They why of the Y

By Michael J. DeCicco

A YMCA membership is a wise way to reach your fitness goals for the coming year. But there’s more than one Y facility on the South Coast

All Y memberships offer full access to facilities, cost discounts on Y programs, and family and senior membership discounts. So how do you decide which facility is the one for you?

The New Bedford YMCA at 25 South Water Street is a 60,000-square-foot oneof-a-kind gathering place where people from all walks of life come together. With a history dating back to 1867, the New Bedford Y is the flagship branch of YMCA Southcoast, a Y association with six branches in the South Coast of Massachusetts.

This Y notes a long list of facility offerings for members to choose from: basketball courts, the Escape to Fitness Center functional training room, a free weight room, a wellness center, group exercise classes, an indoor swimming pool, an indoor running track, pickleball and racquetball courts, and even steam and sauna rooms.

Executive Director Tara Pacheco said the New Bedford Y also offers members a larger childcare program than the others in the area: from ages three to 13, from pre-school to after-school. The program has a current enrollment of 30 pre-schoolers and 130 after-schoolers.

This program and all others at the New Bedford Y are available at a discounted cost or free for members and their children, Pacheco said, and all children in the daycare program get free swimming and swim safety lessons.

The pool they train or play in is 25 yards long and six lanes wide, with a depth of nine feet in the deep end and 3.5 feet at the shallow end, and it serves all ages and ability levels of swimmer and includes competitive teams, Pacheco said. S

wimming is also an important agenda of its summer day camp, Camp Frederick Douglas, which is held on the New Bedford Y grounds and hosts 130 children a week every year. The camp emphasizes daily field trips that include swims and lessons at East Beach.

According to Pacheco, the New Bedford Y offers adult members a fully stocked workout facility and a full exercise class schedule. “Something for everyone,” she added.

Neighboring Neighborhood Y

But don’t dismiss what the YMCAs in the suburbs have to offer. The highlight of the Old Colony YMCA at 61 East Grove Street in Middleboro is its professionalequipment-filled gymnastic center that has been active for 15 years, said director of public affairs Michael Ricci.

“Old Colony has seven branches,” he said, “and there is nothing quite like the one in Middleboro.”

The Middleboro gymnastic center is for all ages and its teams compete across the state, Ricci said. The center offers preschool, youth, and adult programs and has the apparatus for all four Olympic gymnastics events: bars, beam, floor, and a TAC/10 vaulting table.

It also features basketball in the winter, flag football in the fall, soccer in the spring, and even a growing music and piano program.

“And for the more skilled gymnasts, our new equipment allows for a more competitive and successful gymnastics experience,” boasted Ricci.

The East Grove Street facility also offers members a fitness center and a full-sized, six-lane swimming pool for lessons, lap swims, or open swims, and an indoor track on the second floor that wraps around the building, providing a clear view of first-floor activities.

The 28,000 square-foot fitness center offers members the use of various cardio and strength equipment (treadmills, elliptical, cycling, Jacobs ladder, rowing machines, family strength circuit, free weights) as well as more than 35 group exercise classes.

Membership also allows entry into the informal clubs, such as the coffee-hour club.

But Ricci is particularly proud of the Middleboro Y’s Y-Ability program available to members and their families. It’s a free, inclusive, adaptive program dedicated to young people with developmental disabilities or special needs to help engage them in Y programs. Developed with the help of parents and families, this program work its magic through a lot of ways, in classes from swimming to musical drumming and at summer camp.

The Middleboro Y’s Summer camp, Camp Yomechas, Ricci noted, is now celebrating its 100th anniversary. The 40-acre camp at 375 Wareham Street attracts 300-400 kids every week during the summer for ropes courses, swimming, canoeing, archery, arts and crafts, summer sports, and science and nature workshops. There is even behavioral health support for kids at camp, should they need it. There is also an outdoor pool at the camp, plus the waterfront of Lake Tispaquin.

Inclusive and Expansive

If you are an avid swimmer or rock wall climber, you’ll want to pick the Gleason Family YMCA at 33 Charge Pond Road in Wareham.

The easternmost branch of YMCA Southcoast offers members both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, the latter open seasonally until Labor Day. The indoor pool is 129,000 gallons with six generous swimming lanes and two lap lanes; the outdoor pool is 60,000 gallons, with two lap lanes. Both pools include zero-grade water entries that allow for gradual ease of access for small children, families, and people with mobility issues.

Senior executive director Debra Fringuelli proudly noted that the Gleason Y offers members a three-story-tall indoor rock climbing wall. The wall has eight different climbing paths varying in difficulty. The wall is only available during open climb hours or for classes, and it is always attended by certified staff.

“We also use it with our summer campers and to facilitate groups as well,” she added, noting its fully-active summer camp, Camp Nep-In-Nae, is conducted directly on the Gleason grounds.

The Gleason Y also includes an indoor walking track that looks out onto indoor basketball courts. There are also four indoor pickleball courts for the fall and winter, and similarly, four outdoor courts in spring and summer at the site of the former skatepark. It offers two indoor exercise rooms and a wellness center fully equipped with strength training and cardiovascular equipment.

Fringuelli added that at the Gleason personal trainers are available to members, who have access to a variety of programs including over 40 group exercise classes every week.

But there’s even more that’s unique about the Gleason Y, Fringuelli said. “Its just a wonderful atmosphere with a beautiful, welcoming lobby and activities and programs for all ages,” she concluded.

At all three locations, members will be offered free fitness classes, including yoga, pilates, zumba, free day use of lockers (with your own lock), special member rates on all programs including childcare and summer camp, priority registration on all program enrollment before the general public, and the ability to use all YMCA Southcoast facilities.

These YMCAs also provide financial assistance for all members. For more information, visit ymcasouthcoast.org.

Michael J. DeCicco has worked as a writer for over 30 years. He is also the author of two award-winning young adult novels, Kaurlin’s Disciples and The Kid Mobster. He lives with his wife Cynthia in New Bedford.