The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
French Creek YMCA holds open house
An institution known for family friendly fitness aims to create an environment where mothers, fathers, children and caregivers enjoy each other’s company.
The French Creek Family YMCA, 2010 Recreation Lane, Avon, held an open house on Sept. 29 with a goal: Reignite Family Fun.
Members and newcomers were welcomed to see how the YMCA is evolving to help 21st century families develop their relationships while staying in shape.
For years the Y has been about family, with people of various ages working out to be the best versions of themselves, said Joe Cerny, chief operating officer for YMCA of Greater Cleveland.
That might mean parents lifting weights or participating in an exercise class while children were under supervised care.
“Now what we’ve done is reimagine the idea of fun, that we can all come together and play in these types of spaces,” Cerny said.
The concept includes the PlugIn area with virtual reality headsets, usable for youths and adults.
“It turned adults into kids
again,” Cerny said about the program. “What better way to bond with your kids than to let them see you play? Look at the smiles.”
For years the Y has had successful programs for young children, their parents and older adults.
But it was a challenge to keep “tween” engaged, said Rick Batyko, executive director of marketing.
“It looks like we did it based on the reactions that I’m seeing,” he said about the electronic systems.
“Now there’s something for everybody in the family to do,” Batyko said. “The tweeners aren’t sitting around waiting for mom or dad to get done exercising.”
The French Creek YMCA unveiled the virtual reality program on Sept. 26. It is not the only component to Reignite Family Fun.
The Y has created an Unplugged Space where parents and children can play foosball, air hockey, popa-shot basketball or board games.
“It’s just a time when you can unwind,” Cerny said. “You don’t find enough time — we have the boxes at home but we never sit down to play them. There’s a space and time to do that.”
The Soft Play Area allows children ages 6 and younger to be active and creative.
“Kids are just running out of there red-faced and sweaty,” Cerny said. “They’re just having a great time.”
The YMCA added an inflatable obstacle course the size of half the gymnasium.
On Sept. 29, the giant bouncy arrangement was popular with children, but it’s large enough to support adults.
The course has modular construction with various pieces joined together, so Wellness Director Katie Blodorn recommended parents go through with tots to ensure they did not get stuck.
The course will be open noon to 2 p.m. on Sundays.
Some of the Y workers said they tried the inflatable.
“I have run many obstacle races in my life and I’m a very hyper person … and so I will conquer this with my eyes closed in, like, three seconds. No shame, no shame. I love the challenge and it’s a blast,” Blodorn said with a laugh.
“It’s a full-body workout, to say the least,” she added.
Brandon Lawler, director of youth, family and sports, said he raced his son, Brayden, 4, through the course. He estimated their time was about eight seconds running straight through.
Cassidy Thompson, 20 months, took her time going through with her mother, Devin Carrion, and older sister Ariella Carrion, 8.
“I got a workout with her,” Devin Carrion said. “She did pretty good. She did better than I thought. She was trying. I had to push her up. She’s definitely more adventurous than her sister, like, at this age.”
The family went to the Y for Ariella to practice volleyball. The girls take swimming lessons there and Devin Carrion works out there.
“We love the Y,” she said. The YMCA invested close to $100,000 between equipment and facility renovations to create the new spaces.
The Y was built to stand the test of time, yet the facility can be adjusted to improve the way families experience the YMCA, Cerny said.
“Our expectation is that this is something we’ll continue to do more often, more frequently, to keep pace with the way families are experiencing fun together,” Cerny said. “Things move much quicker than they did 10 years ago when we built this facility, so we really need to keep up with that.”
In fall, YMCA activities tend to pick up as families begin looking for things to do indoors when the weather turns bad, Cerny said.
When students and families get over-scheduled with school and fall sports activities, Reigniting Family Fun is intended to provide “unscheduled time.”
“People are looking for unscheduled time, they really are,” Cerny said. “We’re so scheduled in our lives. To be able to have a little unscheduled time where you can connect and learn about each other, be a family, is absolutely great.”