The Aycock Recreation Complex is bringing some structure to the summer with a schedule of activities meant to accommodate a wide variety of groups.
Starting today and running through the summer, the recreation center won’t be just a pool, a gym, a weight room and a walking track, all waiting for and depending on participants to make their own fun. Instead, center director Dawn Parrish has attempted to match specific activities to the needs of the people most likely to use Aycock at specific times.
The schedule makes use of the lobby, the second-floor multipurpose room and, most significantly, the gym.
Kids who have the summer off from school won’t be able to show up at any time and play basketball anymore, but open play in the gym will be available 36 of the 58 hours the center is open each week (10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday).
“We talked to the kids out here,” Parrish said about crafting the schedule. “We tried to get a feel for the hours they are here.”
The schedule comes as recreation issues gain more attention in Henderson. Mayor Clem Seifert has announced a citywide tour of recreation facilities next Wednesday, and the Vance County Coalition Against Violence is trying to coordinate Aycock chaperones and KARTS shuttles to increase youth use of the recreation center.
Recreation Director Alan Gill said there’s a false impression that the recreation center is underused, but it’s packed on summer afternoons. He said he likes the Coalition Against Violence’s idea of arranging chaperones from the local clergy, but he’s concerned that the main focus of the coalition seems to be getting kids to the center.
“These kids are so energetic, they get bored easily,” Parrish said. “They’re very intelligent,” and they need activities to keep them involved.
Gill said the idea is to use Aycock’s part-time staff for programs and activities rather than for security and enforcement of discipline policies. “Hopefully this will cut down on some of the negative behavior that we unfortunately have to deal with, by directing visitors to structured activities,” Gill wrote in an e-mail message to City Manager Eric Williams and County Manager Jerry Ayscue. “We already have something similar set up for the pool, so this complements our program base.”
Williams responded that the plan “looks like a good approach, and all involved are to be commended for the thinking.”
Parrish has spent weeks developing the schedule, which she released Friday. By rearranging staff priorities, she was able to institute the activities without hiring any additional staff.
The schedule includes an hour a week — 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday — when the gym will be reserved for special-needs people of all ages to participate in a sports minicamp. That population has received limited recreational opportunities the past couple of years because the Recreation Department position that served them has been frozen.
Parrish said the special-needs camp could easily draw 50 people per week to start.
Other hours during the week target specific groups.
For seven morning and early afternoon hours per week, the gym will be set up for volleyball and badminton, and anyone can play those games. Parrish said those times should appeal to girls, who tend to prefer volleyball and often have a hard time getting court time during open basketball play.
To give parents a chance to play with their preteen children, the gym will be open exclusively to children 12 and under and their adult chaperones for two hours Monday evening and two hours Saturday morning.
A similar motivation to allow all ages an opportunity to use the gym led to a split setup from 2 to 6 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Parrish said older teens and adults will be allowed to play 5-on-5 basketball on one side of the gym, while open play will take place on the other half of the room.
Kickboxing, presented as an aerobic workout rather than a competitive sport, will take over the gym for four evening hours per week. Parrish said it’s an existing class that is “fairly low impact” and “a lot of fun” and usually draws 25 to 30 people. The class is in the multipurpose room for much of the year, but that room is in heavy demand during the summer.
An outside instructor teaches kickboxing, so there’s a $2.50 fee on top of the daily admission or monthly membership to the center.
All of the other activities are included in the price of Aycock admission, including a series of minicamps for basketball.
Part-time Aycock staffer Ken Bullock will lead the one-hour camps Wednesday and Friday afternoons, which are divided by age group: 5- to 10-year-olds at 2; 11- to 14-year-olds at 3; and 15- to 18-year-olds at 4. Participants do not need to sign up in advance, Parrish said.
“I’ve received the most positive response to the minicamps,” she said. They provide a way for kids to have fun and improve their game.
Aycock is providing alternative activities during the minicamp hours for those who miss the age range. Kids can play board games in the lobby on Wednesday afternoons, and they can watch movies in the multipurpose room on Fridays. Parrish said the movies will be G-rate fare, including a lot of Disney films.
Other uses of the multipurpose room during the week include arts and crafts for people 55 and older on Mondays at 10 a.m., arts and crafts for those 17 and younger at noon Tuesdays, and the popular program of arts and crafts and cooking for preschoolers that Aycock has hosted for a couple of years.
“Our concern is that they have a good time once they’re here,” Gill said of center users.