SCCF Athletic Family,
“What Happens To My Membership?”
April 1st is in a short few days. For the past week we’ve been intensely researching, listening, and discussing within SCCF leadership around the topic of memberships. Because CrossFit is not a franchised business model, each ownership group is allowed to run their business in the best way they see fit for their community. For the most part, globally, of the 15,000+ CrossFit Affiliates around the world, every single one has felt the impact of this virus. The stories I have read are: there are a small percentage that still have their physical doors open overseas and just preparing for their authorities to lock them down, some affiliates have closed completely and likely will never re-open, while a vast majority of others have turned to hybrid models like we are practicing with an online focus, equipment rentals, and trusting we can survive this downturn.
The original SD City mandates for gym closure was issued through the end of March, but due to the still growing cases of Covid 19, it’s clear to us that we won’t be opening our doors on April 1st with no certainty of when we will be allowed to show up at the gym together again. We obviously hope it’s sooner than later, but to be honest, our primary concern is on the slowing the spread of the virus, making sure our community and its extended circle are safe and optimally healthy. Community wellbeing means more now than any other time in our short history. We wish we could provide a more concrete outlook on when doors will open, but it’s all hearsay for now.
That being understood, in order to survive, we have to pivot and create a new business model that supports our community lifelines yet honors the values and principles that we stand for. SCCF was built on being an approachable, accessible, and affordable space for its community to grow. With this transition, and with all the research and reflection we’ve invested into the core question above, we wanted to provide our solutions. But before we jump into the offerings, just some context on how we came to our Interim Membership model.
We’ve looked and listened to industry leaders like Ben Bergeron out in Boston, Jason Khalipa with NCFit, Chris Cooper with Two Brain Business who mentors thousands of gyms worldwide, and are active in “Gym Owners United” (A Facebook Group of CF Affiliates) to best understand the lay of the land of how Affiliate owners like us are taking on this most critical question. We needed to take a hard look at our current business and do what we discerned is most reasonable, fair, and just felt right by OUR people to guide OUR path forward. We want to look at this defining moment in 5 years and say: We did the right thing and our people at that time were given the best choices and chances to stay connected. Every gym will have their take on what’s important and how they handle this time and we are confident with our Interim Membership model. What we are proposing is what we think are the best thought out practices, mixed with our own unique value propositions because we believe, not all communities are alike, and if you’ve been with us long enough to know, Stay Classy CrossFit is just different… our strength and identity is in our community.
Our intention first and foremost is to consistently overdeliver opportunities for the SCCF community’s highest wellbeing. If you’re a part of our culture, we’re going to protect and provide for you like family, and do our best to go above and beyond in what we give you. Thus, our greatest value comes from being and staying connected. We also believe that each of you value this experience, this practice, our coaches, and this community and will do your best to stand with us and contribute where you can. All in all, we will find our way.
SCCF Interim Memberships Proposal
(month to month basis)
Option 1: Stay Classy, Stay Alive - Same monthly membership
(1) Maintain your membership
(2) Maintain your equipment rental (If you don’t have equipment and need some, let us know)
(3) Recommitting full value of membership to “Classy Credits”
Action: Do nothing
Classy Credits*:
Personal 1-on-1 Training Session(s) with Coach of Your Choice
Massage Session(s) with Essential Body Therapy
Stay Classy Nutrition - Working Against Gravity
SCCF Apparel & Accessories
Fierro Meals
Bars (From SD Nutrition Mart & Nocco)
Drinks (FitAid, Nocco, Bang, Bottled Water)
*Notes:
_.Credit activated on the day we re-open.
_.Timeline of 6 months to use credits.
_.The full value of the membership is credited to your account and when we physically re-open you’ll be able to use stored credits for all the services and products listed above, at the freedom of your choosing till your credits are fully redeemed.
Option 2: Just Virtual - $50 per month
(1) Online Programming
(2) Online Classes
(3) 1 on 1 Check Ins
(4) Body Weight Only (You’ll need to return your equipment rental on April 1)
Action: Email stayclassycrossfit@gmail.com and let us know you’d like to change to virtual only
Option 3: Membership Hold or Cancel
Action: Email stayclassycrossfit@gmail.com and let us know you’d like to hold or cancel your membership
Option 4: Take Me Higher - Upgrade membership with Virtual Personal Training
Add On: 1-to-1 Virtual Personal Training with a coach of your choice
(A) $60/ hour
Action: Email stayclassycrossfit@gmail.com and let us know you’d like to upgrade to 1-to-1 Virtual PT
Tomorrow, Monday at 8pm, I’ll be hosting a Facebook Live session on our SCCF members page to review this information and answer any questions.
There is no roadmap for what we are dealing with and we can only hope this detour with the Interim Membership model, with a majority of buy-in from our community allows SCCF to stay alive during and after this season. We’re also exploring government assistance programs, but we’re choosing not to lean it all on that type of support in full because the time it takes for approval and we believe there are other struggling businesses that may not have the strength of a community like ours and need that specific type of support to even have a fighting chance to stay alive as well. Thus, we have our duty to our community first, yet we also want to be the best stewards to our neighbors at large. Our sincere hope is that a majority of our athletes select the “Stay Classy, Stay Alive” option, yet in all reality, that may not be the case. We know some people are out of jobs, took pay cuts, are in limbo, have to reallocate funds in this time, etc. For those of you going through tough times and who want to stay connected, let us know. We also know, there are some of you that have resources and perhaps that are willing to step up and provide more, if so, equally let us know. Every athlete counts. This is such a vulnerable and unpredictable time, yet we are going to continue to do our best to keep this community together, safe, and strong.
Dare More Boldly,
LeeJ, Jeff, Rachel and the SCCF Coaches