New Canaan YMCA Spring Registration Currently Available

Registration for spring programs at the New Canaan YMCA begins Monday, February 7. Spring programs begin Monday, March 7, and run through Saturday, June 11. Programs range in session length with a variety of programs offering multiple sessions throughout the spring. The Y continues to adhere to all CDC and health protocols.

Youth Programs & Activities:

The Y’s youth programs provide an environment that instills confidence, develops healthy habits, and where kids can make new friends. This spring, the Y offers a variety of activities for kids, including swim lessons for ages six months to 12 years. Parent/child, preschool, and school-age swim lessons are available in six-week sessions to help children learn aquatic skills and safety in the water.

The Y’s youth activities offered this spring for ages 12 months and older include mommy and me classes and preschool Bouncing Bears gymnastics classes featuring gym and swim, move & groove gymnastics, and kinderbears. Bouncing Bears open gym is available for ages four and under. School-age Bouncing Bears gymnastics programs include varying levels of recreational gymnastics, including Novas one, Novas two, Supernovas, and more.

Youth sports offered this spring for preschool and school ages include backyard sports, soccer, golf, junior tennis, and girls’ volleyball. Kids ages 12-14 can also take advantage of the Youth Strength Training program at the Y to stay active this spring. After completing the in-person/virtual course, participants will receive a F.I.T. Pass to access the Wellness Center daily from 2:00-5:00 PM by themselves or with a parent at any time.

Additional youth wellness opportunities to spring back into action includes the Y’s Total Youth Conditioning program. The six-week small-group outdoor training program is offered to youth ages 8-11 and 12-14, designed to get children moving while having fun and getting fit with a Personal Trainer. Yoga is also offered to kids ages 10-13 with a Personal Trainer to discover yoga, inspire mindfulness, unwind after school, and better recover from sports.

A junior lifeguard certification course will also be available this spring for ages 11-14. The course is designed to guide and prepare participants with the foundation of knowledge, attitude, and skills to become a future lifeguard.

This spring, the Aquianas artistic swimming program offers a 12-week fish class for ages five-10, introducing artistic swimming skills in a non-competitive environment. The artistic swimming team also offers a 12-week pre-team program designed to challenge swimmers before moving up to the Aquianas competitive teams. The Caimans swim team offers a 12-week precaimans program for ages 6-10, where swimmers hone stroke mechanics, body balance, and coordination in a non-competitive environment.

Y Special Needs (YSN) Programs & Activities:

The Y’s special needs program offers adapted, specialized social, recreational, and wellness programs for children, teens, and young adults with special needs. Junior Sensory Gym Explorers, a specially designed gymnastics program for children ages five to nine with special needs, returns this spring. For individuals ages 12 and older with special needs, the Y offers social-recreational programs including drumming, theater, cooking, and weekly enrichment nights, in addition to wellness offerings including swimming, guided workouts with a personal trainer, cardio dance, and golf clinics.

Adult Wellness & Aquatic Programs:

Adult water activities are available this spring, including adult swim lessons for those with a range of swim abilities and Masters Swim for active adults looking to improve endurance and strokes in the water to prepare for competitions, triathlons, or for personal wellbeing. The Y also offers Arthritis Swim, a free program for members specifically designed for individuals with arthritis taught by a certified AFYAP instructor.

The Y continues to offer personal training, small group training, and Pilates apparatus throughout the year, providing members with the opportunity to either begin or strengthen their fitness routine with certified Personal Trainers in a private or small-group environment. Small group training classes offered this spring include strength circuit training, in addition choosing your own training type, including bootcamp, barre, Sprint 8® HIIT cardio, TRX, pilates, indoor cycling, total body conditioning, yoga, and more.

A variety of group fitness classes continue to be offered free to members this spring including yoga, cycling, conditioning, core, cardio, Pilates, barre, bootcamp, aquatic classes, and more. Adult sports include adult pick-up basketball, adult pickleball, and adult volleyball. A detailed list of the Y’s facility schedules can be found at www.newcanaanymca.org/schedules.

Nutritional Counseling continues to be available at the Y to help participants find a balance of foods that will provide their body with the nutrients it needs for optimal health and vitality. Kristin Schnitzler, RD, ACSM, CPT, works with participants to discover a healthy and manageable lifestyle. The program provides participants with sample menus, personal goal setting assistance, educational materials, and recipes. Nutritional Counseling is customizable to each participant’s needs—whether it be weight loss or weight gain, managing food intolerances or allergies, digestive issues, or disease prevention.

Chronic Disease Support Programs:

The Y also offers chronic disease support programs for the community. This spring, the Y offers multiple 12-week sessions of LIVESTRONG at the YMCA, a research-based program designed to help adult cancer survivors reclaim their total health. The program is offered at no cost to any cancer survivor in the community and includes two group classes per week taught by a certified instructor.

This spring, the Y offers an exercise for Parkinson’s program designed to improve the lives of those living with Parkinson’s disease taught by a personal trainer certified in Parkinson’s Exercise Instruction. Participants will be instructed through a physical and cognitive exercise program that has shown to delay disease progression, boost mood, build independence, and improve strength, mobility, gate, and balance.

Registration:

A complete listing of spring programming is available online at www.newcanaanymca.org. For additional information regarding spring programs or registration, call 203-966-4528. For additional information about membership at the Y and to schedule a tour, contact Mary Coleman, Membership Director, at 203-920-1630. Thanks to donations made to the New Canaan YMCA, financial assistance is available for both membership and program fees. To learn more about financial assistance at the Y, contact Diana Riolo at 203-920-1653 or driolo@newcanaanymca.org.