South Wood County YMCA has a New Sports and Camp Director

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. (WFHR, WIRI)

Baxter Arndt is the new Sports and Camp Director for the Wisconsin Rapids area YMCA. Baxter started the position a little before the new year and says he’s excited to start coaching and mentoring area youth. His education and background is in outdoor recreation. Baxter said this is a job that he feels will be more rewarding than ones he’s held in the past. Originally from Cedarburg, Wisconsin, Baxter has been in Wisconsin Rapids about two years and loves the area. In this new position, Baxter is planning to expand to have new activities and new programs at Camp Alexander and at the Y. Baxter spoke in depth with James Malouf during Mid-Day Magazine on January 2nd. You can find the podcast of that episode here civicmedia.us/shows/morning-magazine/2024/01/02/south-wood-county-ymca-17.

Youth Winter Programs

The first Winter Program for area youth starts this week with Micro Sports Basketball and Soccer and Youth Sports Basketball and Soccer. Session 1 runs for five weeks from January 15th through February 14th. Their Basketball League starts on January 23rd and runs for six weeks until February 29th. They’ve extended registration for this until January 19th and you can contact the new Sports and Camp Director, Baxter Arndt to get involved at arndt@swcymca.org .

Session 2 of the Winter Youth Sports programs begin on February 19th and run through March 21st. These include soccer, multi-sport clinics, a variety of micro sports, and various one day sport clinics. To find out more information, schedules, pricing, and to register, you can visit www.swcymca.org and under the Programs and Classes tab, select Youth Programs.

New Sports and Camp Director Looking for Coaches and Referees

As the new Sports and Camp Director, Baxter said he’s really hoping to grow the programs to offer more each session moving forward. With that in mind, the YMCA is looking for more coaches and referees from the community. Anyone from high school age to college age and even parents are welcome to participate. Baxter said you don’t even need to have a background in the sport. It’s easy to teach you the fundamentals and then have you relay that to the kids. All you need is an aptitude for teaching and a willingness to help out. These positions are paid and come with a YMCA membership. You can contact Baxter at arndt@swcymca.org to find out more information and how to get involved.