This morning HWPO announced that Justin Cotler will be joining the organization as Director of Coaching. With the move, Cotler is shutting down Underdogs Athletics, the training company he founded in 2020.Â
Cotler’s most recognizable athlete today is Alex Gazan, but he also coaches Manon Angonese along with other athletes including the Camp Rhino CrossFit Dawgs, who competed at the 2025 CrossFit Games.
Throughout the five years of Underdogs, the training camp has featured numerous Games level athletes. Danielle Brandon, Kari Pearce, Bethany Flores, Ricky Garard, Sara Sigmundsdottir, Grace Walton, Kyra Milligan, Bayley Martin and Bronislaw Olenkowicz all spent time working with Cotler and his team.
In speaking with Cotler, he will be tasked with growing the HWPO 1:1 coaching program along with rebuilding the elite roster within the sport-side of the business. HWPO offers the Pro track programming, but has seen its elite roster shrink over the past few years with athletes either leaving the program or retiring.
It appears that the addition of Cotler is to build that back up again. Similar to when Michele Letendre joined HWPO and Pat Vellner came along, Alex Gazan and Manon Angonese will be joining Cotler in the transition to a new training camp.
As for why Cotler decided to close the chapter on Underdogs Athletics, he said there were several factors in that decision. One, his daughter, Ivy, was diagnosed with IGA Nephropathy, a rare kidney disease, last December. Following that diagnosis it shifted where he wanted to focus his energy.
Rather than running a business, he wanted to prioritize his family and coaching, something he feels that joining HWPO will allow him to do.
Since the announcement, the Underdogs Athletics website no longer exists and Cotler has already been added to the HWPO website.
