If you’ve been on the Twitter machine lately, you may have seen some PAX throwing out the words GrowSchool and GrowRuck. My man Mini-Me and I have been fielding some question about these two initiatives so we thought it’d be a good time to open the proverbial kimono and let you know what these things are all about.
The purpose of this post is to briefly explain the two events, and help growing regions choose which is right for them!
GrowSchool
GrowSchool is curriculum developed by OBT and Dredd as a Q School with an emphasis on Growth. The big-ticket items covered in GrowSchool are:
- Why Growth (& Destruction) is good for F3
- How F3 Regions Typically Grow
- Common Regional Growing Pains
- Why Regional Status is a Worthy Growth Goal
GrowSchool helps Regions understand why #GiveItAway is an F3 imperative and why, in the world of F3, if you aren’t growing, you’re dying. It’s intended for Nomads (or expansion AOs) that have been in existence at least 6-9 months and want to accelerate toward Regional status in support of F3’s mission to Plant, Grow and Serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of Male Community Leadership. Â
A location is an ideal candidate for GrowSchool if the PAX have some momentum and are wondering what the Next Step is. F3 Nation sends in a couple men to teach about F3 Growth, serve as liaisons on the road to Regional Status and push the local PAX to face outward in their community.
The typical timeframe of a GrowSchool is as follows:
- Friday night 2ndF event for all PAX with GrowSchool Qs (1-2hrs)
- Saturday AM Convergence beatdown led by GrowSchool Qs (1hr)
- Saturday Coffeeteria/GrowSchool (2hrs)
For more information about bringing GrowSchool to your location, contact MiniMe ([email protected] or @MiniMe_F3 Â on Twitter).
GrowRuck
GrowRuck is a weekend-long event that combines GrowSchool with a GORUCK Tough. By adding a CSAUP event (which brings a huge dose of 1st and 2nd F) to the GrowSchool experience, F3 Nation aims to catalyze and accelerate a location’s growth.
GrowRuck is ideally suited for AOs (or a collection of locations) that have been around for a year or longer. A good indicator that a location is ready for a GrowRuck is when PAX find themselves standing around asking, “What’s next?”
OBT and Dredd developed the idea for GrowRuck as they began teaching GrowSchools and realized how important CSAUP events are to F3’s growth in a region. In particular, they drew on their own experience as members of GORUCK Tough Classes 193 and 707 and the role that those events, with their emphasis on teamwork and bonding, played in catalyzing F3’s growth in Charlotte and the surrounding regions
Because the class size for a GrowRuck event is around 30 participants, GrowRucks are ideally suited to F3 locations where they can draw from multiple AOs within driving distance (GrowRuck 01 is taking place in Jacksonville, FL, but is also drawing significant contingents of PAX from St. Simons and Savannah, GA.) Â That being said, not everyone in an AO or region needs to participate in the Tough to get something out of GrowRuck, as many of the weekend’s events are open to all PAX.
While  GrowRuck can be customized to fit the needs of each region, the basic format is:
- Friday night 2ndF Event
- Saturday AM workout + GrowSchool
- Saturday PM GORUCK Tough (12-14 hours)
- Sunday AM breakfast
If you think a GrowRuck would be a good fit for your F3 location, or if you and your F3 friends have been discussing doing a custom Tough Challenge, we would love to hear from you.
For more information about the GrowRuck contact Robber ([email protected] or @srankin on Twitter).
