Perhaps you’ve seen a video of someone performing butterfly ring muscle-ups or a set of freestanding handstand push-ups.
- That’s the United Grid League (UGL), an exciting spectator team sport drawing a lot of attention for its flashy and sometimes unbelievable movements.
Elite CrossFit athletes Colten Mertens, Alec Smith, and Kelsey Kiel have recently joined Grid League teams, sparking interest in this visually captivating sport.
The Morning Chalk Up spoke with Mather Wiswall, the United Grid League’s head of media and commissioner, to answer some pressing questions about everything from the sport’s origins to the mechanics of a match.
What Is the United Grid League?
Morning Chalk Up: Where did the Grid League start, and when did you get involved in the sport?
Mather Wiswall: The original Grid League was started by Tony Budding in 2014. My sister and I were team owners in that version of the sport, which was called the National Pro Fitness League. After that went down, my sister Ruby and I launched what was then the Florida Grid League on a very small scale. Since then, we’ve been growing it year after year. I’m the head of media and commissioner, while my sister is the head of operations and partnerships.
MCU: Can you summarize what the Grid League is in just a few words?
Wiswall: This is Tony’s original vision, designed to be an engaging spectator sport. Rather than aiming for mass participation, the goal is to be as entertaining as possible, similar to the UFC in that regard. Regarding intent, we’re not focused on maximizing the number of players as the primary objective.
Of course, we want more people to play, but the main aim is to establish an entertainment property; that’s how we orient and organize everything. And, you know, that’s how we’ve managed to grow because it is genuinely engaging to watch.
How the UGL Season Structure Works
MCU: Can you explain how a Grid League team works and what a match looks like?
Wiswall: For starters, we have a couple of positions on the team: bodyweight specialist, strength specialist, and utility player. Bodyweight specialists and strength specialists are typically more specialized athletes, with bodyweight specialists being smaller and strength specialists generally larger. They possess very focused skill sets within those specific abilities. On the other hand, a utility player is often a CrossFitter. While there can be some crossover, utility players often fulfill various roles across multiple positions.
In a match, two teams face off in a series of races. Each race is scored based on who wins, who loses, and who finishes within the time cap. The accumulation of points throughout the match determines the match winner. Following this, each match contributes to the regular season. At the end of the regular season, the top-seeded teams advance to the playoffs, culminating in a championship after the playoffs. So, it’s a very traditional team sport format, in that sense.
MCU: What does a Grid League season consist of time-wise?
Wiswall: Every team plays in four regular-season matches, and then the top two teams in each conference – the East and West – will move on to the playoffs. Then there’s a conference championship, and then the winners of those go on to the league championship.
This year, our first match is on May 24, so it’s coming up at the end of this month. Then it runs through August, so it’s four months total.
UGL Athletes and Teams
MCU: How do you acquire athletes for the Grid League?
Wiswall: We are often associated with CrossFit because many CrossFitters play, but the reality is that it’s just one of many sports our players come from. We also have professional strongmen and strongwomen, former D1 gymnasts, and national, even Olympic-level, weightlifters as just a few examples.
But the answer is that anyone with a unique talent that a team could use on a Grid League team is viable to play. This doesn’t necessarily mean top-performing CrossFitters or only top-performing weightlifters. It could include upper-echelon weightlifters or upper-echelon CrossFitters who excel in certain areas and can significantly contribute to a Grid League team.
The big difference is that a Grid League team is not about fitness. It’s about leveraging individual aspects of fitness from each player that, combined, create a team’s performance in head-to-head races. You have to have a level of fitness, but it’s more about how you use certain components of it as a specialty to contribute to the team’s overall performance.
MCU: How are the Grid League and its athletes supported financially?
Wiswall: It’s mostly partnerships. There are team and player fees as well, but our main revenue source is partnerships. Athletes don’t receive a salary for competing, but they do earn compensation for participating in sponsored campaigns, and they also have the opportunity to sell logo placements on their uniforms. While some players earn a substantial amount of money through playing, it’s not as a salary for their performance.
MCU: Can anyone try out to be in the Grid League, or is there a recruitment process?
Wiswall: It’s called the American Grid Trials. It’s an online set of tests that we put out in the winter each year, and then teams will recruit from the American Grid Trials for the season. In addition, a lot of teams do their own recruiting on Instagram or other forms of social media to see what people are good at and see if they have interest, and then have them do testers.
MCU: During a match, do you have judges, and are there standards that athletes must meet for each movement?
Wiswall: This is a good topic because our goals with standards differ significantly from those of CrossFit. CrossFit’s objective in setting a standard is to create a similar stimulus for everyone. We prioritize ensuring that the standard is easy to understand and can be easily observed by a judge. If your body type or skill set provides you with an advantage in the movement, that’s great.
The Business of United Grid League
MCU: As many people see on social media, some movements that athletes in the Grid League perform are unique and highly technical. How do you find new movements and decide which ones to keep or not to repeat?
Wiswall: We intend to create movements that grab people’s attention, spark debate, and ultimately go viral. A key reason for our growth is that we focus on short-form media. We are tailored for social media, YouTube, and short attention spans. Therefore, the movement development process usually starts with the players themselves, particularly the higher-level elements. Many gymnasts involved with the league contribute ideas or showcase examples, making this the most common source.
MCU: We’ve seen several elite CrossFit athletes join the Grid League, and there does seem to be an overlap between the two sports. Do you see UGL as a competitor to CrossFit?
Wiswall: We view ourselves as a complement to CrossFit, not as competition. In fact, spring and summer are when the Games season takes place, so we see ourselves as another reason to stay on YouTube or Instagram a little longer and watch in addition to the CrossFit Games, because it represents a different application of what can be developed in CrossFit.
It’s designed to be fun to watch for CrossFitters. That’s kind of how we think about it. We don’t perceive ourselves as competitors to CrossFit in any way. We’re not taking CrossFitters from CrossFit, and if anything, people do both.
MCU: It seems like the Grid League is doing quite well. What’s next? Any new teams or developments this year?
Wiswall: We just signed a New York team, which will be our first East Coast team, which is great. We’ll have more updates on that soon!
One Last Thing
More information on the season schedule is available here, and those curious about the Grid League can start by searching “pistol thruster.”
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Featured Image: United Grid League
