It’s 2025, our fifth year of bringing Life to the ABLE Games we now know and love. The community and mission, though? They go much further back.

In fact, we have the opportunity to celebrate TEN years since its first conception, the seeds that would later grow into all its evolutions.

Like many great ideas do, the idea to bring all abilities to the forefront in a competition setting, showing the world that all abilities deserve celebration, began…

On a napkin at a local favorite, Junkyard Brewing, between a few friends who dared to dream.

The Start of It All

Leslie Frie, Co-Director of ABLE Games, reflected back to the beginning—

“I started CrossFit in the fall of 2015 after years of denying that I would, in fact, LOVE CrossFit. The first workout was burpees and deadlifts. I sat down with Sara Mozingo afterward and signed a founder’s membership, and I haven’t looked back since. I was ALLLLLL in. Loved it. Went to every open gym, loved pushing myself, and quickly fell in love with the sport and drank allll the Gatorade. Because of what I had seen TNT do with athletes with special needs in gymnastics, I decided to sit down with Sara and pick her brain about athletes with special needs and what she thought about serving them at Icehouse. It all came down to more opportunities for people of all abilities. She loved it. Around that time, Jake (Haile) joined, too, and with his background, we brought him in (along with Courtney Shoemaker) and met at Junkyard. We landed on creating a competition called FargoMania (Courtney threw out the name ABLE Games, but we landed on FargoMania instead- how ironic).”

FargoMania was a CrossFit-style adapted competition for adult individuals with special needs. It included an 8-week training period with fitness professionals around the Fargo-Moorhead area leading up to the competition. The goal was to raise enough funds to allow them to open sessions for adults with Special Needs to train all year, free of cost.

“We started meeting at 7 AM every Friday at CJ’s. Jake and Sara created the events, Coutney dove in on scoring, sponsors (among many other things) and our adult population practiced at TNT, Icehouse, and CrossFit 701 for 8 weeks before the first-ever competition on November 13th, 2016. Our TNT team jumped right in and supported, advertised, and helped with logistics and everything in between. It was a full team effort!

A Timeline of Our Evolution

1. On September 16th, 2016, Icehouse and CLS hosted a Row Raiser in downtown Fargo. Teams of 10 raised money to support athletes with special needs training at the gyms and cover their entry fee to FargoMania.

1. On November 13th, 2016, the first FargoMania was held at TNT Kids Fitness. There were 3 events, and the coveted FargoMania BELT to be won! The entire day was a massive hit.

1. On October 29th, 2017, FargoMania moved to the Sanford Health Athletic Complex (SHAC). It grew in support and attendance, with NDSU athletes, Greek Life, local CrossFit affiliates, and the greater Fargo-Moorhead community members contributing to its success.

1. On July 17th, 2018, NFL Center and Fargo Native Connor McGovern visited Icehouse to volunteer with that year’s FargoMania athletes for the first time.

1. The following year, FargoMania grew! This time, the fundraiser was Icehouse-a-palooza, hosted by and just outside CrossFit Icehouse and Drekker Brewing Company at 9:00 AM on September 15th, 2018. It included everything from a full tailgate-style grill and cookout, bands like Fancy That and Someday Heroes for entertainment, community-favorite vendors like Thunder Coffee, and, of course… a whole lot of fitness. Two events, teams of four—two FargoMania Athletes paired with two CrossFit or other athletes pairing the day of the event. It was a memory for the scrapbooks and helped fund the full-time training of that year’s growing FargoMania athlete population.

1. On June 10th, 2019, TNT held a luncheon to promote and raise dollars for what we had hoped would be the FIRST ABLE Games in May 2020. This was also the year well-known Fargo Native and NFL Center Connor McGovern began designing the competition with TNT and introduced Jenn and Sam Dancer to the ABLE Games Team! FargoMania was still hosted at the SHAC that October, with several local CrossFit gyms participating and a state grant helping fund it all.

1. Now, we said we had hoped the first ABLE Games would be in May of 2020, but… well, we know how that year went for everyone. So fast-forward to 2021, and the FIRST-ever ABLE Games was hosted outdoors in the heart of downtown Fargo! Without our Fargo-Moorhead CrossFit gyms, this event wouldn’t have happened. Their support was monumental to that first year’s success (and continues today)! The day was ELECTRIC. The air was filled with excitement and passion. Volunteers and athletes from all backgrounds, ability levels, and ages connected and celebrated their fitness. Celebrity guests Mat Fraser, Matt O’Keefe, Matt Bickel, and, of course, Connor, the Dancers, and James Foster added to the enthusiasm of the entire day.

Who We Are Today

We continue to grow, but our mission remains the same each year: to unlock potential through movement. To ensure athletes of ALL abilities are celebrated on the competition floor and continue to be seen, felt, and heard beyond our walls.

“Too often, we put people in a box and don’t allow them to shine. But through movement, we begin to open the different sides of that box and see the truth about a person’s capabilities. Everyone deserves a platform to shine in their own unique way. Everyone has a purpose here on earth, and everyone’s abilities need to be seen, felt, and heard. That is what AG provides- that platform to feel valued– and to be seen, felt, and heard for who they are and what they can do. Too often, we make assumptions about people because of how they look or act, what disability they have, etc. We have the opportunity at ABLE Games to see what each person can do, cheer each other on, and be a part of a community together regardless of your ability. All Abilities. Same Floor. Same Time.”

-Leslie Frie, ABLE Games Co-Director

2025 Community, we can’t wait to welcome you back to the Cornerstone Bank Arena on May 2nd and 3rd. We’ll see you then.