Y Tennis and Gymnastics
By Staff Reports
The Grand Traverse Bay YMCA stands for youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility, with a goal to build character and instill values into each participant. Their motto is “everybody plays, everybody wins”. But along the way, the Y’s youth sports programs have not only developed our next generation of leaders, but have also produced some top level athletes in football, soccer, basketball, and golf. It is two other YMCA programs, however, that are currently breeding more than their fair share of successful competition level athletes – tennis and gymnastics.
Van Deinse and co-coach and brother James know all about top level competition, both currently claiming wins at the ITF (International Tennis Federation) “Futures” level. “My best result may have been a loss to the world’s number 600 ranked player,” said Van Deinse, “and [brother] James was one match away from winning a qualifier before losing to a former #1 national junior player.”
The success of the YMCA junior tennis program is their philosophy of teaching advanced stroke analysis and strategies to every kid. Van Deinse says that even three year olds at the Y learn topspin, slice, and singles strategies, “though we use different words for the tots than we do for adults,” he adds. “Whether we teach tots or adults, beginners or advanced players, we teach all the skills needed to make our players the best they can be.”
“Either way,” he adds, “we mix the coaching with fun, competitive games to keep their attention.”
The Y’s gymnastics program coaching philosophy is no different. “We teach every kid to be the best they can be,” says Coach Shelly Robinson. “From recreational level beginners to elite level competitors, we teach the highest level gymnastics the kids are capable of learning, and let them all progress at their own pace.” She adds, “Through rigorous training, fun, and competition, we give all our gymnasts the skills they need to succeed.”
Y Gymnastics and Y Tennis, like all YMCA programs, are first and foremost about teaching kids to grow up physically, mentally, and spiritually strong and confident, but the YMCA’s coaching philosophy to give kids at an early age all of the technical skills they need to succeed, to embrace competition, and to have fun, has been a proven formula for success.
To find out more about Y Tennis, Y Gymnastics, or any of the other 65 programs offered at the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA, visit http://www.gtbayymca.org/ or call 231-933-YMCA (9622).
