March 13, 2020

This paid piece is sponsored by GreatLIFE Golf & Fitness.

Looking for some fun, affordable ways to keep your kids active this summer? GreatLIFE is offering several new fitness and golf camps and other activities both members and non-members will want to add to their schedules.

New sports fitness camps

Your young athletes will love this new addition from GreatLIFE this summer. The new Harrisburg fitness center will host sports performance camps June 1-25 and July 6-30.

There will be three sessions, each lasting an hour, for those age 5 through high school.

“There will be different programming, with two coaches at all sessions so we can split up a bit, and we’ll never have a ratio higher than 10-to-1,” said Mike Smith, who is coordinating the program.

“We’ll focus on speed, agility, strength, explosiveness, change of direction, power, mobility and injury prevention.”

The program is tailored toward male and female athletes but also exposes kids to a variety of ways to stay active. It’s open to members and non-members, with discounts for GreatLIFE members and families with multiple athletes.

“It’s brand-new, we just developed it, and it’s really going to work the fundamentals that help make you stronger in sports,” Smith said.

“I think our attendees will really enjoy the Harrisburg location. It’s a nice, large area, and the program itself is going to offer another way to provide kids with good coaching from great trainers who will be able to keep them moving this summer.”

Register by emailing [email protected].

GreatLIFE’s PLAYEverything program also will have lots of ways to keep kids busy this summer.

Plans are being finalized for baseball, football and basketball clinics, and details will be announced soon. Four events also will be held in partnership with the Sioux Falls Canaries, and the hope is to add soccer camps and clinics too.

Get them golfing

Beginning around age 7, kids can head out on the golf course with a new offering from GreatLIFE this season.

Operation 36 is a new program for beginning junior golfers age 7 through 17.

Here’s how it works:

“Operation 36 goes from the green back to the tee box,” said Jason Sudenga, vice president of golf.

“So we start with instruction, and essentially you test out. So you play nine holes and start from 25 yards off the green to the hole. And if your score is 36 or less on those nine holes, you graduate back to 50 yards and then 100, and you work your way back until you’re at the normal tee. It’s been popular around the country, and we’re excited to bring it here.”

Sound like a good way for anyone to learn? It eventually will be offered for adults, but for now it’s a kids’ summer program.

GreatLIFE golf junior camps also offer an option for beginners through advanced players and are open to those age 8 through 17. Those younger than 8 might be a fit for the camps if they have played golf before and are able to focus for a 3.5-hour program.

Camps start once school is out and last through June. There are seven camps to choose from at all GreatLIFE area courses.

If your child has a more advanced golf game, consider the GreatLIFE Junior Tour. It’s open to members and non-members.

“If you want to play a little more competitively, this is where to go,” Sudenga said. “We have nine events set up, and we’ll have a GreatLIFE Junior Championship for the 10th event.”

There are four divisions for the tour: 12 and younger, which plays off the family tees; 13-15, 16-18; and a college division.

“And for some of the older kids looking at playing in the high school scene, Willow Run will do a junior golf academy that’s more advanced for 13- to 17-year-olds,” Sudenga said.

Have questions or want to sign up? Email [email protected]. Editor’s note: An open house that was scheduled for Junior Golf programs March 14 has been postponed.

And don’t forget GreatLIFE’s weekly free junior clinics. They are offered June through August usually on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at all GreatLIFE courses.

“You just sign up and go out there for an hour, and we have a different topic every week,” Sudenga said. “It’s a fun way to get kids interested as well, for free.”’

Have you decided now is the time to join GreatLIFE just in time for unlimited golf this summer? Tee up for nothing down! No enrollment fee, no payment until next month, plus you’ll receive one free hour of game play at Great Shots while supplies last. Click here to learn more.