Our mission at Albany CrossFit is to care for the community we live in, from the athletes we develop to the ways we give back to society. At Albany CrossFit we strive to set an example for fitness leadership and responsibility, not just in the sport of CrossFit but in the world of health and wellness.
Our Guiding Values:
The Court Club was founded in 1978 as the first racquetball club in the Capital Region. The original building comprised of 12 racquetball / handball courts. With the rise in popularity, six more courts were added a few years later in 1980. At the time, the Court Club was also the first health club in the area to offer circuit training with the introduction of Nautilus weight machines. Over the years, as the trends in health and fitness changed we continued to adapt within our facility. Four racquetball courts were soon converted into squash courts. Later two more of the courts were remodeled into exercise rooms; one for spinning classes and another for general cardio training with treadmills, stair masters, exercise bikes, and elliptical machines. In 2004, one of the squash courts was repurposed into a rock climbing wall which soon after became a popular option as a place to hold children’s birthday parties.
Just as racquetball rose in popularity in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, CrossFit became a highly sought after exercise program in the latter part of the 2000’s. In September of 2007, one of the employees of the Court Club – Jason Ackerman, rented and converted one of the racquetball courts into the Capital District’s first CrossFit gym now known worldwide as Albany CrossFit. The Court Club and Albany CrossFit were now two separate businesses sharing one roof. At the time Albany CrossFit occupied one racquetball court, a measly 800 square feet that contained shoddy home-made equipment, pull up bars that often fell off the walls, and medicine balls that would leak their inner materials while being used. There was none of this fancy new Rogue equipment because back then Rogue Fitness didn’t even exist!
After one year Albany CrossFit’s membership grew to the point that more space was needed so Jason rented the court next door to his. He now had two individual rooms to hold classes and on any given night you could see the coaches running back and forth between rooms. Eventually the time came to expand again into a third court – there were now three separate spaces. The main office was in the hallway and Albany CrossFit had three coaches – the gym was no longer a small hole in the wall box, but far from where it is now.
In 2011 it was time; Jason had been open for four years and with an ever growing membership and need for space – walls needed to be knocked down. One wall came down and created what we called “the double.” The double was amazing, twice as many people in one room, specialty classes were now held in the original individual rooms, only one problem…we quickly outgrew it all!
Our most recent expansion was in 2012 and it gave us what we affectionately call “the triple” – three racquetball courts that were side by side and connected by knocking down even more walls. This was the culmination of five years of hard work. Thousands of classes, hundreds of athletes, a full coaching staff: Albany CrossFit had arrived.
It took a lot for us to get to where we are now. From one class and one coach to over ten classes a day, seven days a week and an amazing staff of top level coaches. Over the years countless friendships have been formed, we have hired full-time staff; we have seen people walk in that never exercised that one day became coaches. Couples have met, even married; there are kid’s alive thanks to Albany CrossFit!!
In August of 2014, Jason Ackerman sold Albany CrossFit to the owner of the Court Club: Shye Evan. Under Shye’s ownership the two businesses would now become one which takes us to today. Albany CrossFit is now all that you see when you enter the building. We are the only facility in the region that offers such a wide variety of classes and sporting activities.
From 2007 to the present day our values and mission have never wavered. We are here for our athletes. The people that allow us to wake up every morning and do what we love. It is our great pleasure to serve each and every one of you, thank you.
Trial Sessions are for individuals new to CrossFit. The session rate is $20 and is 30 minutes in length. You’ll work one on one with a Coach, do a short workout, discuss your goals, and learn more about our gym.
