December 19, 2001

YMCA beaming over new program

Y Gymnastics celebrates new gym facility

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       With a grand opening featuring tumbling, leaping and twirling, gymnasts from the Y Gymnastics Center celebrated their new facility in style.
      With 8,000 square feet for the YMCA's recreational and competitive gymnastics programs, the center will easily support the 150 students currently enrolled - and leave room for plenty more. While refinements are still being added, such as a sign on the outside of their Woodmere Avenue building and the installation of their spring board floor, the center is ready to go.
      "We have more equipment that can be put up," said Kelly Rupp, coach of the competitive team and pre-team.
      The Y Gymnastics Center has been open just over a month. It recently got a huge boost with a large donation of professional equipment from the parents' club at Central Michigan University. This equipment includes nine beams, a spring floor, uneven parallel bars, a vault, a trampoline and a Tumble Trak.
      The center offers a full range of recreational programs for children ages one year old and up, combining the classes formerly held at the Boys and Girls Club with those held at the YMCA's main office. Adult recreational classes are also available.
      Beth Averill, the recreational coach, sees first-hand how gymnastics is a confidence builder for children of any age. It can be a lifetime investment even for children who never achieve competitive skills.
      "So many families say their children gain confidence, focus and discipline from gymnastics," Averill said. "That their child's self-esteem boosts up so high. It is nice for me to see how they go in so shy and blossom into outspoken confident kids."
      The wide array of offerings at the Y Gymnastics Center reflects the program's success during the past year's trial period.
      "We did start with a smaller gym in April and had to prove ourselves to the board that this was a good program," said Karen Alma, a member of the YMCA's Gymnastics committee.
      Part of Alma's duties are to ensure that, in keeping with the YMCA's non-profit status, their classes are available to all. Even an aspiring gymnast who wants to take her skills and training to a high school team is welcome.
      "Because we're non-profit, we do have a different mission: to work with each kid's body, mind and spirit," Alma noted. "It is not just a physical thing here, the Y's mission is strong families and strong communities."
      Alma's daughter, Grace Lemieux, 14, is a member of the competitive team and a fixture at the center.
      Lemieux had taken a year off from team competition but is now throwing herself back into the fray, looking ahead to the possibility of college scholarships. She and many of the 20 other girls on the competitive team had been traveling to Grand Rapids three times a week for training.
      "That's how committed these girls were," said Rupp, a former high-level gymnast herself who assisted at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. "These are high-level gymnasts in search of future scholarships, they have to compete to be considered."
      Lemieux has also been a coach at the center since April, helping younger students learn the basics of conditioning, equipment, safety and moves. With a healthy dose of the sport's trademark grace and style thrown in.
      "I like working with the kids," said Lemieux, who can be found at the center in one capacity or another every night of the week and on Saturdays.