Renaissance Pointe YMCA taps Evan Cleveland as Director of Sports, Wellness & Aquatics
Unscripted
By Keith Edmonds
Ink Spot Contributing Writer
Renaissance Pointe YMCA located on our city’s southeast side of town has become a place of comfort and refuge for that community to fellowship as well as address their physical, emotional, and wellness concerns. Also to get a great workout if you so desire! It is looked upon as a beacon and a safe haven for those that frequent their doors as the staff that greet you daily offer their services in whatever way they can help you address your particular needs.
They are constantly adding quality people to their staff to follow the blueprint that has been established by their Executive Director Amos Norman, and continue the theme of “servant leadership” that permeates throughout the system. In today’s UNSCRIPTED you’ll meet Evan Cleveland, another quality person from our community that has been added to their staff, and learn what led him to accept his new role as the Director of Sports, Wellness & Aquatics for the Renaissance Pointe YMCA.
FWIS: Welcome to Unscripted and thank you for joining me today! Tell us a little about your background and what brought you to being a part of the “Y” system?
EC: “No, thank you for having me! I’m a 2010 graduate of Elmhurst High School where after graduating I accepted a basketball scholarship to Mount St. Mary’s University (Maryland) and transitioned back home after 1 year and attended Ivy Tech. I worked for the BMV then after leaving, I accepted a part-time position with the YMCA before being made aware of a new position opening up that I applied for, and fortunately secured.”
FWIS: So tell me, now that you’re a month into this position what are the duties and responsibilities that come with your new position?
EC: “I am over ALL sports programming and anything sports related that occurs at Renaissance Pointe goes through me. I oversee wellness, and all group fitness training and instruction as it relates to wellness. This also applies to aquatics. Any lessons, swim team practices, open swim or any other activities that our pool would be used for, goes through me as well. It’s a tremendous responsibility that I’ve accepted and am working hard to do what is asked of me.”
FWIS: How has your background in athletics prepared you for this position and the responsibilities that come with it?
EC: “I’ve been a coach in the GymRats organization for about 3 years, and a lot of my philosophy on how to approach fitness and sports comes from my background as a player.” On the wellness side, I’ve been a trainer (loosely lol) for a couple of years but definitely understand the importance of wellness for the community that we serve here at Ren Pointe and want to educate as many people as possible on its importance.”
FWIS: When you speak of wellness, can you give our readers an idea of what that means, and how you’ll educate others about it?
EC: “Wellness simply means To be well. And what that entails is addressing your health physically, mentally, and emotionally. I think the physical side may be the easiest to address, but the mental and emotional side are just as important. Here at Renaissance Pointe, we try to meet you at your point of need and help you keep a balance on those areas that are most concerning to you.”
FWIS: With the big emphasis today being on “Mental Health”, what do you see your job being to promote that side of a person’s wellbeing?
EC: “I think that anytime that you serve in a capacity like this you have a great opportunity to ask on a continual basis “How are you doing?” People appreciate someone that takes the time to make sure that they are doing okay and if they’re not, then offering suggestions as to how they can get the help that they need to get better. I try to offer myself to our members on a daily, weekly basis so they know that they are not running this race alone.”
FWIS: So as you work everyday at Ren Pointe, why do you think that this building and those that work in it, are a staple to the community that you serve?
EC: “I think that the biggest thing when you speak of the Y and what we do is about fulfilling our promise to the community. We are an open and safe space where you can move freely to address those things that are most pressing for our members. For me, I think that I’m really relatable, I’ve never met a stranger, so I’m able to get people to open up and share what’s on their heart and we can have real conversations about it. People don’t feel judged and are able to share their thoughts good or bad and that makes things go well.”
FWIS: I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you about what services you provide to meet the needs of our “Seniors” age group. Can you share what you provide for them?
EC: “Sure. We offer fitness programming, with our most frequented program being our Aqua Aerobics (pool workouts) where you may see as many as 40 seniors having a great time in the pool with music and training combined! We have senior sneakers, women on weights, as programs as well so we are always open to ideas as to how we can address the needs of our TOTAL community with the seniors being a huge part of that community.”
FWIS: Please finish this sentence: As the Head of sports, wellness and aquatics at Renaissance Pointe, my main goal is to…
EC: “My main goal is to support my members and foster great relationships in my community while seeing people succeed and meet their goals.
FWIS: Share something about Evan Cleveland that people may not know about you?
EC: “People will be surprised to know that I love learning new words and the origins behind the word. That fascinates me!”