The Rules of the Game

There have been a lot of questions about how the CFO Affiliate Cup team is going to be assembled for the CrossFit Games.

What follows is an attempt to answer that question and lay out the process.

First, the basics:

* There can only be one team per Affiliate.
* The team can have a maximum of six people, with at least two men and two women.
* The workouts will be four-person workouts, with both men and both women competing as a team at once.
* The team competition will take place on Friday, July 10 and Sunday, July 12.
* Only the top five teams from Friday's competition will move on to compete on Sunday.
* The team workouts (as well as the individual workouts) will be announced the week of the CF Games.
* Registration is now closed for the team competition. There will be 75 teams competing at this year's Games (as of the time of this writing).

We'll be filling spots for the Affiliate Cup team by taking into account an individual's performance in a series of workouts over a two-week period, as well as taking into account what the workouts will be at the Games (since they'll be announced ahead of time).

Let's tackle the first part of that equation. We'll be holding a two-week internal throwdown from Tuesday, May 26 to Tuesday, June 9. This will allow us to get 4 three-on/1-off cycles in during that period of time. The workouts will most likely be programmed in-house (i.e., not part of the national site cycle), but this is still being determined. Whatever the source of the workouts, expect them to be physically and mentally challenging (we'd expect nothing less, given that our aim is to send our six best to represent CFO at the Games). This will also let us finish up with hard, physical training a month out from competition, which will allow for a nice taper heading into the Games. Look for a sign-up sheet at CFO for this two-week throwdown. All are welcome to participate.

What this two-week cycle will give us is a strong pool of candidates for the team, but it won't be the be-all and end-all.

The final decision will ultimately come down to what the workouts are. We can spin this a million ways to Sunday, but the bottom line is this: what comes out of the hopper matters. End of story.

So the two-week throwdown will give us a pool of candidates (think primary elections), but the final vote will come down to yours truly, based on whatever HQ throws our way in terms of team workouts.

And one last thing (for now)...

Brandon has graciously accepted our offer to be team captain. Let's explain what that means, exactly. We'll be calling on Brandon to make sure that anyone who's expressed even a scintilla of interest in competing on Team CFO be a part of the two-week throwdown. In addition, Brandon is also putting together some dates and times for Affiliate Cup candidates to get together, team up, and compete against other in-house teams in workouts, so that we can prepare for 4-person workouts.

Basically, Brandon is your point person for all things Affiliate-Cup-related.

And one last point related to the captain position. Just because Brandon has assumed the captain seat, it does not mean he is guaranteed a spot on the team. He'll be subject to the same vetting process as everyone else. There are no guarantees.

Post to comments if you're interested in being a part of the Affiliate Cup team.