There’s nothing like the buzz of excitement of kids having fun while exercising, and what better way to experience this than by attending the Intermediate CrossFit competition hosted by Phoenix Crossfit Eight at their premises on Rosebank Road on the 24th November 2020.
Bex Melton – one of the owners got involved in the event as her son goes to Glen Eden Intermediate School and had heard about the competition last year when it was run for the first-time as a trial at Kelston Intermediate with six teams competing. This year the event has increased to 24 teams and Bex was keen to offer up their premises for the community event.
The five intermediate schools competing were Glen Eden, Kelston, Green Bay, Henderson and Bruce McLaren with 96 students competing in teams of four which were split into year 7 and year 8 categories.
Kim Watts popped along on the day to witness the kids in action completing workouts that had been designed by Phoenix CrossFit Eight’s head coach Duck Williams who had focused on range and quality of movements specifically to suit age and ability to ensure no injuries.
With an emphasis on workouts being designed around teamwork, drills included synchronized burpees and squats using the weighted wall balls which entailed all team members to have their chest on the ground in the burpee at the same time before coming back up, as well as all being in the bottom of the squat at the same time. The idea is that no one team member can leap ahead of anyone else.
Kim spoke to Vaimoana Va’ai – a teacher at Glen Eden Intermediate who told her that they had been looking for a different type of exercise to challenge the students and CrossFit had been suggested. The kids are newcomers to the sport but are currently active in other codes and the benefits of CrossFit test them both mentally and physically.
The event was split into three workouts to be followed by a final with a DJ/MC adding to the mix on the day. As far as Kim could tell every kid was a winner on the day, showing grit, determination, encouragement for fellow teammates and just having fun.
