Today was the First Ever “Delaware YMCA Rock-Wall Challenge” Competition!  The event was organized by the Teen Leaders Club and all proceeds benefit the Teen Leaders Scholarship fund to help students attend camp and other activities. The Delaware Community YMCA is lucky to have a two-story climbing wall located in the front  lobby.  This is the very first event the Teen Leaders club is sponsoring and is a great moment for the teens to demonstrate responsibility and planning.  

Participants pay to enter the timed event and it is divided by age and skill levels. The first round was the small children and low skill level, and so on. The participant with the fastest time in each
division is the winner.  Roger was very generous and gave prizes to male and female winners of the events. I was recruited to help in the morning with some of the set up and help out during the
event. The Rock-Wall Challenge was a huge success! There was a swim meet going on at the same time, so the building was packed!
 
Later in the afternoon I stayed to help with the 7th & 8th Grade basketball games again. It is so
exciting to see all these programs so successful and so many members of the community benefiting from the facility and its programs. 
 

This week I spent some time putting together a plan for the "Couch to 5k" program I will be leading starting in February.  The 12 week program will be in conjunction with the YMCA's "Press Play" program that began this fall. It's geared towards helping adults get back to leading an active lifestyle. "The series invites adults in their 40s or older — YMCA patrons and non-members  alike — to join a bootcamp that helps get them back in shape. The 12-week training sessions would end in time for the participants, if they choose, to  sign up for the regular season of the corresponding sport" (see Delaware Gazzette Article). 

I am an avid runner, so this progamming was a natural fit for me to lead. I will help the group through a 12 week progam designed to help anyone complete a 5k race (3.1 miles).  This can seem very intimidating to some, but can be a great challenge to start off the new year!  My program will focus on a walk-run strategy that can be adapted to suit any running level. I am very excited to lead my own program and look forward to a successful session!  

This was my first week back to work at the YMCA after a three week break for the holidays.  Winter Session I began on Monday and I was back to helping with Tumbling/Gymnastics classes. We have a new instructor, Christine, who has a background in dance and gymnastics. Christine has a ton of great ideas for developing the gymnastics program and has worked out with Erin to add a "Team" class, for the more advanced children, that will include coordinated routines and a small performance for parents at the end of the session. I think the expanded gymnastics programming will be very popular and well-received by the community.

Saturday was also the beginning of 7th & 8th grade basketball season. This is a great opportunity for middle school boys and girls that don't make the school team to play on a team. This is also the first time the Delaware YMCA is offering this league. To clarify, the YMCA offers leagues for K-2 and 7-8 grades; there is a city recreation league available for 3rd-6th grade that holds games at another location. This may seem confusing, and sometimes it is, but the city program was in place before the YMCA took over all programming.

I worked Saturday to help with set up and be sure the basketball league got off to a good start. Erin also asked if I could assist with score keeping for the three games that afternoon. I am not a huge basketball fan and have basic knowledge of the sport, but I was happy to assist.  Once I figured everything out, it was really quite easy.  A few of my friends children were playing, so it was also fun to cheer them on!

I am learning so much about sports/recreation programming and the
challenges of developing new leagues in a community.