• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The BarBend Logo in white.

BarBend

The Online Home for Strength Sports

  • News
    • CrossFit
    • Strongman
    • Bodybuilding
    • Top Athletes
    • Powerlifting
    • Weightlifting
    • HYROX
    • Competition Results
    • Latest Research
  • Reviews
    • Recovery
      • Best Cold Plunges
      • Best Saunas
      • Best Mini Massage Guns
      • Individual Recovery Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Protein
        • Best Vegan Protein Powders
        • Best Whey Isolate Protein Powders
        • Best Mass Gainers
        • Best Protein Bars
      • Best Pre-Workouts
        • Best Pre-Workouts for Women
        • Best Pre-Workouts for Men
        • Best Non-Stim Pre-Workouts
        • Strongest Pre-Workouts
      • Best Creatine
      • Best Electrolyte Supplements
      • Best Greens Powder
      • Best Meal Replacements
      • Best Nitric Oxide Supplements
      • Best Fat Burners
        • Best Fat Burners for Men
        • Best Fat Burners for Women
        • Best Non-Stim Fat Burners
      • More Supplements
        • Best Supplements for Muscle Growth
        • Best Supplements for CrossFit
        • Best Supplements for Weight Loss
        • Best Supplements for Bodybuilding
        • Best Supplements for Men
        • Best Supplement Stacks
      • Individual Supplements Reviews
    • Equipment
      • Cardio
        • Best Treadmills
        • Best Rowing Machines
        • Best Exercise Bikes
        • Best Ellipticals
        • Best Recumbent Bikes
      • Strength
        • Best Adjustable Dumbbells
        • Best Dumbbells
        • Best Kettlebells
        • Best Barbells
        • Best Squat Racks
        • Best Free Weights
        • Best Weight Benches
        • Best Resistance Bands
        • Best Slam Balls
        • Best Weighted Vests
        • Best Leg Extension Machines
        • Best Cable Machines
        • Best Power Racks
        • Best Pull Up Bars
      • Best Home Gyms
        • Best Smart Home Gyms
        • Best Gym Equipment Under $100
        • Best Home Gym Essentials
        • Best Home Gym Flooring
      • Individual Equipment Reviews
    • Fitness Accessories
      • Apparel
        • Best Weightlifting Shoes
        • Best Cross Training Shoes
        • Best Gym Bags
        • Best Gym Shorts
      • Training
        • Best Weightlifting Belts
        • Best Knee Sleeves
        • Best Lifting Straps
        • Best Grip Strengtheners
        • Best Wrist Wraps
        • Best Lifting Gloves
      • Individual Fitness Product Reviews
    • Certifications
      • Best Sports Nutrition Certifications
      • Best Personal Trainer Certifications
      • Best Nutrition Certifications
      • Individual Certifications Reviews
    • Programs
      • Best Online Workout Programs
      • Best Workout Streaming Services
      • Best Home Workout Programs
      • Individual Program Reviews
  • Nutrition
    • Diets
      • Carb Cycling
      • Vertical Diet
      • Reverse Dieting
      • Carnivore Diet
      • Ketogenic Diet
      • Intermittent Fasting
      • IIFYM Diet
    • Fat Loss
      • Macros for Fat Loss
      • Calorie Deficits
      • Natural Fat Burners
      • Cut 2 Pounds Weekly
    • Muscle Gain
      • How to Dirty Bulk
      • Go From Cutting to Bulking
      • Eat These Carbs
      • How to Eat for Muscle
    • Supplement Guides
      • Pre-Workout
      • Whey Protein
      • Mass Gainers
      • Greens Powders
      • Creatine
      • BCAAs
    • Nutrition Tips
      • Daily Protein Needs
      • Pre- and Post-Workout Nutrition
      • Foods With Creatine
      • Bulking Tips
  • Training
    • Workouts
      • Back Workouts
      • At-Home Workouts
      • Chest & Back Workouts
      • Full-Body Workout
      • HIIT Workouts
    • Exercise Guides
      • Deadlift
      • Bench Press
      • Back Squat
      • Overhead Press
      • Bent-Over Row
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Crunches
      • Farmer’s Carry
    • Best Exercises
      • Shoulder Exercises
      • Back Exercises
      • Chest Exercises
      • Glute Exercises
      • Ab Exercises
      • Hamstring Exercises
      • Quad Exercises
      • Calf Exercises
      • Biceps Exercises
      • Triceps Exercises
    • Programs
      • Push-Up Program
      • Pull-Up Program
      • German Volume Training
      • 5/3/1 Program
      • Powerbuilding Program
      • The Cube Method
      • 5×5 Program
      • Bodybuilding Programs
      • Build Your Own Program
    • Fat Loss
      • How to Burn Fat
      • Spot Fat Reduction
      • How to Train on a Cut
      • Body Conditioning
      • Workouts
        • Kettlebell Circuits
        • Dumbbell Complexes
        • Farmer’s Carry Workouts
    • Muscle Gain
      • Muscle Hypertrophy Explained
      • How to Build Muscle
      • How to Maintain Muscle
      • What Researchers Say About Muscle Gain
        • Workouts
          • 20-Minute Workouts
          • Kettlebell Circuits
          • CrossFit Workouts for Muscle
          • Bodybuilding Workouts
  • Calculators
    • Protein Intake Calculator
    • Macros Calculator
    • BMR Calculator
    • Squat Calculator
    • Calorie Calculator
  • Community Forum
Home » News » Meet the World Fitness Project Event Directors: Jason Ansley and Roger Gillros

Meet the World Fitness Project Event Directors: Jason Ansley and Roger Gillros

The World Fitness Project is putting together a staff with the goal of creating more opportunities for athletes.

Written by Scott Freymond
Last updated on February 12th, 2025

In December 2024, we learned more details regarding the team behind the World Fitness Project. 

  • At the time, we knew that six-time CrossFit Games athlete and 2024 Masters CrossFit Games Champion Will Moorad was one of the founders of the organization — but there was more to it at that point. 

We learned that he was working in partnership with a group of people, all sharing the common goal of creating something new and providing athletes more opportunities to earn a living while giving fans more events throughout the year to support. 

This new league, the World Fitness Tour, will feature multiple live events with lots of moving parts and programming that tests the fittest athletes while giving the community and spectators a meaningful experience. 

To pull that off, much care and consideration was put into who to hire for the critical roles of event directors. 

  • The two selected were Jason Ansley and Roger Gillros. 

Both names could sound familiar, as Ansley has been part of the Legends crew that put on the Masters Games in 2024 and multiple years of the Legends Championship. 

  • He has also been running the 1st Phorm Monster Games for eight years and recently became the owner of the team competition, Heart of America. 

The 1st Phorm Monster Games has been growing rapidly and is now one of the premier events in the Midwest. With help from Games veteran Jacob Heppner, the athletes are provided with unique programming and fans with an exciting experience. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by World Fitness Project (@worldfitnessproject)

[Related: Best Rowing Machines]

  • The online qualifier is currently open and closes on February 18. The live event will take place at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, KS, on July 25-27.

On the other side of the pond, Roger Gillros is the man behind WODLA, whose events consist of the Oslo Throwdown, the Norwegian Throwdown, the Sweden Throwdown, and the Gothenborg Throwdown. 

  • The Oslo Throwdown is northern Europe’s largest competition and attracts the likes of Norwegian superstars Kristin Holte and Matilde Garnes, among many other great athletes. This year, it will take place October 24-26.

The two men have immense experience organizing competitions and community events, owning gyms, and programming. 

Besides this, both share enthusiasm for their new roles, working with a team of like-minded individuals and trying to build something innovative and significant. 

During my interviews with Ansley and Gillros, the respect and camaraderie they felt for the World Fitness Project team was palpable. 

  • “It’s the right people behind it — they have headhunted very good people. All these people do it all for the right reasons,” Gillros told Morning Chalk Up.

“He’s the right guy, at the right time,” Ansley said, referring to Moorad.

Learn and Adapt

What both Gillros and Ansley found the most heartening about joining the WFP team is their willingness to learn and grow together. 

  • “They have been really transparent from the beginning on what they want to do, and the reason I have so much respect for them is that they listen. They’re willing to listen, learn, adapt,” Gillros said. 

He learned very quickly that they were open for feedback, which made his desire to be involved all the greater. 

This theme has played a large role in Gillros’s life and career. 

As a veteran event director, he has vast experience, although he recognizes that without being open to new experiences and perspectives, there is no way to grow. 

  • “I think that my most important job to do between events is to travel, learn, adapt, and stay up-to-date [on] where the sport is going on all pillars [athletes, crew, judges, sponsors, and spectators],” Gillros said.
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by World Fitness Project (@worldfitnessproject)

[Related: Best Creatine Supplements]

Ansley agrees, saying that the WFP has shown their openness and willingness to learn in order to create something great.

  • “They’re looking to me for some guidance and they listen. That’s a big deal — they want to know my opinion, and they listen to it,” Ansley said. “They’re making sure they’re doing everything they can to take care of the athletes while bringing the community along beside them. It’s just what’s been missing and I think it’s going to be great.”

Building Something Big

The two event directors look forward to working together and learning from one another. 

While Ansley is steering the ship for the two Tour Events located in the United States (Indianapolis, IN, and Phoenix, AZ), Gillros will be in charge of the final, which will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

  • “I’ll still be in Europe for the final, and I’m learning as much as I can about running events in Europe,” Ansley said. “[But] Roger is taking that over for the European event because I don’t want to pretend that I know what I’m doing in Europe, so we need someone to show us that way, but I want to learn as much of that as I can.”

Gillros discussed the decision to hold the final event in Denmark. 

  • “They came to me and said, ‘Roger, where in Europe would you have the final – you can kind of decide.’ And I was like, ‘For me, there was only one place in Europe,’ and that was Copenhagen in Denmark,” Gillros said. 

He explained that while Europe is host to many CrossFit competitions, Denmark is not at the moment. 

That said, it was important to the WFP not to step on any toes or create conflict with current events. 

  • “You have to respect the ecosystem – that is an important part of this. You can’t come as a newbie and take the market. That is something you need to respect,” Gillros said.

Ansley and Gillros foresee this project and their events as being successful from the beginning. 

This is not only due to the elite athletes that will be participating but also the “natural built-in storylines” that are bound to emerge from Challenger athletes vying for their Pro Card for 2026. 

  • “I think it’s going to be wildly popular,” Ansley said. “Assuming we have the success that we think we’re going to have, we [turn over] some pros that have guaranteed pro cards for 2025 […] and get some new blood in. We know that’s going to happen, and it’s going to be a cool story.”

When asked if there would be buy-in from the community right away, Ansley felt that there would be. 

He explained that the 40 athletes who are already signed on are most of whom the fans want to watch compete, not to mention those 20 additional men and women Challengers who will earn their spot to compete alongside them. 

  • In addition, there is the community component, which will consist of hundreds of athletes competing in the same event at the same time. In Ansley’s opinion, this will be a critical part of how the WFP will receive community backing.

Moorad and the WFP team will be programming the events, with Ansley and Gillros’s feedback on logistics and flow. 

The Bottom Line

Gillros shared with us that his passion and drive behind competitive fitness, and everything they do is based on more than a love to train and earn money. 

It’s something deeper, and it’s a notion that’s shared amongst Ansley, Moorad, and the entire team. 

And while some may look at WFP as being in competition with CrossFit and the CrossFit season, they don’t necessarily view it in the same way. 

  • “We’re all going to benefit if CrossFit is stronger. We just will,” Ansley concluded.

Registration is currently open for the online qualifiers for Tour Event One, which will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana, May 9-11.

More CrossFit Stories

  • 2025 CrossFit Open Registration Numbers Climb Slowly 
  • CrossFit Open Announcement 25.1: First Look and Predictions
  • Lumen: A “Wellness Era” Tool for Metabolic Health

Featured image: @jason_heidiansley and  @rogergillros / Instagram 

About Scott Freymond

Scott is a Level 2 CrossFit Coach, a Physical Therapist Assistant, and small business owner. He developed a passion for CrossFit in 2014 after a professional basketball career in Mexico and Germany. He has been coaching since 2016 at Arbor CrossFit in Boise, Idaho. He loves to travel, mountain bike, and hang with his cats.

View All Articles

Primary Sidebar

Latest Reviews

EveryPlate Review

EveryPlate Review (2025): A Tasty, Budget-Friendly Meal Kit, Tested By Our Experts

ARMRA Colostrum Review

ARMRA Colostrum Review (2025): A Certified Nutrition Coach’s Critique of this Trending Supplement

Sun Home Luminar Review

Sun Home Luminar Review (2025): Our Experts Sweat It Out With This High-Quality Outdoor Sauna

Cover image for CookUnity review of a filled reusable box of 6 CookUnity meals

CookUnity Review (2025): An Expert-Tested and Flexible Prepared Meal Service

Transparent Labs Prebiotic Greens Review

Transparent Labs Prebiotic Greens Review (2025): Our Experts Examine This Nutrient-Filled Profile

BarBend

BarBend is an independent website. The views expressed on this site may come from individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the view of BarBend or any other organization. BarBend is the Official Media Partner of USA Weightlifting.

  • About Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest

Sections

  • CrossFit
  • Strongman
  • Bodybuilding
  • Powerlifting
  • Weightlifting
  • Reviews
  • Nutrition
  • Training

More

  • BarBend Newsletter
  • BarBend Podcast
  • The Ripped Report
  • 1RM Calculator
  • BMR Calculator
  • Macros Calculator
  • Protein Calculator
  • Squat Calculator

Policies

  • Accessibility
  • Advice Disclaimer
  • Cookies Policy
  • Disclaimers
  • Disclosures
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Copyright © 2025 · BarBend Inc · Sitemap