Our community is rallying behind local legend Sam Stubbs as he prepares to head to San Jose for the Adaptive CrossFit Games this July. After overcoming a serious illness earlier this year, Sam secured his spot on the world stage. Now, local businesses are hosting a major send-off fundraiser to back his journey, this Saturday 11 July.
Sam Stubbs is on his way to San Jose, thanks to his hard work and success in Adaptive CrossFit and the support of the Jervis Bay community, to compete in the world championship Adaptive CrossFit Games taking place on 24-26 July.
In an extraordinary turn of events, this is actually the second time that Sam has qualified for these games—the “Olympics” of the high-intensity fitness world—having first qualified last year but choosing not to attend, for a very special reason.
Sam’s AFL team had made the grand final and rather than letting his teammates down, Sam sacrificed his spot at CrossFit to play the footy game. And won.
If you are starting to see a pattern here, it’s because sporty Sam takes his fitness and his friends very seriously. As his long-time trainer and carer, Jodi Triffet says, “Sam does 10 training sessions a week, each session is an hour and on top of that he does football training twice a week.”
She adds that the “social aspect of team sports and training is just as important for Sam and his teammates, who all embrace inclusiveness, which is so good.”
Sam is competing in the Intellectual Disability (ID) Division of the Adaptive Games, which also has divisions for athletes with other requirements (such as upper body or lower body impairments). Sam’s mum, Debra Stubbs says the best part of these CrossFit events is the chance for people to compete with their peers of similar abilities.
“CrossFit has a specific category for athletes who have an intellectual disability, but also a chromosome condition. So, if Sam is just competing with other athletes who have an intellectual disability, they don’t take into account that people with Down syndrome also have some physical challenges when it comes to competing on a level playing field where there’s people with intellectual disability who may not have any sort of physical challenges. The great thing is in CrossFit, they’ve got that adaptive category for not just Down syndrome, but athletes with that chromosome condition.”
Hear Debra speak about Sam’s journey to San Jose on our podcast this week.
Second Time Lucky
In another extraordinary twist, when the qualifying rounds for this year’s world champion bid started, Sam was quite ill, battling a collapsed lung among other things.
But true to form, Sam bounced back to qualify again, and this time, the whole town is backing his journey to the competition in the US.
This Saturday from 3pm at Jervis Bay Brewing Co, Team Sam is holding a fundraiser and a send-off party for his big trip.
To help Sam get to the Games and compete at his best, Jervis Bay Brewing Co, CrossFit Huski, Bowline Remedial Massage and the Huskisson Bakehouse—Sam’s employer—and so many other local businesses and individuals have come together to put on a night of refreshing beverages, raffle prizes and community donations.
Raffle tickets will be on sale for $10 in the Taproom in Woollamia industrial precinct, with every cent going towards Sam’s journey.
Justine and Troy Bryce, Sam’s employers at the Husky Bakery said, “We are thrilled to see Sam reach the world championships in Amercia. Watching him go from local to global has been an incredible ride. It’s been a long road but witnessing his determination, hard work and sincere commitment has been an absolute pleasure. Sam has worked with us since he was in school, and we feel deeply privileged to witness his success and the overall magic he brings to our community. We are so proud of you, Sam!”
Years of Training Pays Off
Jodi, who started training Sam when he was around 14 (half his lifetime ago), says he has worked so hard to get to this point. “Once Sam sets his mind on something and he’s enjoying it… he loves the social aspect too, of the gym and footy. There’s such a good social crowd. Everyone gets behind each other and pushes you through the workout. It’s a really good community, CrossFit.”
Jodi will be on the floor with Sam as he competes at San Jose, as his care worker, while dad Chris will be in the stands. There will be a series of five or six workouts to complete over the competition, plus an opening ceremony which will be a huge buzz.
“Sam doesn’t even pull up sore,” says Jodi of his stamina. “He’s got such good resilience.”
