Super Sweat raises more than $300 for Kids Rec. Fund

Photo by Vince Fedoroff

With all of the proceeds being donated to the Kids Recreation Fund, more than just heart rates were raised Saturday at the Canada Games Centre for the second Super Sweat of 2008.

The two-hour fitness session was held in the flexihall and brought in more than $300. The event featured several different fitness styles, including traditional aerobics, Nia and Tae Bo.

“It was fabulous, we had a great turnout,” said Kathryn Zrum, leisure program co-ordinator. “Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.”

The last time the Games Centre held a Super Sweat fitness class was back in February, which was a part of the Fit for Heart month, raising money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. 

Saturday’s event featured the same format with a pre-exercise warm up and then went right into several different mini-fitness classes.

Six instructors from both the Better Bodies Cross Training Centre and the City of Whitehorse volunteered their time to come out in support of the fundraiser. Instructors taught anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes, with the exception of Nia, which was went on for half an hour.

The Nia fitness technique deals with creative movements and can be taught and practiced in a variety of different ways, which makes it appealing to people of different fitness levels. Some of the benefits include an increased cardiovascular level, added strength and flexibility of muscles and joints, an enhanced range of motion and improvement with both balance and agility.

Zrum said the Nia technique is so popular because it’s a little different than some other methods of getting in shape.

“It’s about creative movement and it’s fun,” she said. “It’s relatively new to the territory. We have been running the classes here for a year now and everyone that signs up or registered for the program seems to really enjoy it.”

The Nia classes offered at the Canada Games Centre take place every Thursday night from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Registration for each Nia program, which runs over the course of five weeks is $50, but there is also a drop in option.

The drop in option for all of the fitness classes at the Canada Games Centre is new this year and it gives people the opportunity to see if they enjoy a particular fitness style or technique without having to commit to signing up for the full program.

The majority of the Canada Games Centre’s fitness classes and programs are taught in the multi-purpose room or the Wellness Centre. 

Some of the other fitness classes offered at the Canada Games Centre include pilates and aerobics.

The Super Sweat fitness classes are unique not only because of the number of people that can take part as a result of holding it in the flexihall, but also because the wide variety of different fitness techniques that are used throughout the two hour timeframe. 

Jennifer Peterson, one of the participants at Saturday’s Super Sweat event, said she chose to come out after hearing it advertised on the radio last week.

“I haven’t been fit enough recently, so I figured this was a good sampler to see what goes on at the Games Centre.”

She said it went really well and that she was looking forward to taking part in a Super Sweat event for the first time.

“I was really looking forward to it because it was going to be a little bit of everything,” Peterson said. “That was exactly what I was looking for was to see what is available. I don’t do yoga or any aerobics classes or anything like that or any kind of organized classes. I never get around to it, so this is exactly the kind of thing I needed to get exposed to it all.”

Peterson said she plans on getting a punch pass for the Games Centre and trying out some of the fitness classes and programs offered on a weekly basis.

She said she was glad about being able to support the Kids Recreation Fund by pre-registering for Saturday’s Super Sweat.

“I wasn’t even sure I would be able to make it today, but I wasn’t worried about getting my $10 because it was going to the kids fund.”   

Megan Freese is the program co-ordinator for Sport Yukon and in charge of all of the administrative work for the Kids Recreation Fund.

Freese first heard about the Super Sweat fundraiser a few weeks ago and said it is important to the Kids Recreation Fund.

“It is extremely important for one thing it helps with the monetary importance of it, but also to it gets the Kids Recreation Fund name out there because we don’t necessarily have a whole lot for advertising,” she said.

“One hundred per cent of the money goes towards the kids, so when organizations do fundraisers for us it’s great to be able to get our name out there without it costing us anything and then the money will go directly to the kids.”

The Kids Recreation Fund was established back in 1999 to assist families under financial hardship by helping cover the cost involved in getting their kids involved in sport, art, cultural or recreation programs.

Participants in the program can be 19 years of age or younger and are each given $300 a year, which can go directly towards registration fees, clothing, equipment, or whatever an individual needs to participate in a particular recreational activity.

Freese said since 1999 the Kids Recreation Fund has helped more than 3,000 children.

She said she thought it was amazing that this kind of event was put on in support of the Kids Recreation Fund.

“I think it’s amazing that these people think of doing these things,” Freese said.

“Every little bit counts.”