Raising Fitness-minded Kids in College Park

When I started running almost twenty years ago, I had a list of reasons why it was a good idea.

But it wasn’t until five years later, when my first child started walking that I realized one of the biggest benefits of my commitment to running and fitness.

Because my husband and I were runners before our children were even born, they have known no other way to live than a fitness-based lifestyle.

I started thinking about this alongside the Bloomberg Businessweek article naming College Park as the best city in Maryland to raise kids.

The article points out the obvious attractions – the schools, the proximity to Washington, D.C. and the advantages of being so close to the University of Maryland.  But there are advantages the article didn’t mention.

The greatest advantage of raising children in College Park from my standpoint is the athletic and fitness-minded community and the opportunities it provides – opportunities to divert from the childhood obesity trend.

Parks and Trails
College Park is awash in parks and trails. Whether we are looking for a place for a quiet family walk, a place for the kids to run around chasing each other or a place to hike or bike, College Park has something to offer for everybody.

Indoor Facilities
When the weather is too cold, snowy or just down right middle-of-the-summer hot and humid, there is always a place to duck inside without giving up the active lifestyle we want our children to lead. The College Park Community Center and Youth Soccer Complex is just one of many indoor facilities available for when it is just too unbearable to be outside.

Youth Sports Camps
Though there are sports camps all over Maryland, College Park residents are lucky enough to have world-class sports camps right in their own backyards.  Children can learn to play basketball, soccer, lacrosse, volleyball and a handful of other sports at camps run by Division I coaches on the best facilities our state has to offer.

Outdoor Educational Programs
REI outdoor education programs are a great way for families to take up a new outdoor activity without the chaos of trial and error. An added benefit to these programs is that our children – who have recently realized we are not as cool as they once thought we were – are introduced to some truly cool hikers, climbers and kayakers that guide families through their first experiences.

Learning by Example
Parents are the best source for their children’s outlook on fitness, but in College Park there is always someone out there setting a great example: the couple hundred residents who completed marathons last fall, the dozens of people involved in the Masters swimming programs at the university, the triathletes, and weekend soccer and rugby players.

In College Park we also have the superstars – the athletic heros – our Maryland Terrapins.  By taking our children to games, whether it is field hockey for free, soccer for $5 a person or the more expensive basketball games, we are giving our children the opportunity to see just how far fitness can take them and just how much hard work can pay off.

The Bloomberg Businessweek article was right in its choice of College Park as a great place to raise children.  As parents we want to give our children the world. We want them to have everything they need to be the best person they can be when they grow up. In College Park, we get a bonus. We get the opportunity to expand on the basics and give our children so much more.