April 18, 2020
Like many other small businesses, Xtreme Gymnastics made the hard decision to temporarily close their facility on March 17, 2020. However, their fortitude has made an impact on the community with their dynamic culture being shared through their creative and passionate coaches. Xtreme is providing families with “at-home” activities to fill the need for active and engaged physical activity for children during the “stay home” initiative.
For many, sports activities such as those at Xtreme Gymnastics have become a dependable and loyal community that is now on hold and erased from family calendars. Who could have imagined that families would be mourning what used to be their “normal” busy and most times chaotic routines? The normal that set in motion the mantra of “divide and conquer” as parents “Uber” their kids from activity to activity falling slave to their schedule of commitments.We mourn our schedules because the truth is, there is beauty in the chaos, it’s called community.
Xtreme is so much more than just a gym. It’s a community of people who intentionally take opportunities to invest in genuine relationships that often result in discovering what motivates and excites not only the students, but the staff as well. They strive to support and serve the development of their students making an everlasting impression on their relationships and character in the future beyond Xtreme. They do this daily by providing families with tangible experiences bringing them alongside in understanding the why behind what they believe and teach. At the end of the day, the coaches want each student and family to get more out of coming to the gym than just “learning the sport”. They want to instill that the sum of one’s daily habits is a direct reflection of their character, and at each decision and action they make, there is an opportunity to change. Their words have genuinely spoken boldly of their intentions and their actions speak louder than their words. The heartbeat of their business thrives with the commitment they have to their customers and employees and that means supporting families during this time.
Xtreme is committed to continuously providing exceptional programming for students with their “online instruction” via weekly Zoom classes and YouTube videos along with frequent parent materials such as this one written by Sarah Lee, Department Lead of Preschool Gymnastics and Pre-Team Head Coach.
X Factor- Crossing the Midlines
Your body has 3 midlines: one divides your body front to back, another top and bottom, and the third, left and right. We cross all 3 midlines many times during our classes in gymnastics!
The midline we are focusing on this month is our midline that separates our body into a left and right half. When you are born, the left and right halves of your brain are not connected like they are when you are an adult. Through midline crossing, you help form connections in your corpus callosum, the superhighway between the left and right sides of your brain! This not only wires your brain for physical tasks like putting on socks or buckling a seatbelt across your body, it also helps wire your child’s brain for higher academic performance like reading, writing, speech, attention, and math!
Watch for moments in class when your child has to reach their left hand over the center of his/her body to the right side and back. Midline crossing is not just for hands, you can cross your midline with elbows, knees, and feet! Midline crossing works in any body position, sitting, standing, balancing, swinging, etc! Ask your child to give themselves a great big hug! If they put their left hand on their left shoulder and their right hand on their right shoulder, you can help them keep practicing midline crossing at home! Have them try to touch their opposite hand to their opposite knee while marching. If they can do that, try elbow to knee as a challenge! Put a puzzle on the floor on one side of their body and have them use their opposite hand to reach over their body to put it together! Have them wash their own body in the tub to cross that midline even more!
“As a small business with employees, we can tell you without a doubt your support and loyalty during this time matters. It’s not just important to the management team, but everyone who fills a role in our company, whether it be our coaches, cleaning staff, or customer service members. Through this pandemic, we are committed to taking care of our devoted staff for as long as we can. We are also committed to weathering this storm with you and your athlete until the dust settles. To whatever extent necessary, every dollar we have will be pledged to our recovery and rebuilding.” said Tj Rehak, Owner, Xtreme Gymnastics.
