TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

YMCA Pushes South

ADVERTISEMENT

By SUSAN M. GREEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

RIVERVIEW - First, their own neighborhood supermarkets and restaurants, and now this: a YMCA program in Summerfield's back yard.

About 130 suburban pioneer families, long forced to drive 10 to 20 miles for shopping, movies and youth league sign-ups, flocked Feb. 9 to the first off-site YMCA program staged in the South Hillsborough area at Big Bend United Methodist Church near Summerfield.

Melissa and Eric DeFelice of Summerfield, parents of 3-year-old Adrianna, said they have been driving their older daughter, Zoe, 11, to soccer practice several miles away for six years. The YMCA program at Big Bend offers a convenient way for Adrianna to follow in her big sister's footsteps, they said.

"She's been wanting to play for a long time," Melissa DeFelice said.

YMCA leaders say last week's turnout is evidence that the south county area needs its own convenient version of the family-oriented fitness and recreation programs offered by the nonprofit Christian association that has become a household name.

Lance Cohn, associate executive director for the Tampa Metropolitan YMCA's Valrico and FishHawk Ranch branches, said Monday a task force is meeting to evaluate community needs and opportunities for a new site in the South Shore area.

In the meantime, YMCA officials said, they were happy to field a call from John Guerre, pastor of the Big Bend church, seeking help with organizing youth programs on the church campus.

Guerre said church-sponsored youth programs offered in the fall and winter drew 40 to 50 children, and his staff and volunteers couldn't keep up with the demand. So he called the YMCA.

"Our area is still trying to build up its infrastructure," Guerre said. "Every time we do something like this that provides some kind of healthy, productive activity for kids, there's an amazing response.

"There's not a whole lot for them to do down here. ... God has blessed us with a lot of ground. It's great to share that with the community."

For the YMCA camp, the church marked off much of its 11-acre campus for four practice fields. Children ages 3 to 10 were assigned to teams and rotated among the fields.

Christy Lowe, sports director for the Campo Family YMCA in Valrico, said her branch provided staff, training for volunteer coaches, T-shirts and trophies for the camp, which will run eight weeks. Future camps are being organized for flag football and cheerleading.

The Campo branch runs two other programs labeled "off-site," in that they use property that is not owned by the YMCA, Lowe said. Those are in FishHawk Ranch, where the organization has a smaller branch called YMCA Express and uses neighborhood practice fields, and at Camp Cristina, which is a Riverview YMCA facility designed to host summer camp and after-school activities for children bused in from across the county.

Lowe said turnout for the camp was impressive, considering there was only a three-week signup period

"We didn't know what to expect," she said. "All we've been hearing is they're happy for the sports programs. ... They didn't have to drive far to a Y."

On the practice field, coaches led their groups in warm-up exercises and reviewed the first rule of soccer: no hands.

Even so, preschoolers had a lot of trouble remembering to move the ball with their feet. When they were charging down the field, they didn't see any need to stop if the ball went past the goal or out of bounds.

Parents and siblings brought chairs and blankets and offered plenty of advice and encouragement from the sidelines.

"Kick it! Kick it! Go! No, the other way!"

Guerre said seeing all the families on the church campus reminded him of the historical role of churches.

"Years ago, churches used to be the social and theological center of the community," he said. "Today, people have holistic needs. Their spiritual needs are paramount, but their physical needs and social needs are also important."

The camp is full this session. The YMCA will open registration for flag football and cheerleading March 10. The cost is $55 per child, ages 3 to 10, and no YMCA membership is required. The camps will run eight Saturdays, starting April 19.

The YMCA is planning to organize a T-ball program for ages 3 to 6 in the fall, Lowe said.

Children enrolled at the Big Bend camps are eligible for YMCA scholarships if their families cannot afford the fees, and about 20 percent at the soccer camp received financial assistance, Lowe said.

"No kids know they're playing with someone who can't afford to pay," she said. "They all have the same color T-shirts. They still get a T-shirt and a trophy."

On March 6, the YMCA will kick off a six-week campaign to raise money for scholarships. Last year, in the area that includes Brandon, Riverview and Valrico, the YMCA gave more than $15,000 worth of scholarships to low-income children in youth sports programs, Lowe said.

The YMCA also provided $165,000 to help 662 children attend after-school and summer programs, according to information supplied by the organization.

GO OUT AND PLAY

For information about camps or the giving campaign, call Christy Lowe, sports director for the Campo Family YMCA in Valrico, at (813) 684-1371 or e-mail camposports@tampa ymca.org.

Keyword: YMCA soccer, for more photos from the Summerfield camp. Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com. Keyword: YMCA soccer, for more photos from the Summerfield camp.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT