This week I was only able to work Tuesday evening for the Coaches meeting for the new K2 Basketball Program. The great news is that 51 children were registered for the program!  This was much more than anticipated for a new program in the community. The closest YMCA, Powell, has a very successful and established K2 program that typically has close to 200 children that register. I thought it was interesting to see the differences between an established YMCA facility and a newer one, and the challenges associated with finding the right programming for the community.
Another challenge to establishing a program like this is finding enough volunteer coaches to run the program successfully. Erin explained that if not enough parents volunteer to coach, she typically sends out an email to the parents explaining that without enough coaches there will be no program.  This is usually a very effective tactic and parents start to volunteer pretty quickly!
The coaches meeting lasted only an hour. I was able to present my new powerpoint presentation to the volunteer coaches and answer any questions relating to the basketball season and scheduling.

This Saturday was the annual Pumpkin Run 5k and the community Halloween Party! 
The Pumpkin Run 5k is an annual partnership with Ohio Wesleyan University and the City of Delaware. With the changes made to the city's recreation programming and the partnership with the YMCA, there were some additional planning challenges to this year's race. Jean Fry, the YMCA's Wellness Coordinator was in charge of planning the event this year. Because the YMCA has very specific branding specifications and event guidelines, some of the event details needed to be alterted fom previous years; including tshirt design and some of the post race prizes.  Most of the race preparations were already in place before I started my internship, but I was able to help with set up that morning and my son and I participated in the event!
The second event of the day was the Annual Community Halloween Party!  Because my mentor, Jeremy Byers, was previously with the city's Parks and Recreation Department he was in charge of coordinating this event. I was able to help make some follow-up calls and confirm details for the Trunk-or-Treat event.  I also volunteered that evening and assisted wherever I was needed and stayed to help with clean up at the end. The event was a success, with nearly 1000 children and their families participating! It was great to see the two city events blending well with the new YMCA family.
Because most of the weeks activities were focused on executing these two events, I was not able to do much else while I was at the YMCA.

This week I put the finishing touches on my powerpoint for the new Coaches Training Meeting for the YMCA and Recreational leagues. The idea behind the presentation is to have information available to present to new volunteer coaches that explains the YMCA philosophies and provides information that will help get coaches started with their new teams. For many of the volunteer coaches, especially the new basketball leagues at the Delaware YMCA, this is their first time coaching.  There are links to YMCA eLearning training programs, YMCA four values and mission statement, a sample practice agenda, and some game day tips to get the coaches started with their teams.
I think this will be great starting point for the coaches training. Because this is a new sports programing partnership in the community, it is important to express the philosophies and mission that the YMCA stands for and assimilate those values into the youth sports programs. 
I am attaching a copy of the finished product.

Today, the majority of my day was spent working on a marketing project (aka-front entry display) focused on the new K2 Basketball League forming for Fall II Session. This will be the first time the Delaware YMCA will be offering this program and they are looking for a strong registration numbers for the league. I worked with Erin, one of my mentors, on designing and setting up the display in the main lobby to attract members as they enter the building. One piece of the display required some signing and information to be displayed on a basketball hoop.  While we were putting together the information, I learned all about the YMCA's rebranding initiative. As a leading nonprofit with a strong, meaningful brand, the YMCA must present itself consistently as a unified cause with shared values and a common voice.  This is being executed through several branding initiatives that will eventually phase all USA-YMCA locations to present the same brand image. This includes the use of trademark logos, approved color combinations, imaging, and approved fonts for communication. I have included an approved basketball image that we used for the marketing promotion.
I found the branding initiative to be very interesting and restricting at the same time. While I am use to my current company to be very brand orientated in its marketing strategies and communication, I struggled a bit on the YMCA being so restrictive in its imagery and communications mediums for the staff and members.  However, I can appreciate the importance of a recreational facility or sports team being able to convey a clear message through their brand communication.  Logos and brand symbols are the primary way fans identify with their favorite teams, so the need to communicate that brand through a unified, consistent means is imperative.
The display turned out great and was already attracting attention from the kids coming in after school that day!

This evening I was scheduled to help out with youth gymnastics/tumbling classes. Going forward, assisting with the gymnastics classes will be part of my regular responsibilities. I have never taught gymnastics, nor have I participated in gymnastics, so this will be a valuable learning experience all around. 
So, I was statusing with my mentors when there was a loud alarm that sounded indicating an audit was taking place at the pool.  An audit is conducted to ensure that the lifeguards are paying close attention to what is going on in the pool and ensure everyone's safety. All staff members are required to respond to the audit/emergency.  I followed all of the management staff into the pool area, where the "victim" had already been pulled from the water and CPR procedures had been started. Everyone who responds is required to put on latex gloves for protection and they are to participate in the counting exercise for CPR. It is a total-team effort and they did not "call" the drill until the they were satisfied and several people had a chance to perform CPR.  I am hoping to get certified to respond soon, I would like to go through the proper training so I feel more comfortable when responding.

The rest of the evening went by quickly with three gymnastics classes. This week was much more orgainized, as the regular instructor was back. It is quite a challenge to engage the attention of 2-6 year olds for 30-45 minutes. At times they can get pretty roudy and can lose focus very quickly. However, I am enjoying the classes and getting to know the children by name and what their abilities are.