Sport in Society Co-ops

This last week of work at the Y did not really take place in Hyde Park at all. Due to the snow we were only able to head out to the YMCA Monday and Friday. Although the snow proved to be a valiant foe I feel like we were able to be productive and make great strides throughout the course of the week.

From the beginning of last week our eyes were set on Thursday, which was the day we had a meeting scheduled with the principal of the Irving middle school. Thursday morning was spent in the office prepping for our big day. As it got closer and closer to 3:00 the nerves definitely began to rise, however we had a game plan and we were confident that we were going into that meeting with everything we needed. It was finally 3 o’clock and we there Kristen and I were at Irving Middle school, greeted by an excited and hopeful middle school principal. We spent the first half of the meeting detailing to him our role and some of our hopes and goals. We then opened dialogue about the different problems facing middle school youth in the area. Of the problems he listed I feel like one of the most important was the simple fact that there was just not enough space for the youth to be active. It was at this point we realized that a partnership with the Hyde Park YMCA and Irving middle school was not only a great idea but almost necessary. After discussing the value of a partnership like this one and coming up with an idea of what something like this would look like we left eager to figure out the logistics of all this with our supervisor.

Friday was also an extremely eventful day for us. First thing Friday we had the opportunity to sit in on a staff check-in meeting and were able to present to, the majority of the staff some of our ideas and tell them about the meeting we had and other meetings we were in the process of setting up. One idea that went over particularly well was Kristen and I’s idea of having a YMCA hosted dodge ball tournament for adults and kids. Not only would an event like this work well to market the different facilities that the YMCA has, it would also do well as a community bonding event. I feel like it was a very great chance for us to sit in with the staff and really give them an idea again of what we are trying to do and the different routes and ideas we have aimed at our goals.

Friday Reggie our direct supervisor also tasked Kristen and I for writing a blurb about our sports week, teen drop-in events coming up which were both going to be published in the YMCA newsletter, which was a very exciting opportunity.

The week did start off slow however there were many really important events that occurred towards the end of it all that really have us excited about what we are doing. Not only have we taken the first couple steps into the community but we have gotten the positive support and feedback from those working with us that has really inspired us to keep moving in the directions we are.