Sport Trends in the Ymca

There are multiple ways that recent trends in the sport industry are affecting the YMCA. A majority of them would be revolving around the economy and how the YMCA is considered a luxury to the people. Others would be the increase of fitness in the world and sport curiosity and also the elderly still maintaining their healthy lifestyles. The increased popularity of celebrity athletes in the world are leading to an increased popularity in the sport world (Balmer, 2009). The battle against obesity is increasing the number of people who join a fitness club or health organization.
Also, many people are beginning to try to find both healthier lifestyles and seeking a balance between work and leisure (Sports, 2007). Lastly, the way that kids are being taught is changing; practices are becoming known as best practices and the kids are learning more of the sport and becoming better (Stephens, 2009). All members of the YMCA consider it as a luxury to their life. They would not die without it and do not need it to sustain their current life. When the economy is bad so is the amount of memberships that are still active. If a member encounters a financial situation the first thing that would go would be their YMCA membership.
Employees at the YMCA know this, “At Countryside YMCA, we welcome everyone’s involvement by providing financial assistance to subsidize memberships or classes for eligible families or individuals” so they encourage and run a scholarship program (YMCA). This program encourages young people to stay active and fit while still in school. If your parent may not be able to afford you a full time membership as long as you maintain good grades and can prove that you are a full time student then you will be supplied with a membership at next to nothing if not for nothing at all.

Another current trend affecting the YMCA would be the new attitudes toward maintaining health and the attitudes of the elderly toward staying active. The YMCA recently held their annual Halloween run. This event is a marathon through the mud. Many officials were very concerned with their recent numbers and were in fear that the marathon would be a disaster and they might actually have to cancel the event. They stuck through it and held the event and they had one of the best turnouts they have ever had. It was because of the youth and the elderly banning together to make this event so amazing.
The number for the amount of people participating in the event ages 40 and on increased from a meager 15% to an astounding 35%. The number of people participating from the ages of 18 to 40 nearly doubled. With the increase of sport curiosity the YMCA is prospering because they offer a variety of sports. The increased popularity of celebrity athletes is affecting the YMCA extremely. One of the founders of the YMCA was Neil Armstrong and a lot of people sign up just for that reason. As bicycling expands and the popularity of Lance Armstrong grows the YMCA is beginning to develop into the trend by now offering spinning classes.
Also, as the world of mixed martial arts expands they YMCA went from offering just karate classes to offering more diverse classes that people like to watch and want to learn how to do them. It is clearly obvious that there is a major hike in the world obesity rate. Effects from this rises are people wanting to become more active in the fitness area. “Health Organization, since 1980, the number of obese people in the world has more than doubled and that in 2008, 1. 5 billion people aged 20 years old and older are overweight and 500 million are obese” (Danek, 2011).
Since the YMCA maintains a friendly environment where there is a mass amount of different programs offered more people are beginning to go to the YMCA. Next, people have to work longer and harder schedules at work. This is leading them to have no time to go to a gym or enroll in a class that meets on a certain day and time. The YMCA offers an affordable place to work out whenever you want to. It is open nearly all day and all areas are open at any point in the day. If a person is having a tough time balancing their business world with their activity world there wouldn’t be a better place than the YMCA for them.
Lastly, the way kids are being coached and how practices are ran are becoming more proficient and more focused on the kids overall ability. Coaches are learning they way to manipulate a kid and get their full potential out. This is certainly happening at the YMCA from their basketball games to their baseball games. Kids are being coached a lot better leading to more success in their games. References Balmer, K. (2009). Sport industry trend. Foresight, Retrieved from http://foresight-trendscan. blogspot. com/2009/09/sports-industry-trends. html Danek, K. (2011).
Trends and opportunities for small business companies and entrepreneurs in the sports industry. Entreprenuers Week, Retrieved from http://entrepreneurweek. com/business/2011/10/03/trends-and-opportunities-for-small-business-companies-and-entrepreneurs-in-the-sports-industry/ Sports, A. (2007). Industry trends. Retrieved from http://www. amersports. com/about/corporate_structure/our_industry/ Stephens, R. (2009). Top 10 sports/social media trends of 2010. Sports Networker, Retrieved from http://www. sportsnetworker. com/2009/12/24/top-10-sports-social-media-trends-of-2010/ The ymca. (2011). Retrieved from http://www. countrysideymca. org/