CrossFit, Gangs, and Grace: The Mission Behind Underground PDX (EP.016)
The CrossFit Podcast
CrossFit LLC
4.3 • 757 Ratings
🗓️ 27 May 2025
⏱️ 90 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Scott and Gwenna Bradley are the heart and backbone of Underground PDX, a nonprofit CrossFit affiliate that serves kids and families in one of Oregon’s most high-risk communities. In this episode, they open up about trauma, healing, and the power of love and consistency.
Scott shares his personal story — from addiction and incarceration to ministry and coaching. Gwenna reflects on how structure, emotional regulation, and compassion allow them to reach kids dealing with poverty, violence, and instability. This isn’t just about workouts. It’s about showing up, building trust, and helping young people believe they matter.
Topics Included
- How Underground PDX began — and why Gwenna lets the kids choose their mentors.
- What Scott’s personal journey through addiction, abuse, and recovery taught him about serving youth.
- How Gwenna balances structure with compassion to reach kids labeled “too difficult.”
- The emotional cost of building trust — and why a hug might matter more than a PR.
- Why they’re now training the next generation of coaches from within their own block.
Resources Mentioned
- Underground PDX (https://undergroundpdx.org)
- Hope Center PDX
- CrossFit Grit 346
- Steve’s Club (now FYR)
Community Highlight:
Erin Rees has owned an affiliate before. But this one — CrossFit Comeback — is different.
After hiding her own struggles with alcohol during her first run as a gym owner, Erin eventually hit a breaking point. With the support of her family and a treatment program, she got sober. And when she found her way back to CrossFit in 2022, it became part of her healing.
Now, she’s giving that same lifeline to others.
At CrossFit Comeback in Clinton, Mississippi, Erin and her husband run a free class specifically for individuals in recovery. They train for 30 minutes — then sit together and talk about recovery. Nine of those 25 participants have become full members.
As Erin puts it: “It’s never too late for a comeback.”
Know someone you think deserves to be highlighted? Nominate them here
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | First time, I was blacked out drunk with seven years old. I was raised with a father in prison, |
| 0:05.6 | a lot of domestic violence, abused, abandoned as a kid. I've never met a bad kid. All I've met is |
| 0:13.3 | broken people. They're not just trying to get away with something. They're really trying to run |
| 0:18.9 | away from something that's with them, you know. |
| 0:21.0 | Just by laying on the floor doing burpees with them next to them, you're filling that void. |
| 0:26.1 | The goal isn't more willpower. |
| 0:27.6 | The goal is surrender to love, to healing, to family, and that's what we're providing for these kids. |
| 0:38.8 | And you guys, I just now, I'm going to, I call the power couple. |
| 0:42.3 | I've done a lot of research. |
| 0:43.2 | You are the power couple. |
| 0:45.5 | And we've got to shout this from the rooftop. |
| 0:47.5 | So I've got a little bit of a intro here for you. |
| 0:50.8 | I'd like people at home who are listening to know why in the world do we have |
| 0:55.6 | Scott and Gwenne Bradley on the CrossFit podcast. And I mean, not only are you guys married, |
| 1:03.1 | you are the roles that you assume, Scott, we've made it clear that you are the executive director |
| 1:08.5 | of Underground PDX, which is a non-profit CrossFit |
| 1:13.0 | affiliate in, just outside of Portland, Oregon. And then Gwano, and we're like, Gwano, what do you |
| 1:18.7 | do? It was basically everything else. She's the director of operations, the head coach, the mom, |
| 1:26.2 | to everybody in the gym, not only your own kids, but you guys are the |
| 1:31.3 | heart and soul of this affiliate. And it's not only an affiliate, but it's also a community |
| 1:37.0 | center. And you dedicate your time to serve in some of the most vulnerable and at-risk youth |
| 1:44.1 | in the state of Oregon. |
... |
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