Why We’re Shed Light and Hope on Teen Suicide
When we first discussed hosting an event to raise awareness about teen suicide, I will admit, I was nervous. Mental health is one of those taboo topics, like politics or religion. It’s hard to judge with who, and when you can talk about the gritty stuff safely. With COVID, I think – at least I hope – the taboo nature of this topic has been somewhat diminished. Because mental health concerns are amplified right now, discussing the hard stuff has become a little more ‘normal’.
For teens: school, sports, home life, almost every part of their day to day looks different. The same is true for parents. That’s a lot of change at once and more than most can handle. We can only adapt so quickly, right??
When I’ve felt overwhelmed, during COVID and as I’ve been planning for this event, I imagine dealing with this pandemic as a teen, on top of the struggles of adolescence – with braces, acne, my first crush, being rejected by my first crush, failing science because I would not dissect that frog, and not being “in” with the popular girls, oh and did I mention dealing with some pretty serious mental health struggles that my parents, try as they might just couldn’t help me through (yep, you guessed it, this event hits close to home). To me, trying to navigate all that during COVID seems impossible, but yet, these teens are doing it.
With this event, I want to help teens feel heard and supported, develop effective coping mechanisms like exercise, expand their support net, and to let them know that it’s okay to talk openly about about their feelings and in fact, so many others are dealing with the same things. Additionally, I want parents to know that it is NORMAL for their teens to have feelings, LOTS of them, and they are not doing anything wrong. There are support systems out there for parents as well and places like the Youth Crisis Center are a great place to find just that. Not only does the YCC have incredible resources for struggling teens and parents, but also great programs (with partners like us!) that can help families take a more proactive approach to mental help and prevent crises before they happen.
Even if you don’t compete, even if you don’t volunteer, consider sharing this info and lending a listening ear. You never know when your friend, teen, or partner might need it.
If We’ve Convinced Ya . . .
Grab your favorite workout buddy – young or old and get signed up. This one day partner competition is appropriate for all ages and abilities! Cost is only $40 per team and all proceeds benefit Jacksonville’s Youth Crisis Center (YCC). Funds raised will go towards the YCC’s on-site recreation center and expanding recreation programs for their youth.
Basic Event Info
More details can be found at:https://saltdeterre.com// or on Facebook at https://fb.me/e/1vun8HscX
Event participants are encouraged to workout in Converse sneakers, in remembrance of fellow CrossFitter, Cora Schryver of Ojai, CA who took her life at age 13. Cora loved animals, the outdoors, and CrossFit. In her gym, she was known for “pushing people past their comfort zones,” always giving it her all, and for wearing only Converse sneakers when working out
Event registration runs through May 10th. Event capped at 50 teams. Cost is $40 per team that registers before May 1st and $50 per team that registers after May 1st. Team scholarships are available.
Day of Event Info and the Nitty Gritty
This event will have six divisions: Adult Male/Teen Male, Adult Female/Teen Female, Adult Male/Teen Female, Adult Female/Teen Male, Adult Female/Adult Female, Adult Male/Adult Male and Adult Male/Adult Female. Fight to Flourish is designed to be a fun, approachable event. This means you won’t see any super high level gymnastics skills like muscle ups, pistols, handstand walks, etc. and the weights will be manageable for the majority of skill levels. That said, scaling is absolutely allowed (see below).
There will be one written movement standard for each movement for this event, but scaling will be allowed. If you do scale a movement your team is just eliminated from prizes. Scores will still be shown on the leaderboard. Only the workout scaled will be denoted on the leaderboard as “scaled”. “Scaled” scores will fall below all “Rx” scores on that workout. Scaled movements will still be judged on your standard.
Workouts will be announced 1 month prior to the competition! Find us on facebook or instagram to get the latest updates!
T-shirts are included in the price of registration. Registration closes one week prior to the event date, or when the event sells out (whichever comes first).
During the event, we will have a vendor village on-site, featuring local health and wellness products for teens and adults, as well as a food truck and smoothie station. Spectators are free and we encourage all attendees to patronize our neighbor brewery, Tabula Rasa Brewing.