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Gym-tastic!
Fitness Clubs Are Putting out the Welcome Mat for Kids
By Kelly Burgess
Bingham sees the gym experience for children as an important growth industry because the world has changed. While years ago parents wouldn't think twice about sending a child out to play, parents no longer are as comfortable with that approach.
"Programs like this are good for every type of child, from the natural athlete who is eventually going to go into a team sport, to the less athletic child who may tend toward being a couch potato if he doesn't have a place to go to be active," Bingham says. "A noncompetitive approach makes it fun for everyone."
Janice Morriera is a former semiconductor executive who now owns two Little Gym franchises in San Jose, Calif. As the mother of a blended family of five and a long-time cheerleading coach, she wishes that more parent/coaches would take their cue from noncompetitive fitness programs. She thinks it would make them better coaches.
"This type of noncompetitive atmosphere teaches kids how to feel good about themselves even if they fall on their face," Morriera says. "I now use that philosophy in my own life as a coach and even at home with my own children. I can't help but feel that our kids would all be happier in sports – and more willing to join in – if more coaches embraced that positive approach."