GRID - strategy, skill and diversity in sport

The Florida GRID League is extremely diverse, so much so that men and women, boys and girls, play on the same team. Many of its athletes identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community so, as you’ll see, it’s a very welcoming sports community.

This sport is Florida based but growing in popularity and reach with athletes joining the league from all over the US and other parts of the globe. The format sounds fantastic and really exciting - a way to take your training to a new level .

Imagine this: you’re at the start line. Every muscle is tense, waiting until it’s your turn. One more minute and all eyes will be on you ... you have the power to make or break this race, this match, this win.

While you wait, out of the corner of your eye you see your opponent get a one second head start. Your heart sinks a little because you know one second can make all the difference. But as the finish line ref’s hand comes down signalling your turn, you feel every synapse fire and you explode off the start line and sprint as fast as you can to the third quadrant. You can see the male player on the other team performing his free-standing handstand push-ups smooth and steady, but you smile because you know you’re faster. As you kick upside down and use your powerful arms to press your body up into a handstand for rep one, you can hear the crowd roar because they know you’re faster too.

You push, push, push until you hear your ref shout “good”, and you leap off your hands to your feet again. It’s a relay so you have to sprint back towards the start line, towards your team who are screaming and jumping at your performance - but all you can think is “four-point touch”. As you reach the start line, you slide past it on your hands and feet and then dig in your toes like an Olympic sprinter and take off faster than you’ve ever run before. You can see the opposing team’s player just getting to the start line...you beat his performance and got your team that much closer to victory. You push even harder towards the finish line and as you cross it, you turn around to watch the next player on your team approach the barbell for the last element; your body stays tense, you join your team in jumping and screaming, awaiting the verdict of the match, hoping you take home the ‘W’.

The sport of GRID

Welcome to GRID league: one of the world’s most equal, diverse, captivating, and exciting sports, and one of only a few team sports where men and women play together. GRID aims to disrupt the male dominated sports industry and show how females competing in sports are just as, if not more, exciting than males alone.

Each team consists of 18 players with an even split of men and women. Every player specializes in different types of movements and performs them within a head-to-head series of races in a match. With the specialization of player positions like strength, bodyweight, and utility, a grid match resembles football (American football, NFL) with the amount of strategy and teamwork it takes to win, and players often make that comparison with how it feels to play. But watching is simple...whichever team crosses the finish line first, wins!

How It Feels to Play...

Taylar Stallings, head coach of the Orlando Aces, has always been an athlete. She remembers working out with her dad in second grade and participating in basketball, volleyball, and track and field during high school. She then attended the University of South Florida as a track and field athlete and went on to pursue powerlifting for the next five years.

Then, she found CrossFit and she says she became more of a complete athlete through the training methodology and rose to the elite level...and caught the attention of someone important.

At the 2014 CrossFit Regionals, a competition of the top athletes within a given region in the world, she was approached by Justin Cotler, the Head Coach of the DC Brawlers in the NPGL (National Pro GRID League). He introduced her to the new sport of GRID which had just been founded that year. Cotler saw in Stallings the specialization that was required in the sport - she was strong and could help his team by utilizing that strength. Later that day Stallings signed with that team in a parking lot as a virtually unknown athlete. A few months later, she ended her first season as the NPGL’s first MVP (most valued player) and the most well-known player in the league based on her strength and skill.

Taylar Stallings

Part of what Stallings loves about the sport of GRID is the diversity and opportunity to allow her to focus on what she and her players are uniquely best at. Now, Stallings is the part-owner, head coach and player of the Orlando Aces in the Florida Grid League. She has been passionate about the sport since that first meeting with Justin Cotler and now, she’s the one who gets to lead her team, sign new players, and offer opportunity to a wide range of athlete skillsets, body types and backgrounds ... because that is what makes the best grid teams. She is one of five female owners in the league, and still one of the biggest stars.

Strategy and diversity win the race

Based on the wide range of movements in every race, it's necessary for a team to have a wide range of athlete types in both genders. This sport gives players the chance to show their natural physical strengths as their contribution to the team performance – it’s a very strategic sport. Every race is between 2-5 minutes and requires everyone to be 100% energetic throughout it. The adrenaline rush is real for both players, and fans.

Where is it played?

The Florida Grid League is made up of eight grid teams, each representing a city in Florida:

• Northern Conference

1. Tampa Bay Brigade

2. SWFL Sharks

3. Orlando Aces

4. Gainesville Wild

• Southern Conference

5. Miami Freaks

6. Fort Lauderdale Lions

7. Palm Beach Breakers

8. South Beach Palms

The Northern Conference matches are played in Tampa at Valor Fitness and the Southern Conference competes in Miami. There is a regular season and playoffs within each conference, and the conference champions will face head-to-head in the championship game to determine the overall champion of the Florida Grid League.

The 2021 Season will kick off with all teams meeting in Orlando at the Europa Games, a fitness festival with over 14 sports, hundreds of fitness vendors, and the FGL’s season opening matches.

Get involved

The teams are made up of men and women of different ages and genders - there are 17 years olds playing alongside 45 year olds. There is a kids’ GRID league which is gaining pace in Florida too so that we can nurture our athletes of the future.

Trials

American Grid Trials - once a year online competition to discover your grid strengths. Anyone in the world can showcase their skills, try out for teams, and win cash.

Gym vs Gym amateur matches at Europa Games. If you are interested in playing an all-levels version of the sport

Work with the League - in person events and internships available. There are lots of opportunities to get involved with the league, and one of the core values of the league is teamwork. We are excited to be growing, and are always looking to work with like-minded, passionate people.

Follow GRID

You can follow GRID on the following platforms:

Instagram - @flgridleague

TikTok - @floridagridleague

YouTube - Florida Grid League

Thank you goes to Ruby George for what we’re sure is an introduction for many of us to GRID - it sounds great!

All photo credit YNOT Digital Photography