide personalized feedback on your recovery, strain, and sleep.
The front rack position gives a lot of athletes trouble. For some it creates wrist pain, for others, poor mobility limits the amount of weight they can lift. If you want to get after improving your front rack, watch these videos for help identifying the exact areas you need to work on.
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