When a new partnership between CrossFit and Reebok was announced last November, it wasn't at all clear how this would affect the global CrossFit community -- and as a result, plenty of hand-wringing ensued. After all, there's always reason to be wary of big corporate interests, right?
But you know what? Perhaps we're still in the honeymoon phase, but so far, so good.
Over the past few months, we've gotten a (slightly) better sense of how Reebok sees its role in the CrossFit world. The sportswear company began sponsoring elite CrossFit athletes like Graham Holmberg, and is now ponying up as the primary sponsor of the 2011 Games themselves. And it's done so without intruding or distracting from the CrossFit experience (other than drawing attention to its weird-looking shoes in CrossFit Games videos).
To date, concerns about the company watering down the CrossFit experience appear to have been unfounded. The affiliate community is as robust and independent as ever -- and no one from Reebok or CrossFit HQ is pushing those atrocious-looking Zigs down our throats. (Good thing, too: A shoe that actually ENCOURAGES heel-striking to "send a wave of energy...to help propel the athlete forward with each step" sounds like a hot mess.)
In addition, some gym owners initially expressed fears that the company would launch a fleet of Reebok-branded CrossFit boxes to compete with independent affiliates -- but other than the one CrossFit gym run by Reebok for its employees, there haven't been any signs that the company plans to muscle in on affiliate owners' turf.
If anything, Reebok has come across as being extremely deferential to the CrossFit community's expertise. Indeed, as Kate "Killer" Rawlings pointed out in a recent blog post on SICFIT, the company has been actively engaging CrossFit athletes to help guide the direction of the partnership:
Over the last several months Reebok has had several CrossFit athletes visit their box, Reebok CrossFit One, help lead a class, participate and more importantly, provide their input on the community at large, affiliate relationships, training programs, trends, equipment, shoes, sports bras. You name it.
Reebok is genuinely working to support and grow the community, and they’re doing it the right way, from the ground up. I think the best part of the Reebok CrossFit relationship is that it is being steered by Reebok, but navigated by their athletes.From my vantage point, it looks like Reebok's philosophy is to hitch its wagon to CrossFit -- not to drive the car.
But why, you ask, would a big-ass company -- a subsidiary of an even bigger-ass company -- be willing to take the back seat to a (relatively) small, loosely-organized group of sweaty athletes and small business owners?
My answer (and my take on Reebok's RealFlex shoes) -- after the jump.
