We are now in our second year with our new format of YMCA Blue Ridge Leaders’ School Fitness Assessments. Thanks to a few brilliant Leaders’ School Staff members we are able to track the results from the assessments to gain a better understanding of the fitness levels of the leaders coming to the school. When compared to last year the school showed an overall improvement in total scores for every exercise… that’s awesome! We hope to see that trend continue in 2019. Of course there is always room for improvement so I want to put a challenge out to club leadership including advisors, officers, veteran leaders and senior leaders. We saw a drop from 2017 in our 13 & 14 year olds in some of the categories. So, I want to challenge the Club Leadership and veterans to own that on behalf of their club and work with that group to be completely prepared when they step on the mountain next summer and can show us, and more importantly themselves, that they have what it takes to be at their best. It’s not about being a fitness junkie but helping everyone of our Leaders to reach their full potential. For example, that group struggled with crunches and dropped by 5% from 2017. So let’s get to work early with our clubs so they can knock it out of the park next June. We are also able to pinpoint the school averages for each age group and each year on the mountain. The challenge is for us to improve on the school average year after year. The average for push-ups is 23.5 combined. Let’s set that as a target for all leaders to aim for. The expectation and main focus of the assessment is for all Leaders to show improvement each year. That requires work to be put in back home throughout the year. We are counting on everyone to help our leaders achieve a healthy life!
Chris Knox
Chris.knox@ymcacharlotte.org
