Back in May, my wife and I were struggling to find summer activities for our two children. It was at that time I remembered hearing Leslie Perry (YMCA membership director) speak at an event at the Chandler Chamber of Commerce a few weeks earlier.
Leslie spoke about the YMCA’s summer programs. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
The following weekend my family and I toured the Chandler/Gilbert YMCA location for the first time. A few days later we became members and enrolled our kids in the summer program.
To be honest, my kids did not want to go the YMCA for summer break. They would have preferred to stay home doing nothing, but that was not an option for them. We wanted them to get involved in activities and be more active.
After a few days of attending, my son, Christian, 9, really enjoyed coming to the YMCA. By the end of the first week, he wanted us to drop him off as early as possible and didn’t want us to pick him up at the end of the day until the last possible minute. He really enjoyed meeting and playing with kids his age. He especially liked the field trips each week.
My daughter, Alexi, who is 12, took a little longer to come around. She was not excited about any of the activities offered but reluctantly signed up for the swim splash upgrade. The swimming activities were something Alexi started to get excited about.
Neither of our kids had taken any formal swim lessons, so she was excited about some of the new things she was learning. Your aquatic program director, Ms. Zoe, saw something special in Alexi and reached out to see if she would be interested in joining the swim team.
Up to that point, Alexi had never expressed an interest in joining a swim team but was extremely excited about the opportunity. It only took a few days of swim practice for her to fall in love with the sport. Alexi loves going to swim practice every night and has really thrived in that environment.
Coach Zoe has been phenomenal in encouraging and motivating her. We couldn’t have asked for a better role model for our daughter to be around. After seeing how much fun Alexi was having, Christian started to develop an interest in joining the swim team as well.
Alexi and Christian have participated in a few swim meets and both have really enjoyed the fun but competitive environment. They both enjoyed it so much that they asked to continue participating in the fall swim program.
As parents, it is difficult to place your children in the hands of strangers and trust that they are being kept safe. We haven’t for a moment second-guessed ourselves on whether we made the right choice to enroll our kids in the YMCA programs.
When we picked them up and asked them how their day was at summer camp, they both had positive things to say. This has not been the case with other summer programs that we have enrolled them in. All the staff members have been great with our kids. Everyone we have dealt with has been friendly and helpful.
We can’t thank you and your staff enough for creating a fun and safe environment for them. We are looking forward to being a part of the YMCA family for many years to come.