SOKOL Gymnastics has been taking registration for its winter/spring 15-week session, starting next week.
Parents can register their children over the phone by leaving a message for Coach Sharon Stanek at (313) 565-8671, or coming into SOKOL Cultural Center at 23600 W. Warren in Dearborn Heights (including at the first meeting of class next week). The gymnastics program has added some new classes for this Feb. 11-June 8 session, according to Stanek.
The separate classes for boys and girls at 5:30 p.m. Monday have both been expanded to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. classes. On Thursday night, the 6-8 p.m. by-invitation classes for competing teens have now been joined by added 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. classes for boys and girls age 6-12 years.
To the Monday and Thursday evening classes for tots, new classes have been added during the day for parents and their tots (starting to walk through age 3), and for tots ages 3 1/2-5 (for this same age group, another class has been added on Saturday morning as well).
“With our teens coming in for 6-8 p.m. Thursday, we’ve now got kids from age 3 to 18 coming in throughout the day on Thursday,” Stanek said.
As parents have been calling and then emailing their registrations in, there is now no more room in the girls class at 6 p.m., she said, though the boys class still has a couple spots open. There are still openings in the 5 p.m. classes for boys and girls. The Monday classes for both boys and girls ages 6-12 still have openings, Stanek said.
Since this is second session in the first year of the program, she said most of the participants are coming back from the first session, “so they do not have to pay the $20 yearly registration fee, they just have to pay the session fee.”
For each class for parents and tots (starting to walk through age 3) on Mondays (9:30-10:20 a.m.), Thursdays (9:30-10:20 a.m.) or Fridays (6-6:50 p.m.); and for tots ages 3 1/2-5 years on Mondays (10:30-11:20 a.m., 5-5:50 p.m. and 6-6:50 p.m.), Thursdays (10:30-11:20 a.m. and 6-6:50 p.m.), or Saturdays (10-10:50 a.m.); the cost is $150 per-session ($175 for non-members).
For girls ages 6-12, classes on Monday (5-5:50 p.m. and 6-6:50 p.m.), Thursday (5-5:50 p.m. and 6-6:50 p.m.) or Saturday (10-10:50 p.m.), the cost is also $150 per-session ($175 for non-members). For boys ages 6-12, their classes (held on the same days and times as the girls) has the same cost.
Stanek, a coach for 18 years and certified with the USA Gymnastics (USAG), originally began her program while employed part-time with the Dearborn Recreation and Parks Department. When her husband’s unemployment forced her to obtain full-time employment at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center water program, she said, the gymnastics program at the center had to be canceled because she was not allowed to keep her part-time job.
So the gymnastics program was moved to SOKOL, where it has just finished a first session with an enrollment of 75 kids. Her program is not centered on meet competition like many, Stanek said, “but if the kids want to try competition, they can go to fun meets.” The meets are held no further away than Cleveland (alternating year-to-year between this area and Cleveland) and the National Sports Festival (held in Milwaukee this year).
Participants invited for the competition classes on 6-8 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m.-noon Saturdays (team girls ages 12-17 and junior girls ages 12-17, and team and junior boys ages 6-17); and for Advanced Hot Shots (girls ages 4-8) from 10 a.m.-noon Saturdays; the cost is $200 per session ($250 for non-members). Team and junior boys and girls taking two two-hour classes per -week will be charged $350 per-session ($400 for non-members).
Friday nights will be open gym for ages 5 years and up. Enrollment in the program is not required to participate in the 7-9 p.m. program. The fee for open gym as been dropped by $10, and all make-ups for classes will be completed during Open Gym free of charge.
Monthly payment plans can be arranged for paying the cost for the session. The Saturday recital for SOKOL Gymnastics will be held on the final day of the winter/spring session, June 8.
For more information, contact Stanek by leaving a voice mail at (313) 565-8671, or by emailing sokoldetroitgymnastics@gmail.com.
