Tori Dyson
Coach
Ever since I was a kid, I knew I wanted to help people in some capacity. At age 5, I told my parents that I wanted to find a cure for arthritis so that my grandparents could play with me pain-free! I was an active kid and an only child at this point so, by default, my family members were my first-round picks for playmates.
Before having the chance to head down the path of a career in the medical field though, at age 16, I started coaching part-time at the gymnastics club I went to for the better part of my 12-year-long competitive gymnastics career. I started off by coaching preschool classes and eventually grew into working with gymnasts of all ages and levels. Being a part of these kids’ journeys from running around in diapers as toddlers, to walking out on the competition floor for the first time, to winning medals, to really growing into their own, was such an exciting and rewarding experience for me. This was really where my mind began to flip from wanting a job in the medical field to really leaning into this coaching thing.
I started doing CrossFit the summer after my freshman year of college at Coastal Carolina University. One of my long-time friends and gymnastics teammates told me about a gym she had been going to so I decided to drop in with her. Since quitting gymnastics, I had yet to find something that really filled the whole that my primary sport left. I also had NO IDEA what I was doing when I walked into a gym. After my first CrossFit class, I was HOOKED.
I moved back home and competed at Regionals on a team less than a year later in 2015, then went on to compete at several more regional/sanction/semi-final level competitions over the span of the last 9 years.
I started training at CFNE after my 2016 competitive CrossFit season and decided to make the switch from coaching gymnastics to coaching CrossFit a year later in 2017. The community, the atmosphere, and the magic that happens within the 4 walls of this gym are really what makes me excited to wake up and go to “work” every day. I am so thankful for this place and the people within, who continue to help me learn and grow as an athlete, as a coach, and as a person with each year that passes.
