Competition is fundamental to CrossFit. Every time you go to the box for a WOD, you’re competing with yourself and your peers. But for some, that’s not enough. They crave even more competition. On the weekends, they seek out throwdowns or charity WODs, anything where they can go head to head against others to test their strength and skill.
But if you’re a CrossFit affiliate hosting one of these competitions, what if there were a way to make your competitions not only safer, but better? There is a way. Using BeastScore can help you create a simple, safe, competitive event. Here’s how:
4. Simplify Registration
Let’s start with an easy one. Say you want to host a competition. You have to worry about registrations, staffing, programming the WOD, insurance—the responsibilities go on and on. BeastScore can not only take registrations off that list, it can actually improve the process.
First, BeastScore can handle registrations for any type of event. Is this a single entrant comp? No problem. Teams? We got this. Multiple divisions? Easy as pie. BeastScore is set up to handle all this online, process the payments, and provide boxes with a simple, organized registration list along with the collected fees.
But BeastScore goes a step further. Say John Q. Crossfitter is interested in signing up for a competition. He looks at the Rx and Scaled options and suddenly he’s got a decision to make: sign up for Rx even though some of the lifts (like snatches) look intimidating, or sign up for Scaled even though the WODs look like a breeze? BeastScore takes the guesswork out this process. If you’re a competitor, all you have to do is enter 10 of your PRs and BeastScore will tell you definitively what division you belong in. The algorithm is just that accurate.
If you handle registrations manually without third-party registration software, you can still use BeastScore for your division levels, but making sure your competitors all have BeastScores prior to the registration deadline might be akin to herding cats. With our registration system, BeastScores are verified at time of registration.
If you already have a preferred registration software, it’s possible the developers of the software would be willing to make changes to require BeastScores during registration (email us to discuss).
3. End Sandbagging
Unfortunately, in organized competitions you run into sandbagging. What is sandbagging? It’s when athletes compete in lower divisions to gain a competitive advantage. Why do they do it? Who knows? Maybe they have their sights set on the Second Division (D2) top prize. Maybe they’d just rather be somebody in D2 than nobody in D1. Whatever the reason, sandbagging has two serious consequences:
1. It’s demoralizing for competitors who are facing a stacked deck.
2. It discourages lower-skill athletes from competing—what’s the point if you’re just going to get smoked by a sandbagger?
BeastScore eliminates the possibility of Sandbagging. Competitors are placed in the appropriate division level based on their skill. With BeastScore, you can encourage more people to compete, knowing that they’ll be going up against other competitors at their skill level.
2. Increase Safety
Let’s go back to the earlier scenario of John Q. Crossfitter trying to pick his own division. Let’s say, he chooses Rx despite some trepidation about the WOD difficulty. The day of the competition arrives. Fueled by the crowd and adrenaline, he pushes past his limit on snatches, sets a PR… and seriously injures himself. He just wasn’t ready for that level. In the back of his mind, he knew it, but BeastScore could have told him unequivocally. Now he’s got months of rehabbing his shoulder before he can even set foot in a box again.
For you, the host, insurance will cover John’s injury and liability. But insurance is for after the fact. BeastScore can help reduce the likelihood of this sort of thing occurring. Injuries are bad for the athlete (of course), the box, and the sport of CrossFit. BeastScore can even help you plan your WODs to challenge competitors in each division level without overwhelming them.
1. Improve Competition
Look at this like the aggregate of the three previous items. If you’re planning a competition where you don’t have to worry about registrations, you’ll be able to spend more time focusing on the important stuff. If you know that competitors will be placed in the right divisions and challenged with appropriate WODs, you’ll worry less about safety. Plus, you can promote the event to a wider range of competitors, assuring them that they’ll be going up against athletes of comparable skill. And if that’s the case, then your event will be more competitive and more exciting to wa
Interested in using BeastScore for your next competition? Email us.
