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Date: 1/2/2020
SOUTHWICK – Since the first Friday of December, the Girls Gone Strong program between CrossFit TLA and the Southwick Sports and Family Network has met every week to help girls get strong and build self-confidence and self-esteem.
Richelle King, one of the owners of CrossFit TLA, said the idea for the program started in October when the gym began reaching out through online community forums to find a way to give back. Eventually they got in touch with Joe Hough with the Southwick Sports and Family Network nonprofit.
“Joe got back to us and he said he worked with a nonprofit and he had all these girls and thought we could get together and do something where we could both benefit. We came together and formed the Girls Gone Strong program for the girls to gain confidence and self-worth and get strong along with that,” King explained.
Stephanie Lecrenski, the Girls Gone Strong coach and an adjustment counselor at the high school, said the program has gone well so far through its first three meetings.
“The girls are responding well to it, not only the exercise component but at the end of each meeting we do a group lesson that’s related to self-esteem and self-care. They really engage and participate in that piece of it as well,” she said.
“A lot of the girls are at my school so when they pass by me they’ll say, ‘Oh I’m so sore, but in a good way.’ So I see positive engagement from them when I see them at school,” Lecrenski added.
Inside the gym, one of the self-care activities the girls did was to write down things that they take advantage of on a sticky note and could do a better job limiting their time with while also writing down the things they are grateful for and sticking them all on the gym’s wall.
While the program is about building self-confidence in the individual, Lecrenski said she’s seen the girls develop teamwork and have bonded over the workout and self-care exercises. She said, “When we’re doing the self-care activities the girls tend to work together and help each other brainstorm answers to the topic at hand, so they’ve really become great team building exercises as well.”
King explained that the initial plan was to limit the Girls Gone Strong program to just three months, but based on the feedback they’ve gotten she said they are planning to keep it going,
Along with the Girls Gone Strong program King said Tribal Life Athletics also offers programs for kids from age 5 to 11 and high schoolers that are not as intense as the adult programs.
Lecrenski added that she is happy that the girls are able to find a healthy way to express themselves off of social media. She said, “This is a much healthier way to express themselves and to get the positive feedback they need from their peers and adults that they respect. I love seeing that level of engagement and I think that’s been the most rewarding thing so far.”
CrossFit TLA is located at 809 College Highway.