CrossFit Open 2026

Hopper Life House Cup FAQ

Dates of the CrossFit Open:  

Workout 26.1: February 26 - March 2

Workout 26.2 March 5 - March 9

Workout 26.3: March 12 - March 16

-Friday Night Lights for 26.1 @CFSP (2/27/2026)

-Second Chance Sundays for 26.1 @CFPH (3/1/2026)

-Friday Night Lights for 26.2.@CFPH (3/6/2026)

-Second Chance Sundays for 26.2 @CFSP (3/8/2026)

-Friday Night Lights for 26.3 @CFSP (3/13/2026

-Second Chance Sundays for 26.3 CFPH (3/15/2026)

Post Open Party:  3/21/2026 at CrossFit South Park from 7:00pm-11:00pm

The Theme:  “Roaring 20s.”

1. Ownership & visibility

  • Who is responsible for tracking and validating points? 

  • Will there be a public leaderboard visible to athletes?  

    • There will be a public leaderboard powered by CrossFit.Com for the open for those who are registered for the open.  We will create a special leaderboard that combines CrossFit South Park and CrossFit Potrero HIll registered athletes. This leaderboard will be updated the following Wednesday after the scores are validated. 

  • The team score count will not be live but will be announced after each week. 

  • How often will points be updated?

    • The Wednesday after each workout announcement when the scores are validated. 

  • Will there be a final audit / verification before declaring a winner? 

    • Yes.  And the House Cup will be announced at our celebration party a week after the close of the 2026 Open. (Sat, March 21 @ 5pm South Park)

2. Prizes & stakes

  • What does the winning team receive? 

    • Recognition! Be the first Team name + Captain names added to the official House Cup Banner that will be hung at CFSP

  • Is there recognition for 2nd / 3rd place, or only the winner? 

    • Yes. The overall top 3 ranked athletes in each division. We will also recognize the Spirit of the Open,  Most Valuable Athlete and Rookie of the Year

3. Open registration vs “optional”

  • Is Open registration optional?

    • Yes, it is optional but registered athletes will earn additional points for their team.

  • Is there a cap on registration-based points? 

    • No. The point of participating in the CrossFit Open and by completing the judge’s course are multi-faceted which are as follows:  

      • 1) Improves members’ knowledge of CrossFit; 

      • 2) Improves members’ knowledge of appropriate movement standards and judging; 

      • 3) Participation allows us to have earlier access to the tickets for the CrossFit Games which are in San Jose this year.

4. Team spirit & subjective points

  • How many weekly points can teams earn for “Spirit”?

    • Up to 20 points total each week.

  • What qualifies as a valid activity -(e.g. (shirts, warmups, practices, mascots, etc.)? 

    • 1) Unique tee shirts or Swag

    • 2) Having a mascot 

    • 3) Having a walk off song (individual or group) 

    • 4) Cheering on their team members 

    • 5) Cheering on other teams

  • Who approves / validates these activities? 

    • The competition directors (Alexis and Christopher). Captains who have questions can ask Alexis and Christopher in advance.

  • Are photos/videos required as proof?  

    • Only for Challenges, or if an athlete completed the open workout at another affiliate. 

      • Challenges should be videoed and sent for pre-approval by Alexis and Christopher in advance of posting.

  • Can the coaches drafted by their team (Marciano, Becca, Rachel and Nadia) score points for their team?  

    • No. This decision was made for several reasons:  1) We wanted this competition to be athlete member driven and allowing the team Coaches to score could conflate the roles between Captains and the drafted coaches. 2) There could have been a situation where some coaches did not want to register for the Open which could have placed their teams at a disadvantage. 3) Some coaches may be injured or rehabbing injuries and we still wanted the coaches to contribute to the primary scope of their roles as Coaches: 1) Helping their team devise warm ups for Friday night lights and Second Chance Sundays; 2) Helping advise their teams with strategy tips for the workouts; 3) Helping their teams adhere to the movement standards and 4) Escalating questions which the Captains may be unable to answer.

5. Cleanup points

  • What specifically counts as “cleanup”? 

    • Helping to reset the gym which means wiping down the used equipment, putting away rowers, bikes etc, wiping down pull up bars, cleaning minor spills etc.  Since we have to coach the next morning at PH or SP, doing this helps the efficient operation of the gym for class.

  • Is this per athlete, per team, or per event? 

    • Per team and for each event (Friday Night Lights and Second Chance Sunday).

  • Who is responsible for confirming participation? 

    • The competition directors. 

  • Is there a max number of cleanup points per week?

    • 20 points max per team, per week. 

6. Judges Course & cost considerations

  • Are members expected to pay any costs out of pocket?

    • Yes. Team members will have to pay CrossFit.com to register for the Open and/or complete the Judges Course.

  • Are points prorated if only some team members complete the course?  

    • The team will be able to obtain the points per each person completing the judges course.

  • Is there a deadline for Judges Course completion to count for points?

    •  By the first day of the Open.

  • Do athletes submit judges’ certificates to their captain? 

    • Athletes can share their completed judge course certificates to their Captains, who in turn, will pass along all the collected judge certificates in one email to the competition directors.

7. Scores & competitive fairness

  • How are weekly performance points calculated?

    • Rx vs Scaled vs Foundations- It will be based on the total of scores per team each week.  We will validate when Alexis and Christopher have to validate the score sheets by the deadline.

    • Mixing divisions across weeks

  • Are scores normalized (percentile, rank, placement), or raw?

    •  The ranking of the top 3 in each division.

  • Are non-Open registered athletes eligible for performance points?

    •  Not performance points, but for participation points only. We will still need their score sheets to validate the scores for the House Cup. 

      • 3 points awarded per workout completed to non-registered athletes. Scoresheet must be provided. 

  • If someone does not log scores digitally, can they still contribute? 

    • This qualifies as non-registered points. Using the score sheet from their Judge will suffice as proof.

  • What happens if an athlete misses a week? 

    • Then they will have a score of 0 for that week. 

  • What is the point breakdown for athlete rank results?

    • The #1 athlete in each division earns 15 additional points for their team

    • #2 earns 10 additional points

    • #3 earns 5 additional points

    • In other words, up to 45 total additional points are available each week (15 × 3 divisions)

8. Challenge videos

  • What exactly qualifies as a “Challenge Video”?

    • The person challenging the other person has to challenge a person at their same level.  (E.g. An RX athlete can only challenge another RX athlete.)  The Challenge has to be made, accepted and approved by one the Competition Directors prior to the performance of workout.  An example of this as follows:  26.1 comes out with a workout of 5 rounds for time:  5 thrusters (95/65); 10 over the bar burpees; 15 toes to bar.  Gino shoots a video as an intermediate athlete and challenges Tucker that he will beat him in this workout.  Gino shoots a video and has the challenge reviewed and approved by a Comp Director.  Tucker shoots a video and has the acceptance approved and reviewed and approved by a Comp Director. The person with the fastest time wins and his team gets the points.

  • Is it athlete vs athlete, team vs team, or both?

    • Athlete on one team versus an athlete on another team only.  To effectuate this challenge, it has to be a challenge of an athlete on another team. (E.g. Bui challenges Logan).

  • Who initiates challenges?

    • Only athletes on a team.  A coach of a team cannot initiate a challenge.

  • Is there a limit per team / per week?

    • No.

  • How are videos submitted and where are they hosted (IG, YouTube, shared folder)? 

    • The videos can be submitted by the Team Captain to the Team Captain  What’sApp group chat and once approved, they can be posted on social media.

9. Communication & team ops

  • How will teams communicate internally?

    • Captains’ discretion. Many have already set up their own chats.

  • Are coaches expected to run team briefings before the heats each week?  Yes.

  • Are team captains expected to coordinate attendance at Friday Night Lights or Second Chance Sundays?  Yes.

10. Participation edge cases

  • What if an athlete:

    • Is injured?  Although they may not be able to participate physically, they can still help their team earn points in the other areas.

    • Can only do 1–2 weeks? They will only be able to accumulate points for the weeks they did the workout. 

    • Is traveling during a workout window and plans to do the Open at another box? Yes.  They can do this but they need to send video proof of their scores (score sheet) to either Alexis or Christopher so the scores can be validated.

  • Are partial participants still point-eligible? Yes.

  • Is there a minimum participation requirement to be “on the team”? No.

  • Rule changes mid-Open

    • Are these rules locked once Week 1 starts, or can they be modified mid-competition? We prefer to lock down the rules in advance with the understanding that there may be novel circumstances or questions which may arise.

    • Tie-breakers

    • If teams tie on total points, what decides the winner?  1000 Air squats for time, performed as an entire team, one at a time, to full standard.