Growing Up Fit
Growing Up Fit is an innovative weight management program for children 7-15 years old and their families.  Parent participation is required for the program. The program consists of an initial health assessment, eight weeks of education and exercise, a post-assessment, and graduation celebration. The spring session begins April 7 - June 12.  Classes are held Wednesdays from 6:45 - 7:45 pm and Saturdays from 9:30 - 10:30 am.  The program is paid in full by BlueCross and BlueShield of WNY, Univera, and in part by Independent Health.  Contact the front desk for more information or register online.

Southtowns YMCA Youth Coach of the Month
The Southtowns YMCA sports department recognized Dan Marmion with a Certificate of Merit in the month of February.  Dan currently coaches instructional hockey on Tuesday nights and instructional basketball on Thursday nights.  On Saturdays, Dan runs our youth basketball league with the assistance of three YMCA staff members and 11 YMCA parent volunteers.  Dan has been recognized by parents for stressing skill development and fair play.  It is Dan’s goal to provide a fun atmosphere that promotes the education of the game of basketball.  Congratulations to Dan for this honor.    

Thank You Volunteer Coaches!  
The Southtowns YMCA would like to thank our volunteers who helped with our winter basketball league: Chuck Cieslica, Gerald Beuvelet, Dave Lewis, Bob Kelly, Jerome Collins, Paul Siwy, and Terry Clancy. They showed up week after week to coach, mentor, and practice with our youth. We couldn’t have done it without them! Thanks guys!

Co-Ed Youth Hockey League Registration Underway
The Southtowns Family YMCA Co-Ed Floor Hockey League is a 10-week league, open to boys and girls in grades 1-6. The program is designed so that every child has the chance to play. Coaches will focus on teaching fair play and good sportsmanship as they help each participant develop and enhance their hockey skills. Girls and boys will be placed into age appropriate teams by grade level. Teams will participate in a 45-minute practice during the week followed by a 45-minute game on Saturday. Participants will be informed of their practice day and time by their coach.
Each player will receive a team jersey and an end of the season award.
Registration ends March 21, 2010. See the front desk for details.

Spin-a-thon & Zumba-thon Results
A big thank you to all that participated in last month’s fund-raisers to benefit the 2010 Strong Kids Campaign!
Our first annual Zumba-Thon raised over $600! A special thank you goes to instructors Kristin Wittmeyer and Deb Pratt who created, promoted, and taught the two hour class.  The YMCA is lucky to have instructors with this much enthusiasm and passion for the mission of the YMCA.

Our 5th annual Spin-a-Thon raised over $1,700 to benefit the 2010 campaign; the most ever! Matt Grasela and Sara Robida are to be thanked for leading this challenging, three hour work-out! We are thankful to all that participated, instructed, and helped in any capacity to make these events successful. We look forward to doing it again next year!

Membership Information
Thank you to all of our members who donated blood on January 28. We collected 103 units of useable blood to help people in need in our community - a record for our blood drive donations. Thank you to everyone!

Wellness News
The 2010 Get Ready Get Fit Challenge is well underway! Two teams have been competing to earn the most points by exercising and have been led by strength instructors Brian Lavis and Dave Sosa.  Members have the opportunity to meet with their trainers every two weeks to revise their work-outs to keep them challenging and to set weight loss goals.  If you are interested in participating in the spring Shape Up for Summer Challenge, please stop in the Wellness Center in April to register.  Remember, all programs are free and open to all members of the YMCA. 

If you are interested in joining the Y Book Club, stop by the pool viewing room Tuesday, April 20 at 12:30 pm.  We will discuss The Piano Teacher, by Janice Y.K. Lee. Stop at the front desk and ask for a complete listing of the book selections through June’s meetings, or you can contact Erica Tempestoso or Lisa LaRusso at 674-9622.

The Knit Wits continue to meet twice per month to work on group charity knitting projects to benefit patients at Roswell Park Cancer Institute along with personal projects that members bring in.  Yarn has been generously donated by members of the YMCA.  All members are welcome to join us and you do not need to know how to knit to join.  The next meeting is March 19 from 12:30 - 1:30 pm in the pool viewing room. Learn a new hobby! Contact Erica Tempestoso for more information.