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Redwood students start an exercise alternative

Playing on a Redwood sports team offers fitness and an opportunity to bond with teammates and build friendships. But what happens to those students who get cut, are in the offseason, or don’t have the skills to play on a Redwood team at all?

To provide an athletic outlet for these types of students, junior girls from Redwood have made an agreement with the Bay Club in Corte Madera to start an exercise class at a less expensive price than a regular gym membership.

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Junior Marley Edington cycling during the first class session.

Juniors Marley Edington, Brooke Christman and her mother, Susan, came up with the idea to start the group, which meets every Tuesday and Thursday from four to five p.m., in order to give students the opportunity to stay fit as well as be part of a team.

“Since Redwood is a big school, there’s a lot of times where kids don’t make sports teams or there’s just not enough room on the team. The class is an option for [those kids] and kids who who don’t necessarily like sports, but want to be a part of something,” Brooke said.

So far, 21 students from both Marin Catholic and Redwood have signed up for the class, which had its first session on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

The class costs $125 a month, whereas a regular membership at the Bay Club would cost $250 a month. In addition to the classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Bay Club has allowed those who are part of the class to have access to the gym on Saturdays and Sundays from one to five.

On the first and last class session, students will complete an InBody fitness test, used by the Bay Club, to measure if the class helped improve their muscular strength.

According to Brooke, because this class consists of an organized group of kids, it’s more similar to a sports team than a regular gym membership.

Brooke and Susan said that although the Bay Club has offered classes before, this is the first class at the club that was created primarily for high school students.

In the long run, Susan, Brooke and Edington hope that the class will have a competition between Marin Catholic and Redwood using the amount of points earned from the InBody test.

The class teacher, Maggie Smith, plans to vary the exercises that they work on during each session, according to Brooke.

“The idea is that one day we’ll do more muscle building and the other day will be more aerobics,” Brooke said.

Susan contacted the athletic director Jessica Peisch and the winter Redwood sports coaches so that students who get cut from a team can be made aware of the program.

According to Edington, they chose to contact the Bay Club with this idea because it is a common location for Redwood students to exercise.

“We thought that the Bay Club would draw more kids because of its high status in Marin. So we set up meetings with the manager and he really liked the idea,” Edington said.

Susan hopes that other gyms will create similar programs to give students a place to exercise during hours when the gyms are not even being used.

“The gyms that I’ve been at are empty from three to five. Those facilities are not being used,” Susan said.

Depending on the success of the class, Susan and Brooke hope to continue sessions through April.

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