February 15, 2018: In a January 31st Board Meeting, USA Functional Fitness (USAFF) Chairman James Fitzgerald announced he would be stepping down as Chairman effective immediately in order to take on a larger role with the International Functional Fitness Federation (iF3).
Josh Plosker was selected as the new President of USA Functional Fitness and Justin Cotler will move into the Vice President role, while remaining a National Team Coach. Mike Lee will retain his position as National Team Coach.
Fitzgerald expressed his excitement about the transition and confidence in the USAFF leadership team, “Internally, staff have been aware this transition would occur for awhile now, it was just a matter of making sure the timing was right. With the 2018 season just around the corner, the time has come to make this change. I have no doubts that there is a phenomenal team in place that will develop USA Functional Fitness into a strong and well-run organization. I look forward to shifting my focus to the international stage and helping to push the mission of the iF3 forward.”
Newly elected President Plosker commented, “I’m very excited to be beginning 2018 as the new President of USAFF. We already have a strategic plan in place for 2018, which will help to push the organization forward. Our focus for the year remains solely on the athletes and providing them with training opportunities, competitive opportunities, and the opportunity to represent their country in international competition.”
Plosker elaborated on the opportunities USAFF plans to provide to athletes in 2018, which include an Athlete Performance Camp in April, USAFF Nationals in August, and the iF3 World Championships in London in October.
The Athlete Performance Camp is up first on April 14-15th in Scottsdale, Arizona and is an opportunity for members of the National Team as well as interested members of the public to train together and test their abilities in each of the 6 test categories used in international competition. Athletes will face tests of Aerobic Capacity, Strength, Bodyweight Endurance, Bodyweight Skill, Mixed Modal, and Power over two days along with the several discussions and seminars throughout the weekend.
The Camp also provides an opportunity for athletes not on the National Team to earn a spot to compete at the USAFF Nationals in August. Current National Team members automatically earn a sport to compete at Nationals, but everyone else must qualify to compete in 2018. While most of the qualification spots will be decided through an online qualifier later in the year, USAFF coaching staff have additional invite spots that they will give away based on performance at camp.
More information on the USAFF Performance Camp and USAFF Nationals will be released in the coming weeks. Cotler will be going live on facebook in the next few weeks in order to talk about the goals of USAFF, the upcoming USAFF season, the performance camp, and answer questions from members.
