Shy and not too sure about learning new activities, four-year-old William needed the support of his mom Kristy when he first started classes at River City Inclusive Gymnastics (RCIG).
William was born with cerebral palsy which impacts his motor planning (where the body creates a plan to move muscles, limbs, etc.) and can cause intention tremors (shaking in his muscles).
“In the beginning, Coach Mike allowed me in the gym to encourage William to participate and show him that he could be successful,” says Kristy about RCIG and the gym’s founder Mike McGrath. “Coach Mike was able to develop an amazing relationship with William, and now William goes into the gym on his own and participates without me.”
During each class, Kristy heads to the observation room to watch William complete his session with his coach and the other students.
“He is able to access all of the equipment and complete the activities with Coach Mike’s support and scaffolding,” Kristy says.
William loves motor movements where his brain and muscles are working together to move his body appropriately, but this is very difficult for him according to his mom. “River City allowed him the chance to enjoy the social atmosphere of going to gymnastics with other students and experience the joy of exploring different equipment with the support of a one-on-one coach to assist him safely.”
William started at RCIG in September 2021. It was his first experience in this type of program.
“He requires one-on-one adult proximity on uneven surfaces, and there were no programs that could provide him with the support he needed to enjoy a gym atmosphere safely before River City,” says Kristy.
Sam Costanzo, a pediatric occupational therapist, says social and recreational opportunities for people with different abilities, “regardless of age, are incredibly limited in many places, if they even exist at all.” Sam, who has volunteered with RCIG for about four years, says people with disabilities benefit immensely from opportunities for physical fitness. “Many of these individuals are already at risk for living a more sedentary lifestyle and the health complications that come along with that. The inability to properly access physical and recreational opportunities only increases that risk.”
Kristy feels comfortable knowing the team and the atmosphere at RCIG are supportive, family-oriented,
and encouraging.
“They see the abilities and strengths of their athletes, not their disabilities,” she says. “They know each student and provide them with the support they need in order to be successful at everything they do. They celebrate even the tiniest progress and know that students are unique and grow at their own pace.”
The Evolution of an Inclusive Gym
A former special education teacher in Hanover County, Mike McGrath initially became interested in working with kids with disabilities by watching his mother, a special education teacher in Henrico and Richmond.
“I would visit her in the classroom when I was in college and on a break. She would put me to work and have me read to her class,” he says. “After I graduated from Virginia Tech, I worked one-on-one with two boys who have autism while I was working for Henrico Recreation and Parks.”
He quickly felt a connection with this type of work and enrolled in Virginia Commonwealth University to get his master’s degree in special education.
Married to Courtney, a speech therapist for Henrico County, Mike is the father of two sons, Kier, seven, and Kerry, three.
When Mike left his job in Hanover, he started tutoring. He was hoping to drop off business cards for his tutoring services at River City Youth Fitness (RCYF) when one of the gym’s owners, Fletcher Hamblen, asked Mike what he thought about hosting a program at RCYF for youth with disabilities.
“I wasn’t quite sure about it,” Mike says. “The owner and I did a pilot class with four students. For me, it was eye-opening to see how awesome my students did. Just seeing them be free to be themselves in a structured environment was cool.”
Realizing that parents appreciated the concept, Mike launched the program in-house with RCYF in 2016. It has grown steadily since that time, adding teen and adult classes to the curriculum. Three years ago, Mike turned the gym into a nonprofit, and it became its own entity operating out of RCYF.
River City Inclusive Gym provides gymnastics at a base level. The one-hour classes focus on agility, coordination, balance activities, and muscle strengthening. “When they hear the word gymnastics, a lot of parents think acrobats. But that’s not the case,” Mike says.
Mike likened it to the popular TV show, American Ninja Warrior. “We teach an obstacle course format. It gives people the most opportunity to move. They can go from activity to activity quickly. For us, it’s the stepping stone,” Mike says.
Students range from two to forty-three years old and come from the metro Richmond area and beyond.
“We try to keep our classes small, typically five to six per class. We provide one-on-one coaching for everyone who needs it,” Mike says. “If we have three individuals, we will have three coaches, for example. It’s quality, not quantity.”
Chief operations officer Jocelyn Ingram has been working with RCIG since 2019, starting as an intern.
“I hadn’t heard of the program before then, but once I started my internship, I fell in love with the program,” she says. “RCIG is a place where everyone is welcome, no matter their age, ability level, sensory needs, or anything else. It’s an opportunity to receive all the necessary physical challenges to improve strength and meet sensory needs in an environment where fun is the ultimate goal.”
Because of the staff and the resources, the gym has the ability to adapt and modify and safely meet the needs of individuals in the program.
“We find a way for everyone to participate. We understand the importance of structure and routine, but since we aren’t a school or therapy, we get the chance to find the right balance of learning and fun for everyone,” Ingram says.
For the past few years, the gym has been operating in Goochland County at the RCYF location. In early March, Mike moved RCIG into its own space in the Tuckahoe Village Shopping Center in western Henrico.
The rented space was renovated to make it safe and user-friendly for the athletes and their families.
“Having our own gym means growth,” says Ingram. “We can hold many more classes and serve a lot more athletes in our own gym. It means that we have a lot more control over our environment, which allows us to provide a sensory-friendly space.”
Great Work and Great Strides
Mike and his team see participants grow and learn within each class. “They are following directions and being more confident and comfortable,” he says of the athletes.
In the beginning, four-year-old William was anxious about his classes. He was nervous about the new experience, some of the equipment, and new faces, as well as being asked to complete activities that were outside his comfort zone.
“Coach Mike was cognizant of that and set him up for success,” his mom says. “William is now extremely excited about going to gym class. He is happy and excited the minute we get in the parking lot, and he practically drags you to the back to take off his shoes and get into the gym.”
William’s growing confidence means the pre-schooler is having fun climbing, running, and jumping on the trampoline.
“These are all things he previously wanted assistance doing,” his mom says. “He has learned patience and perseverance as some of the activities are difficult, but Coach Mike never allows him to give up.”
Kristy adds that William swings on the saucer swing and is working on his balance and core strength walking on the ninja stones and balancing on the bosu ball.
“He slides and climbs the U-shaped slide and will complete pit crawls in the foam pit. Coach Mike has him holding onto and swinging from the rings and he is even hanging from the single bar and attempting pull-ups,” Kristy says, and adds that during her son’s first session, he was reluctant to even touch the ring and bars, much less grip them.
William has also grown in his social and motor skills as well as his self-esteem. These will be “lasting benefits through his lifetime,” Kristy says. On the physical side, William’s mom says she knows the fun he’s having at RCIG is also building his core strength, “which will help in all aspects of movement throughout his life.”
He is learning to follow the directions of his coaches as well as how to handle the feedback and correction when he needs assistance with activities.
“All of the activities Coach Mike and his team provide help to increase his confidence, and William is learning that he can do anything he sets his mind to, even things that are very difficult at first,” Kristy says.
William’s specialists at UVA Children’s Hospital can see the difference in their “individual sessions with him and have been amazed at his progress since starting River City,” Kristy says.
The benefits for the kids using the gym are infinite, Costanzo says.
“Physical activity not only strengthens muscles, but it helps establish and strengthen connections in the brain that underlie all aspects of learning and development. Aside from the obvious benefits that come with participating in gymnastics (strength, flexibility, balance, coordination), RCIG provides kids of all abilities with a safe place to participate in a sport in a way that essentially guarantees their success, which is something that many of these kids are never given the opportunity to do,” he says.
Coaches at the gym celebrate the small gains with the athletes just as they do the bigger ones, helping to build self-esteem and confidence.
“The physical and social-emotional gains contribute to improvements in attention, regulation, and emotional control leading to enhanced academic abilities, social skills, and overall independence,” Costanzo says.
As for William, when faced with a difficult task, he is able to problem-solve instead of giving up right away, according to his mom. “We have seen an increase in his body awareness (his ability to know where his body is in space) and his ability to plan his motor movements more effectively. His motor endurance has greatly increased, and we see less fatigue throughout his day.”
William learns best with “positive encouragement and determination,” his mom adds. “He needs to understand that he can do it and be successful. He is a relationship child, and once he has forged a positive relationship with someone, he will try his best. He has that relationship with Coach Mike and the other coaches at River City.”
She is grateful to everyone at the gym for the services they provide and considers the resource invaluable.
“I have watched my son complete activities with their team that I never thought were possible. They have taught him to believe in himself and his abilities and know that with the support of others, anything is possible,” she says. “I have seen him grow and develop into a more independent athlete who is happy, confident, and willing to try new and sometimes scary things. As a parent, I can’t thank the team at River City enough for all that they do.”
