A New Era
“And so it begins”
Next week is the Youth Pan American Championships to be held
in Palmira, Colombia. I am excited to
lead my three boys into their first International Competition. I have:
·
14-year-old Morgan McCullough
·
16-year-old Ryan Grimsland
·
16-year-old Jared Flaming
This group marks a new beginning for our team. We have a whole new culture that we have all
developed over the last year. Hunter
Elam was just talking to me the other day about the changes. She said that she gets nauseas thinking about
the way it used to be, and I have to agree.
Yes, we had great athletes, but there was no camaraderie. There was
jealousy. Athletes were bad-mouthing each other. This was all my fault. I was more concerned about growing this
unbeatable team than I was about nurturing the team that I had.
Coach Sean Waxman was the one that called me one night and
told me what I needed to hear. He told
me that I had to change my athletes or change my athletes. This meant that I needed to get things under
control, or I needed to cut some of the issues.
A little bit at a time, I was able to handle this leaving me with the
most incredible team to date.
It was this youth and junior team that led the way. I know that this is not the way that it
normally happens, but in this case it was exactly what happened. These young men and women love each
other. They support each other down to
the last man. It’s not only the onsite
team. We have some significant additions
around the country like Nathan Clifton (Missouri), who’s on his way to his
second CrossFit Games and is a great weightlifter as well. We have Kobe Thomas (also Missouri) a great
Junior Weightlifter that is moving out to North Carolina in a few weeks. Jacob Hamby (also Missouri) is a former Team
USA Youth Weightlifter, and he’s the one that started it all with my Missouri
boys. Jacob is also a great
CrossFitter. Jared Flaming is my newest
Online Athlete, and he’s on his way to the Youth Pan American
Championships. Jared is from California,
and trains with Mash OG Jordan Cantrell.
Some people give Online Training a hard time, but they
should see how my boys and girls interact.
When they come together for training camps or competitions, you would
swear that they are family. They are
inseparable. Not only are they close,
but also the families are close. It all
started with Jacob Hamby’s family. I
feel like they are my extended family.
Without a doubt there is a place in my heart for that family that could
have only been formed by God.
We are working on our first Mash Affiliate in Missouri as we
speak, and I can’t wait to spend some quality time out there. The point to all of this is that we have
created something special. I say ‘we’
because I didn’t really plan this. It
just kind of happened. The young boys
and girls did most of it. They text and
snap chat (or whatever it is that they do) on a daily basis. They pick nicknames ‘lil ounce and big ounce,
which I have no idea what either mean.
There is so much more that has happened to form this
community like families open up to each other.
Crystal McCullough (Morgan’s mother) and Jessica Grimsland (Ryan’s
mother) both have opened their homes to our athletes as they visit Mash HQ in
North Carolina. On the other hand,
Michelle and Sam Clifton (Nathan’s parents) had Ryan at their home for a week
leading up to the CrossFit Games Teenage Online Qualifier.
I ponder the formation of this National alliance on a daily
basis. I just chalk it up to being a God thing, which puts it in the hands of
all of us to make sure the whole thing is glorifying the Him. That’s a tall order that I take
seriously. Forming something this
special is one thing, but maintaining it is another. I don’t know of another National community
like this. It’s a special thing that we
have, and I am going to cultivate it and nurture it. The good thing is that I don’t feel like that
I am all alone in this. The athletes and
the parents are in this with me, which lets me know that this bond is strong.
All of this was simply to say that it all gets started next
week. Ryan, Morgan, and Jared will take
their show on the road to South America.
These boys are all three strong competitors. I am excited to see how they perform on an
International level. However I am fairly
certain that all three are prepared.
The best thing about raising athletes from the ground up is
that you can prepare them properly. They
don’t have preconceived notions from other coaches that aren’t used to
International competition or from coaches that don’t think the way you do about
International competition.
Here’s what we’ve worked on to prepare them:
1. Warm Ups and Order of Attempts- for the
last few weeks, we’ve worked on the order of their warm ups and the order of
their attempts normally three times per week.
I want them to be on autopilot in Colombia.
2. Philosophy of International Competition-
it’s different when you are competing for Team USA. It’s not about your PRs or American
Records. It’s about placing as high as
possible and hopefully medals. It’s not
Team Mash. It’s Team USA now. You simply lift what’s on the bar. You can worry about all of the other stuff
when you are in America competing. Does
that mean you won’t be attempting PRs?
Not necessarily! If the situation
calls for a PR, then that’s what you will do.
3. Nutrition- They all know that the food
will not be the same. If they’re picky,
then they will need to bring their own food to eat like waffles or protein
powder.
By now, they are all used to making attempts. All three of them average between 4-6 for 6
in their competition attempts, so they are used to succeeding. Success is something that you practice. I don’t want them to surprised or relieved if
they hit their openers. I want them to
be surprised if they miss their final attempt and only go 5 for 6. There is a huge difference in these two mind
sets, and this is something that nurtured from the very beginning by good
coaches.
Everyone that knows me understands that I have been waiting
on this moment for quite some time. This
young group of men and women has helped change the culture of Team Mash from
the ground up. They have formed this
National Community all on their own, and I am simply blessed to be a part of
it. Next week begins this new era of
Mash Athletes at the International level.
I hope that all of you will pray for these young people and join me in
congratulating all of them for making their first Team USA.
If you want to partner with us in supporting this team, we are a non-profit 501c3. Our mission is helping these athletes reach their goals and working with at risk youth in our community. You can donate to the team here:
There are benefits to donating that are explained by clicking on the link. We don't want anything for Free. We just want to help these young people crush it.
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