Leisure Media Issue 3 2009 - Leisure Opportunities

HEALTH & FITNESScreating a family feel and maintaining ahigher level of personal service."Blackpool SHOKK has six school contractswhich, in any one session, couldfill the club with 90 kids – just short ofits 95-person capacity. It also has linkswith local youth sports clubs, offeringcorporate discounts to players whodon't want full access to the classes butwant sports-specific programmes; this iswhere the demand for personal trainingis expected to grow. The club similarlyoffers special rates of £18 a month foryoung people in low-income families, taxcredits and sibling discounts, so no onewho wants to get fit is excluded.KEEP IT FRESHAlthough some of the club's 240 membersare obese, a lot of the children aresimply getting away with not doing PEat school; it's more of a fitness problem,says Mickey. "Most kids can't lift 1kgabove their heads or run on a treadmillfor more than 90 seconds."When working to get kids active, you have to "keep it fresh andkeep it moving", advises Murphy. Mickey agrees: "For this generationof kids, fitness isn't a main goal – entertainment is – anda youth gym has to strike this balance." Blackpool SHOKK doesthis in a number of ways, from rotating the equipment eachmonth to delivering member feedback and fitness tests everyeight weeks, as well as through a range of incentives and competitionsthat add that key element for engaging youth: variety."We have some young people who will never win a runningcompetition, but who are great on the interactive equipment.One girl in particular can beat anyone hands-down on theDance Mats and it's a huge confidence boost for her to winsomething physical against a guy that runs for Lancashire,"says Jane. "The kids will do anything if you make it competitive,whether it's competing on the Dance Mats or running on atreadmill in teams or relays," adds Mickey.Incentives include awards and a points-based systemdesigned to encourage participation and control behaviour. Kidsare expected to misbehave, but to minimise anti-social behaviour,there’s a 'three strikes' policy whereby youth can lose their membership.Points, normally saved up and exchanged for smoothiesand SHOKK-branded sportswear, can also be taken away.The club has three REPs-accredited instructors: a full-timeGYMS FOR KIDSSHOKK Blackpool is part of a growingtrend towards standalonegyms kids can call their own. Otherrecently-opened sites include:T2, Northampton (pictured above)– An independent, 3,983sq ft clubcatering for seven- to 16-year-olds.The club features equipment fromZigZag, Trixter bikes and a boxingcircuit, while classes include mountainbiking, dance mat disco, dodgeball, hip hop, and FitPro’s TeamCombat and Aero Jam.The Zone, Huddersfield – A1,808sq fit health and fitness venuepart of a 46,500sq ft complex affiliatedto Huddersfield Football Cluband the Huddersfield Giants rugbyteam. Run by the Sporting PrideCommunity Trust, the club featuresa SHOKK-equipped gym zoneand SHOKK dance mats, a learningzone, a sports zone with two ofthe largest third-generation indoorpitches in Yorkshire, and a kidszone with a large soft play area.The Zone, Brixton – A 10,010sq ftcentre for 5 to 15-year-olds, built onan entire floor of Brixton RecreationCentre as part of Lambeth Council’s£2.85m refurbishment of its 1980sfacility. Managed by GreenwichLeisure, it features an energy zonedesigned by Veqtor with interactivegames, a fitness zone with equipmentfrom SHOKK, and an enclosedarea for interactive and dance matclasses from ZigZag.NG Kids, Swindon – Opened byNext Generation Clubs at its £12mSwindon site, this 7,965sq ft facilityfor kids and their families has itsown separate entrance. The offeringincludes a multi-sports hall,activity rooms with ZigZag dancemats and an eight-station NintendoWii, an ITC Learning Zone, a multiagesports frame and outdooractivity area, a café and a crèche.duty manager, a class instructor, and a part-time freelancetrainer who teaches street dance and breakdancing. All havecompleted SHOKK's core training and development workshops,teaching them how to manage young people in a gym setting,communication styles, child protection, and health and safety."Instructors can make or break a club,” insists Murphy.Murphy feels the SHOKK standalone model is a winning formula."It's the balance of all the different aspects: training,enthusiasm and brand," he explains. "You could have all theequipment in a room you want, but it's not going make a facilitysuccessful. You need to create an area with a balance betweenhealth and fitness and fun, and then train and enthuse your staff.“Over the years there’s been the attitude that standalonekids’ gyms don’t work – and many attempts to establish facilitieshave gone belly up. The standalone side of the companyhas been bubbling for some time, and now vital support is alsoavailable from the local community, from education and fromlocal government in terms of campaigns like Change4Life. 18months ago, a private organisation [doing this type of venture]really didn’t get any support, but now Jane has been able toestablish direct links with a sport co-ordinator from the YouthSports Trust. I think this has been a real barrier to setting up aprivate standalone as opposed to within a club.” ●54 Read Leisure Management online leisuremanagement.co.uk/digitalISSUE 3 2009 © cybertrek 2009