In tears, a then five-year-old Sharon Taylor sat by the side of the ice rink in Pickering, Ontario, trying to understand why her mother wanted her to lace up her skates and glide across the glossy, slick surface with the power, control and grace of a figure skater.
Years later, that initial reluctance transformed into a life of being active for Taylor, who this past Sept. 10 was a recipient of the Program Manager/Director of the Year award from the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA).
Taylor, the fitness coordinator at South Arm Community Centre for the past eight and a half years, said she was thankful for her mother’s insistence that eventually led to an interest in weight training and a part time job at the local YMCA while finishing up her degree at Montreal’s Concordia University.
“I was a skinny Minnie Miller and you could just flick me over with a finger, so I got into strength training to help myself be stronger on the ice, and it gave me a little more toning,” Miller said.
After university, Taylor became a teacher and provided her own insight into fitness for students, mostly young girls, who found themselves outside the attraction of team sports.
“I was never one for organized team sports, even as a student in high school,” she said. “So, moving into weight training and group fitness was a perfect outlet for me because it was individual, but you still had the camaraderie of other people.
“And as a school teacher, I wanted to share my knowledge in fitness with school kids. Later, that moved into working with adults and I just loved it.”
Taylor became a personal trainer and ran her own business in the Mission/Maple Ridge area before coming to Richmond where she was instrumental in starting numerous group fitness programs, such as step classes and step training.
She’s also been keen to make South Arm Community Centre the place to go for dance-based fitness classes, such as Zumba, which the centre was the first in Richmond to offer.
“We also had a cardio salsa class, and this winter we are bringing in BollyX, a new dance fitness class,” Taylor said, adding it’s a program that is inspired by the Bollywood film industry in India. “I really like to be on the edge of bringing in new trends.”
And that caters well to the sizable dance fitness clientele that has built up over the years at South Arm.
“We have more than 35 classes per week and I have been able to keep those going at full capacity. That’s a big draw for people and the centre,” she said.
In addition to keeping things running at a high clip, Taylor has organized several charitable programs through the community centre.
“I first introduced Fit for Heart, which was an annual fundraiser for the heart and stroke foundation,” she said. “We have also done some work for the Richmond homeless with our Salsa for Socks program where people would bring new socks in and donate them during the winter time.”
Another long-running charitable program has visitors to the centre drop off used running shoes, which go to the homeless locally.
A new program started earlier this year is Drop In Drop Off, where, during one week, visitors to the community centre brought in warm clothing in return for a free fitness class that was new to South Arm.
“That was a great way to help the homeless community and get people interested in what new programs we had,” Taylor said.
Charitable work aside, Taylor said she is extremely proud of her efforts in getting people to adopt active lifestyles who previously never thought about regular exercise.
Called Start Me Up, her program focuses on small group training classes for those who, in some cases, have been advised by their doctor to get moving to help improve their health.
“There’s a lot of people out there who have never been in a fitness centre,” Taylor said. “So, this program accommodates them and provides a setting where they can get that one-on-one relationship with a fitness trainer at a reduced rate.”
And since the classes are small – up to four people – it also helps develop social relations which encourages participants to attend on a regular basis.
“It’s one of our unique programs,” she said. “And the really important thing for us (trainers) here is to figure out ways to get people somewhat motivated to get fit.”
While that can mean a tough sell for some, Taylor said that the successes achieved along the way make it all worthwhile for her.
“That’s the wonderful thing about my job, finding the right program for someone and encouraging them along,” she said.
