[by Niki King]
You may have seen some friendly new faces around the JCC’s gym. Three new part-time fitness coaches were recently hired. Their job includes keeping the fitness area tidy, making sure weights are put back properly, showing people how to use the equipment and helping people when they need it. If you need help with anything, just ask them.
Kyle Whitlock
Kyle Whitlock, 21, started his new job this month, but has been around the JCC for far longer. He’s had a membership through his family since the early 2000’s and he previously worked for several years in the daycare, gym and as a scorekeeper for baseball and softball games.
He’s also a lifetime athlete. He’s played baseball since he was four years old and is now on the team at Spalding University, where he’s majoring in business and accounting. After graduation, he hopes to become a stock broker or go into sports law or be a sports agent. Before college, he played baseball for Trinity High School. He said he started seriously working out when he was about 14 years old.
“I’ve always been surrounded by something sports related,” he said.
That background has prepared him well, he said, for his current position.
“I’m familiar with almost everything everyone does in here,” he said of the fitness area.
He said he especially likes working with people and hopes they know they can always ask him for anything they might need.
“If they need help, I’m here,” he said.
Sam White
Sam White, 20, also started this month. Like Whitlock, he’s on Spalding University’s baseball team and describes himself as “pretty athletic.” He played baseball and basketball for DeSales High School and loves playing golf, working out and swimming at his pool at home.
Before his current job, he worked at Joe’s Crab Shack and at University of Louisville baseball camps. He said the fitness coach position appealed to him because it allowed him to be on his feet, drew from his fitness background and allowed him to help people. He’s majoring in communications now, but isn’t sure yet what he’d like to do once he graduates.
He grew up in the Highlands and had driven by the JCC but had never been in it until recently. He said his initial impressions have been nothing but positive. He likes the tight-knit atmosphere and the fact that so many folks know each other.
“It’s been awesome so far,” he said.
Kendrick Whelan
Kendrick Whelan, 32, has worked a few shifts now. He said he’s always wanted to be a personal trainer or nutritionist and thought his job would be “a step in the right direction.”
He said he’s always been pretty active and stayed in shape, but earlier this year he and a friend participated in a two-month body transformation at a local gym. The goal was to be the team which lost the highest percentage of body fat. He said he dropped six percent the first month with high-intensity training and watching his diet a little. His team won, but what he really gleaned from the experience was a renewed interest in fitness, he said.
When Whelan isn’t at the JCC, he’s a server at the BBC on 3rd Street, and likes to ride his bike and play guitar. He also likes to fix cars, a hobby he picked up growing up in Meade County. He also spent three years in the Navy and was stationed at Pearl Harbor.
Before now, Whelan hadn’t experienced the JCC but is impressed with all the facilities here and especially the people.
“It’s a lot more than I thought it was,” he said. “The fun part has been meeting all the people and of course the gym part, I love.”
The new fitness coaches will be available if you have any questions about your workout whenever the JCC is open. They are happy to help recommend a fresh way to work out, offer a kind word of encouragement or spot your lifts.