Health & Wellness

Instilling healthy habits and important life skills in our Club members.

Health & Wellness Programs at the Club

SMART Moves.

The SMART Moves (Skills Mastery and Resistance Training) prevention/education program addresses problems such as drug and alcohol use and premature sexual activity.

The program uses a team approach involving Club staff, peer leaders, parents and community representatives. More than simply emphasizing a “Say No” message, the program teaches young people ages 6 to 15 how to say no by involving them in discussion and role-playing, practicing resistance and refusal skills, developing assertiveness, strengthening decision-making skills and analyzing media and peer influence.

The ultimate goal: promote abstinence from substance abuse and adolescent sexual involvement through the practice of responsible behavior.

SMART Girls
An outgrowth of the popular and effective SMART Moves program, SMART Girls is a health, fitness, prevention/education and self-esteem enhancement program for girls ages 8 to 17. SMART Girls offers young women – ages 8 to 17 – guidance toward healthy attitudes and lifestyles, eating right, staying fit, getting good health care and more.

Encouraging young women to have healthy attitudes and lifestyles, SMART Girls helps them reach their full potential. Through dynamic sessions, group activities, field trips and mentoring opportunities with adult women, Club girls enjoy the opportunity to build skills for eating right, staying physically fit, getting good health care, and developing positive relationships.

Other topics addressed include how the media influences attitudes about females, date rape and sexual harassment, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual myths and truths, getting regular gynecological care, and physical and emotional changes girls experience.
Phenomenal Girls

Phenomenal Girls is an arm of the SMART Girls program that focuses specifically on girls ages 13-18. It is a program that was developed by one of our staff members back in 2005 and it has won two state awards since.

The girls meet once a week and talk about the realities these coming-of-age women may experience. They know when they come together, it is sacred, “what’s said in the group, stays in the group.” They sometimes incorporate a movie that portrays an accurate reality that may pertain to one of the topics they’re discussing.

Passport to Manhood

Passport to Manhood promotes and teaches responsibility to Club boys ages 11 to 14. Passport to Manhood consists of 14 sessions, each concentrating on a specific aspect of character and manhood through highly interactive activities.

Each Club participant receives his own “passport” to underscore the notion that he is on a personal journey of maturation and growth. The program includes a service project where boys learn the importance of giving back to the community. Passport to Manhood represents a targeted effort to engage young boys in discussions and activities that reinforce character, leadership and positive behavior.

Planet Fitness “Judgement Free” Zone

Planet Fitness’ The Judgement Free Generation® is a philanthropic initiative designed to combat the judgment and bullying faced by today’s youth by creating a culture of kindness and encouragement. Together with BGCA, Planet Fitness aims to empower a generation to grow up contributing to a more judgment-free planet, a place where everyone feels accepted as they are. Planet Fitness partnered with the BGCCC to build a mini Judgement Free Zone fitness center in the O.T. Sloan Club, providing youth with an inclusive space where they can work out.

B&GC National Fitness Competition
Established in 2015, The National Fitness Competition is a bi-annual health and wellness program sponsored by Nestlé in partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The program encourages a competitive spirit and inspires kids and teens to achieve short-term fitness goals. Local Clubs host fitness competitions for their members, which include activities segmented by age and gender, along with three levels of competition: individual, among peers and against other Clubs to encourage a positive competitive spirit.
Cooking Club
Both sites have incorporated a cooking club for our members. The goal is to teach the members how to work together while cooking a meal. At the end of the program, kids cook a meal for their parents, serve them and eat dinner as a family.