This weekend, the East Boston YMCA at Ashley Street will kick off safe youth indoor sports programs.
According to YMCA Executive Director Joe Gaeta said that the programs range from Preschool Soccer to Junior Celtics.
“We’re happy to restart our fall sports programs with an emphasis on safety during the COVID–19 pandemic,” said Gaeta. “We are keeping real tight protocols as we move forward so there will be a capacity on class sizes, the number of parents that can be in the gym as well as screening processes with temperature checks.”
Gaeta said the Y is testing the waters with Preschool Soccer, which will kick off Saturday Oct. 3 at 9 a.m. for ages 2-3. There will then be a 10 a.m. soccer session for ages 4-5.
“Then we will be bringing back our Junior Celtics program on Saturday at 11 a.m. for ages 2-5 and then at 12 p.m. for ages 6-10. The program is filling up very quickly due to the limited capacity.”
Parents can register for a session at www.ymcaboston.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/EastBostonFallSportsSession. as long as space is still available.
“The Y has been super safe throughout this whole pandemic and have not had any incidents as we served as an emergency childcare center for essential employees and successfully completed our summer programs with limited capacity,” said Gaeta. “We are super excited to offer kids something to do on the weekends while they are stuck in the house all day with remote learning for school.”
Gaeta said the programs will adhere to strict state and CDC guidelines.
“This will all be skills and drills with no contact scrimmages,” he said. “We are running with a super high standard and the gym will be completely disinfected after each session before another group comes in. We look forward to welcoming back these programs that allow kids to do stuff that is fun and healthy and bring some normalcy back into their lives.”
If all goes well, Gaeta hopes to expand the program to Sundays after the new year.
Gaeta added that at this time the Y does not have an update on when the YMCA-run Umana Pool will open but in the meantime members can take lessons at the Y’s sister branch in Charlestown.
If you have any questions please feel free to email Gaeta at [email protected].