CrossFit Athletic Group

Me: "Watch this Kuiper, I'm bout to have Mr. Andrew do this warmup run again to show everyone how strict of a coach I am. Here we go... Hey Mr. Andrew! Why the hell are you in last place on this warmup run!?"

Mr. Andrew: "I'm talking to Mr. Slade, asking him if he's ready to come back."

Me: "Oh... well, uh... YEAH, YOU DO THAT, and shave those sideburns. Yeah."

...........

The Champions Club Recruiting Network is strong, I tell you. We have people like Mrs. Regine, Mrs. Teri, Shannon, and Coach T working on the periphery looking for that one person we might take a chance on. And meanwhile inside the walls of 32301 Stephenson (or it's running routes) we have you rabid people badgering the crap out of any familiar face you may see. The badgering does not stop until you get the answer you want. Then I get credit somehow for cultivating such a great community. What an easy job, indeed.

From the last Building a Champion installment:

My favorite recruiting, however, is done by everyone individually taking care of their own personal fitness and health - and I promise that's not just a cop-out. Shakes, for example, has not directly brought one person* that stuck during her 7-year career. She has, however, done everything in her ability to make this place appealing to New Kids. The significance of that goes beyond anything that can be tallied.

The Monkey Exhibit illustrated this well with Shiny: she was in-and-out a few different times in the past but now seems set up for long-term succes because of the connection she's found with Ashlyn, Jaylee, and the rest of the monkeys.

At this time we're past the point of looking for 3-month rentals with New Kids; if we spot one then we're expecting this to be a long-term relationship, otherwise we'll just wait until the time is right. But I have a feeling most of the New Kids we'll be seeing in the near future will actually be Old Kids who used to call this place home. Christmas Break has not even lasted for a week and already there's a few names that have been added to the recruiting board. So just know that I really appreciate the effort you guys make to help reel them in.

As the Christmas Workout demonstrated, the most important recruiting we can do at this time is keeping the people currently on our roster. You seem to apply just the right amount of comfort combined with peer pressure and it usually gets the job done.