A mid the warehouse-sized facilities that make up Chelsea Piers is the Field House, which looms over the newly renovated Hudson River Park. This indoor athletic arena and its programs are best known for nurturing sports lovers, ranging from budding soccer players to nationally competitive gymnasts. For those who have yet to set foot inside, we’ll just say that the space is awe-inspiring: On door, and coaches and office staff hang out in the common areas mingling with the day’s new arrivals. As kids get organized and make their way to classes, parents head up to the mezzanine where they can pull their chairs up to the railing and watch their kids down below. The scene almost looks like a spread from a Richard Scarry picture book. It looks like a neighborhood.
Which is precisely what Marcoux and her team have been striving for. “We want not only kids and coaches to make connections, but also for parents to feel like they are a part of things,” says Marcoux. To do so, Chelsea Piers, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, is building on a unique vision for the facility that both expands on its established sports one side are rings cascading from towering ceilings, climbing walls, parallel bars, horses, trampolines and yards of mats; while the other side boasts two glass-enclosed indoor soccer fields, basketball courts and batting cages with computer-simulated pitchers. And, in the afternoons, there are kids everywhere, dribbling soccer balls, doing cartwheels and suspending gracefully from the rings.
“Kids feel a sense of community here,” says Mollie Marcoux, general manager of the Field House. “They feel like they own this place.” As she talks, her office ceiling echoes with the sounds of kids trampling above.
Though blessed with prestige and expansive space, the Field House is surprisingly cozy. There’s a greeter at the programs and also ventures into uncharted territory—think after-school programs that
include art, music and tutoring, parenting seminars and even a barbershop.
It’s fitting that Marcoux is largely leading up Chelsea Piers’ exciting new effort. The mother of three and her forward-thinking team—whom she refers to as “curriculum-gurus”—have made children and families a
priority at the Field House since she started in 1995. One of the many initiatives Marcoux has spearheaded was the addition of a daycare facility, an idea she and seven other employees had in 2003 when they became pregnant around the same time. Faced with the eternal struggle of balancing work and home life, the women rallied to have two rooms in the Field House dedicated to childcare, and invited the community to
join. The center quickly went from full to waitlisted and has since expanded to five rooms that make up the early childhood learning center for ages 3 months to 5 years—known as CP Kids. The center now includes a baby room, toddler room, and a full-fledged, competitive preschool.
“It’s
great because we needed the full-time child care—so our son would go to
preschool and stay after,” says Cathy Martin, a Chelsea Piers parent.
“There was so much offered, and the staff would just escort the kids
over to the classes after. It really cut down on having to worry about
picking him up. It’s become a place where we feel extremely
comfortable.”
Indeed,
the mission behind so many of Chelsea Piers’ programs is to make the
lives of families not just more enriched—but more convenient. Perhaps
most notable is Chelsea Piers’ decision to begin offering robust
non-sports-related programming. Construction has already begun on a
second upstairs mezzanine, which will house a large classroom with
windows overlooking the West Side Highway and boasting stateof-the-art
educational equipment.
The
space will be used for morning and afternoon classes as well as an
afterschool program. Marcoux is currently talking to teachers about
providing language, art and music as well as afterschool homework help
and tutoring.
“What
we are doing is giving the kids more opportunities to learn and grow by
balancing out the other things we do,” says Marcoux. “For instance,
little kids can come here and make it a morning by taking a music,
sports, or art class, then go and run around in the toddler gym.”
There
are other initiatives in the works, too. The Field House has already
begun offering parenting seminars, and plans to begin hosting more in
the coming year. Experts cover topics ranging from sleep and nutrition
to sportsrelated issues like preventing injuries and parent involvement
(i.e. how much to push your child vs. letting them take the reigns).
They’ve
even delved into the salon business with Chelsea Shears, a barbershop
for kids, dads and all men who play in Chelsea Piers’ many adult sports
leagues—making getting a trim as simple as running upstairs before
practice.
But lest
sports aficionados worry, rest assured that Chelsea Piers remains most
focused on what it’s always been known for: being one of the city’s
premier athletic centers. The only difference is that the Field House
is more dedicated than ever to ensuring there are offerings for
everyone. “We are trying to have a program for kids at every age and
level, whether they’re interested in playing recreationally or are very
skilled,” says Marcoux. It helps that many of the coaches have been
with the facility for years—some since it first opened in 1995—giving
the kids a sense of familiarity and continuity.
The
centerpiece of Chelsea Piers’ offerings, of course, is its top-notch
gymnastics programs—thousands of kids take classes here, from
12-montholds to teenagers who compete nationally. This coming summer,
Chelsea Piers is debuting a new Junior Gymnastics Camp which will
expand on its current offerings by giving 4- to 5-year olds more
advanced gymnastics coaching.
For
kids interested in other sports, Chelsea Piers has also been growing
Little Athletes, its cutting-edge sports program for ages 12 months to
5 years. It introduces gymnastics, soccer, rock climbing, dance,
multi-sport classes and other athletic pursuits to kids through
professional coaching and Chelsea Piers’ state-of-the-art facilities.
“We’re teaching kids to not only enjoy and have fun with sports, but
we’re instilling in them skills at the highest level for their age,”
says Marcoux.
Serious
soccer players will want to know that Chelsea Piers also has five
travel soccer teams for ages 8 to 13 that compete in the New York
Junior Cosmopolitan League under the direction of soccer director
Ronald Restreto. This summer it is also hosting an elite soccer camp
for tweens and teens that will bring in college coaches and use
high-end training techniques like video analysis. For younger players,
Restreto offers instruction for kids- -starting at age 2—whom he often
engages by singing songs during drills.
Chelsea
Piers is also home to a variety of classes that one might not expect.
There’s Gymjitsu (ages 4 and up), a combination of martial arts and
gymnastics classes; Stunts and Skills (ages 8-16), which teaches
acrobatic stunts, and Veterans and Rookies, where parents can take a
class with their 5- to 10-year-olds and learn how to throw a baseball
or shoot a basketball together.
With
so much happening at Chelsea Piers, it’s all the more remarkable that
it really does feel like a tight-knit community. “It’s a place to learn
and play,” sums up Marcoux. “And it’s about being part of something.”
Chelsea Piers, 23rd Street and the Hudson River, 212-336- 6500, chelseapiers.com.
