Tioga County Boys and Girls Club to offer programs for adults

In an effort to help adults make it through the winter with their waistlines intact, the Boys and Girls Club of Tioga County is going to start offering sports for adults in the next month or so. 

“We have adult Yoga and we are looking forward to having adult basketball, aerobics and Zumba in the near future,” said Chris Cartwright, athletic director for the Boys and Girls Club of Tioga County. 

Cartwright said that offering athletics for adults and children during the winter is not only important for the Boys and Girls Club, but for the community as a whole. 

“It helps keep the kids engaged and teaches them good life lessons. In winter things can get stagnant, kids and adults get caught up in video games and it can be hard to travel for sports due to the weather. For us, being consistent by offering good programs is a good opportunity for everyone,” Cartwright said.  

Traditionally for children 13 and older after school, Cartwright said that expanding Boys and Girls club services to include adults makes sense for a community as intertwined as Tioga County. 

In order to make sure that the programs hit the ground running, Cartwright said that he has been judging community interest by first asking parents of children involved in the Boys and Girls Club if they would want to participate. 

“So far the response has been pretty good,” Cartwright said.

If everything with the adult programs goes well, Cartwright said that he would like to expand even more by adding swimming. In a statement provided to The Owego Pennysaver, Cartwright says, “The possibilities are endless when it comes to what we can do with athletics here… we are making plans for volleyball, kickball, indoor soccer, weight training and much, much more.”

When issuing new exercise guidelines last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stated that in America only 26 percent of men, 19 percent of women, and 20 percent of adolescents meet the current recommendations for exercise. 

According to the press release, “Adults need 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic activity each week with muscle strengthening activities on two days during the week to stay healthy. Youth ages six through 17 need 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day.” 

The need for physical exercise goes beyond personal standards, as lack of exercise for Americans has serious financial and health consequences. 

“According to the guidelines, these low levels of physical activity among Americans have health and economic consequences for the nation, with nearly $117 billion dollars in annual healthcare costs and 10 percent of all premature mortality attributable to failure to meet levels of aerobic physical activity recommended in the guidelines,” the press release states. 

Along with the physical and health benefits, Cartwright said that adult sports can be good socially for many people as it gets them out of their homes and interacting with their neighbors. 

For more information about the Tioga County Boys and Girls Club, you can follow them on Facebook. You can also sign up for text messages regarding Club events by texting the message @tiogacoun to 81010. Sign up to receive messages from Chris Cartwright by texting the message @c*4be to 81010. You can also call the Boys and Girls Club of Tioga County at (607) 687-0690 or email Chris Cartwright athletics@Tiogabgca.org.

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