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Pictured Left to Right: Shelby Sires of Moberly First Place in the 8-9 year old division; Kennedy Ellis of Cosby First Place in the 10-11 year old division; Allie Lemmons of Marshall First place in the 12-13 year old division; Cyrsten Lollar of Chillicothe First Place in the 14-15 year old division; Ashton Aronson of Chillicothe First place in the 14-15 year old division; Alex Curtis of Trenton First Place in the 12-13 year old division; Clayton McGinnes of Amazonia First Place in the 10-11 year old division; Walker Graves of Chillicothe First place in the 8-9 year old division.

CAPTION: The YMCA flag football program for youth in kindergarten through third grades got its official start with the first games of the season being played Tuesday evening at Danner Memorial Park. In all, there are 152 children in grades kindergarten through fifth-grade playing flag football. The kindergarten through third-grade teams play Tuesday nights at Danner Park and the fourth- and fifth-grade teams play Saturdays at the YMCA. For tackle football, there are four teams and 54 youth participating.

C-T Photo/Butch Shaffer

CAPTION: Y Winners and Iddy Biddy Basketball at the Grand River Area Family YMCA began on Saturday, January 12, 2008. Y Winners basketball is for students in grades 1 to 8 and Iddy Biddy Basketball is for children ages 4 to 6. Approximately 560 children are participating in the basketball programs this year. Games are held every Saturday at the YMCA for six weeks.

C-T Photo / Catherine Stortz-Ripley

CAPTION: With Tuesday night's (June 10, 2008) games over, these youngsters decided to help speed cleanup by packing up a make-shift bench used by YMCA T-ball players during games at Danner Memorial Park. The cleanup crew consisted of, from left: Faith, Grace and Benjamin Hollon, children of Michael and Valerie Hollon, and Peyton Phillips, son of Jason and Brandi Phillips. Danner Park is busy each Monday and Tuesday night with around 150 children enrolled in the 16 teams of T-ball. The T-ball season, for children ages 4 to 6 years of age, began last week and continues through July 8, 2008.

CAPTION: An estimated 300 children gathered in Simpson Park Saturday morning for the annual community Easter Egg Hunt. Those participating were dressed warmly with temperatures only in the lower 40s. The event is sponsored by the Chillicothe Parks and Recreation Department and the Grand River area Family YMCA.

C-T Photo/Laura Schuler

Sixty-five youth participated in a “flag football mini camp” September 12, 2007, at the Grand River Area Family YMCA. During the mini camp, youth involved in the YMCA's flag football program were taught on the fundamentals of the game by Chillicothe High School football coaching staff and some CHS players. The YMCA's flag football program is open to children ages kindergarten through fifth grade.

Tee-ball Action Provides Many an Interesting Moment
YMCA baseball program's emphasis on participation, learning, exercise, and fun
By Lindsay Jacobs, C-T Staff Writer, Thursday, June 7, 2007

CAPTION: Hesston Campbell dashes for home plate during Monday's first night of 2007 play in the Grand River Area Family YMCA's Tee-Ball League.

C-T photo / Laura Schuler

As the batter steps to the plate, the pitcher jumps in a circle, the left fielder twirls her hair, and the girl in center field isn't keeping her eye on the ball. Once the batter hits the ball the outfielder puts carefully puts his hat back on and adjusts it until it's perfect before he throws the ball in. In most cases this scenario would could be considered a coach's nightmare. However, this is tee-ball.

The Grand River Area Family YMCA's Tee-ball League runs through July 10 with its first games having taken place this past Monday night. This year 16 teams of 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds will play each other on Monday and Tuesday nights at Daryl Danner Memorial Park. Eight teams play on Monday and eight play on Tuesday, said Pam Peetz, YMCA program director. Twelve of those teams consist of mainly 5- and 6-year-olds, and the remaining four consist of 4-year-olds. Those teams of 4-year-olds only play each other, but some teams with 5 -and 6-year-olds also have 4-year-olds on them because their older siblings play on that team, Peetz said. Approximately 32 coaches, helped by numerous parents, contribute their time, knowledge, and, yes, patience to the children in the league Peetz noted.

The purpose of tee-ball is to allow kids early exposure to baseball and softball while learning sportsmanship and the different positions on the field said, she explained. "Tee-ball is a great opportunity for young kids to kind of get started in baseball and softball," Peetz said. Monday night, inexperience was apparent as one boy had a hard time containing his excitement as he yelled from the bench "I hope we win."

That boy's wish would not come true, but not because he and his teammates didn't perform well. It was because a score is not kept during the games, Peetz said. That removes one type of pressure from the playing atmosphere, helping to keep the focus on skill development and, most of all, fun. Other special rules in tee-ball include no leading off a base, no stealing, bunting, or sliding. While outs are called during the game in order to fosster development of defensive skills, each runner gets to run the bases until they reach home, even if the opponent got them out. This helps them learn about running the bases.

Batters stay up until they hit the ball and the team's entire lineup bats once each inning. When the other team is batting, everyone plays defense, no matter how many that puts in the field. Kids participate in at least half the game. Each game lasts 45 minutes. "It's basically kind of an instruction-type of league, instead of a competitive kind of a league," Peetz explained.

Monday's action began Garrett Hall's second season of tee-ball. His dad Jason says Garrett enjoys it so much he starts asking his dad on the weekends when his game is. "I think it's important kids participate in activities for physical and social benefits," Jason said. "It's just good to be part of a team."

Monday was 5-year-old Abby Jones' first tee-ball game. She said she was excited to play and likes playing tee-ball because her friends play and just "because." Her mother, Kate Jones, says she signed Abby and her sister up for tee-ball to get them into sports. It's better than just sitting around, she noted. "It's pretty well run and organized," Kate said. "We've really enjoyed it.

Monday marked Angel Dennis' second year of coaching tee-ball. She said she teaches the kids to play the game through repetition and lots of pointing. Dennis coaches the Tangerine Team. "It's (tee-ball) is a neat way for kids to get exercise in the summer," Dennis said.

This is Dan Forck's first year of coaching and he says it's going well so far. He's coaching the Orange Team that his son Payton plays on. "We've all had fun, it hasn't been too hot and they're (the kids) all excited about being out there," Forck said. He said his strategy is to teach the youngsters on his team the basics of the game while making it fun for them.

As the games wound down Monday night and teams sat in circles sipping from juice boxes and munching on snacks one of their teammates' family provided, coaches emphasized what a great job they had done and reminded them when the next practice was. Maybe next time they will remember which way first base is. If not, it will be OK because they are still learning.

C-T Photo and Caption May 23, 2006...
Children involved in the Grand River Area Family YMCA's Summer Day Camp program enjoyed making windsocks during craft time. The summer day camp will be held the rest of this week for school-aged children through 13 years. Four week-long sessions will be also held from July 10 to Aug. 4. The camp is held from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and activities include indoor and outdoor activities, cooking, games, field trips, swimming, arts and crafts, skits, Play Park and special events. For more information on the YMCA's Summer Day Camp program, contact the camp director, Roberta Jones at 660-646-6677.

C-T Photo/Megan Neis

CAPTION: These youngsters found a fun way to put play in their day by visiting the YMCA Saturday, April 1, 2006, as part of the organization's Healthy Kids Day. With 9 million U.S. children overweight - more than double the percentage in 1980 - increasing the levels of physical activity in the lives of children is a critical component in the effort to fight childhood obesity, according to Pam Peetz, program director for Grand River Area Family YMCA. The day's events included healthy snacks, an obstacle course, jump rope contest, Hula-Hoop contest, and a basketball shooting contest. Also Saturday, the Chillicothe Police Department fingerprinted children so that their families could have a record of their children's fingerprints.
C-T Photo

Lock-Ins
Your school group, church or youth organization can rent the YMCA for Lock-Ins on either Friday or Saturday nights. Cost is $5 per student; there is a minimum charge of $225 & and a maximum charge of $450.00. The facility is available from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. The renting group must provide chaperones and proof of insurance . Advanced registration is required. To schedule a Lock-In or for more information contact Dave Rogers: 660-646-6677.

• Air Hockey Machine

• Electric Dome Hockey Game

• Pinball Machine

• Two Dell Computers with Internet

• Big-Screen TV

• VCR

• Bookcases with Sports Paraphernalia

• Large Section Couch

• Tall Tables & Chairs

• PlayStation

• Pop and Candy Machines

• Babysitting Area (which can be closed off separately) with its own TV and VCR, toys, and games

• Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego?

• 1602 A.D., Dinosaur Adventure

• Star Wars Droidworks

• JumpStart 1st Grade

• Galaxy of Games

• Jumpstart Kindergarten

• Hollywood High

• Kidpiz Deluxe

• SIM Ant