Being a CrossFit Box Owner During COVID-19

My partner and I took over a 3-year-old CrossFit Box, Alamo City CrossFit. We owned and operated Alamo City CrossFit for 3 1/2 months when COVID-19 caused our city officials to shut down gyms.

My first reaction was to cry and feel pity for myself which I did for a moment. Before my partner and I headed to our gym to catch the last classes of the day so we could tell them in person, I felt as prepared as we could be for a situation we hardly understood the magnitude of. We had a lot of support outside of the box with an affiliates network community for Texas we are a part of. Through the group, we talked about trying to stay open as long as possible and how we would let our athletes sign out equipment to keep the community moving. Another group that greatly helps is Baussylady gym owners, which is a FB group for women gym owners and the ideas and support are just more than you could ever ask for.

Within the 1st week of being closed, we had started to move most of our members to online personal training with weekly and daily check-ins. We started different videos on our private FB group to get the community to stay active - from seeing ten push-ups and doing 10 push-ups to asking would you rather questions and tagging another athlete, we kept the conversation going. Monday - Friday we do a zoom call at 8 am “Coffee with Coley” to chat to see some people outside your own home. A coach is coming into the gym to clean equipment and we are taking advantage of the empty box to finish some updates to our entrance area. At this moment, the two online competitions are a big help, one being CrossFit's online Open and the other being United for Movement.

During this time being shut down, I have learned how fast a new community can come together and support each other. We have members checking on other members that are first responders or nurses. I can’t control a lot right now but I can control the passion I give my community, that they will see and give to each and every person throughout their day. Being a CrossFit box owner is tough right now but it is also a beautiful moment to see your community come together. I can’t wait to open the doors back up to the public and hug each and every athlete.