By Tony Callaio For Sunday Dispatch
Kendal, Greater Pittston YMCA, back right, chats with participating mom Christine Wine, Kingston. Joseph Carmody, 4, front center, and Caroline Carmody, 5, right, ride bicycles and two-year-old Olivia Wine, back center, was busy kicking a ball around the gym of the YMCA on Wednesday, July 27 for Mommy and Me soccer play.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Amanda Carmody, West Pittston, skates around the gym floor with her son, Joseph and daughter Caroline.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Five-year-old Maddox Check and his two-year-old sister Stella play with cushioned bags at the Greater Pittston YMCA gym.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Christine Wine, Kingston, watches her two-year-old daughter Olivia play with the soccer balls and net.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
PITTSTON — The Greater Pittston YMCA held a pilot program for the summer of 2022 giving moms a chance to interact with their child during playtime at the gym. YMCA officials are pleased with the turnout of the program and will look to possibly expand it in the fall.
The program, The Mommy and Me Soccer and Free Gym Drop-in, consists of a one-hour gym time for children from toddlers to age six to get the children to try different sports in a safe and friendly environment along with their mothers.
“We’ve run this for just the month of July,” said Kendal Corrado, Greater Pittston YMCA Youth Sports and Family coordinator, said. “We are just running this as a test to see what people are interested in and to see how we can conduct it.”
Corrado said the program would run well into August with a reassessment at the end of the program. She said there is a strong chance the program will continue in the fall with the possibility of holding the program in the evening as well.
Christine Wine, of Kingston, enjoys taking her two-year-old daughter Olivia to the Greater Pittston YMCA.
“It’s a little more safer here in Pittston,” Wine said. “It’s quieter and the parking lot is right next to the building and this Y is very family orientated. Olivia really likes it here.”
The children get to interact with several sports apparatus such as basketball baskets, soccer balls and net, and gymnastic equipment.
For an hour, moms get to interact with their children playing different sports.
Joy Check, of Pittston Township, brought her two children, Maddox, five years old, and two-year-old Stella for The Mommy and Me Soccer event, stating she’s not a member of the Greater Pittston YMCA but pays for the drop-in fee.
“I’ve brought the children here and there and I’ve had Maddox in swim classes when he was younger,” Check said. “I used to be a member but now I just look online for different events for the kids to go to.”
Corrado suggests checking the YMCA website or their Facebook account for the continuation of The Mommy and Me Soccer and Free Drop-in program for the fall or other programs for youth.