Helping Your Players Finish Strong

Prepare for your finals event in the same way you prepared for your prelims: Like a Marine. This is the culmination of an extraordinary six weeks. Your players will be excited, proud, and nervous to set their final workout score and have their body measurements taken.

In this way, the final assessment is more important than the preliminary. Your players deserve to finish strong with a well-planned, dignified event that demonstrates how much respect you have for what your players have done. Here are a few notes about holding the finals …

• For best results, we suggest holding the finals on the morning of the last day your team members can earn points, so they will be at the peak of fitness (and excitement).
• Make sure you invite and remind your team members and your entire community about the finals several times during the last one to two weeks of the Challenge. (See the “Invitation to Finals” and “Finals Reminder” emails.). The more people to attend and cheer on the participants, the better.
• Make sure the prize packages are ready if you are awarding prizes. Prepare and rehearse for announcing your winners and prizes. Some gyms create a top-three podium out of plyo boxes. Others print out awards. Whatever you do, be prepared!
• Make sure you have the manpower and technological ability to make the event flow smoothly and quickly. After all, you wouldn’t want people to get bored and leave before the winners are announced.

A note about prizes and winners: We recommend that you acknowledge your winners and award prizes on the spot, at the finals event, though it is not required. (If you don’t or can’t do that, you will have one month after the Challenge ends to enter data in the site.)

One way or another, this is the time to acknowledge and announce the achievements of individuals and your community. You’ve accomplished something extraordinary together, so take the time to truly reflect on what you learned, and what happened within your community.

Then post photos, videos, and blogs on your social media sites. Email your team with your final thoughts. Post a few follow-up blogs about transitioning back to life without rules.

Just go out with a bang, and make it an event.