My Gym – There is a simple reason why the My Gym children’s fitness centers in Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach are perennial winners in this category, according to My Gym’s South Bay director Alex Henao.
“It’s really because of our teachers,” Henao said. “That is really what it comes down to.”
My Gym is very particular about the teachers that are central to everything that children’s fitness centers do. Henao said that My Gym sifts through many applicants in order to find those special people who can handle the controlled chaos that is a roomful of kids at play and enjoy doing so.
“You have to be a kid person to do this job,” he said. “Not everybody can do it – it’s high energy, constant movement, and you must be able to talk to parents and kids and be able to come running to save that kid flying from the swing…There is a lot of moving parts, and you’ve got to be able to handle it. You can’t teach people in a week how to do this job. They have to already know how to be with kids and have a natural instinct. We try to pick the cream of the crop.”
Of course, there are a couple other reasons why My Gym has become the go-to local birthday venues. They have professionally outfitted romper rooms and offer games, gymnastics, stimulated space flight, rides, and birthday songs. And at the end of the party, the parents and kids can go home and not worry about the party’s aftermath.
“The biggest thing for parents is they don’t have to spend next five days cleaning up their houses,” Henao said. “You know how it is – you are too tired by the end of the day hosting kids running around all over the place, and you go, ‘I’m not cleaning up today.’ Then you spend the next five days cleaning and you say, ‘I’m never having a party again.’”
“But convenience only goes so far,” Henao added. “We genuinely enjoy being around kids. That is it. Kids know.”
My Gym, 1836 N. Sepulveda Blvd Manhattan Beach, 310-796-1300 or 1216 Beryl Street, Redondo Beach,310-318-2288. www.my-gym.com
Runner-up: AdventurePlex, 1701 Marine Ave., Manhattan Beach. 310-546-7708, AdventurePlex.org.
