Are we CrossFit?

A few months ago there was a seismic shift in the CrossFit world.  The statements, actions and allegations involving then owner and CEO of CrossFit Inc Greg Glassman were appalling.  In response to this, Alchemy made the decision to distance ourselves from an organization we had always loved to be a part of.  

We sent notice, with thousands of other affiliates, that if we did not see the overhaul of leadership, when our contract’s were up we would no longer be renewing.  We changed our brand overnight to Alchemy Community Fitness and are still working to clean up CrossFit branding in our digital footprint.  

And then on June 24th we were surprised to see that Greg Glassman had sold 100% of his company to Eric Roza who would now become CEO.  

A new owner.  A new CEO.  The return of well respected integral executives who had resigned as a result of Glassman’s action.  This was exactly what we had been hoping for.  Dropping the brand was directly associated with our desire for change.  With the changes in leadership we were happy to renew our affiliation fee.  

Fast forward to today and the question now becomes.  Are we CrossFit? Are we Community Fitness? Did we de-affiliate or re-affiliate?  

Here is the lowdown.

One of the most beautiful things about our relationship with CrossFit is that it allows entrepreneurs to do everything their own way.  What an affiliation fee pays for is the right to use the word “CrossFit” in our content.  And while we no longer choose to, the reality is most of our members found us by typing “Crossfit Hamilton/Brantford” into a search engine.  Many people type those words each year hoping this will be the thing that may change their health/fitness/life and we want those people to find us.

We love CrossFit.  We think it is the most effective way to deliver fitness.  We feel it has given us and our people an incredible career.  We know we have a special place that has been built around the name.  But, we realize now how fragile a thing having your business tied to something completely out of your control can be.   We will remain ‘the home of’ Alchemy CrossFit, will continue to use our version of the methodology that we love but will not incorporate that name in our branding.

So what do you call us?

Alchemy will do just fine