CATZ Highlands Ranch Featured on 9News

KUSA - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 19 percent of kids ages 6-11 and 17 percent of teens are considered overweight. Those numbers have tripled for children and quadrupled for teens in the last 25 years. So what can be done?

CATZ Highlands Ranch thinks they have a solution: volunteer to be "substitute" teachers for physical education classes in various Douglas County schools.

Although, substitute might not be the correct word, considering the gym teachers usually get involved in the workouts too.

"A lot of the teachers, they've taken full page notes, done our warm-ups and been to some of our camps," said Chad Jones, the director of performance at CATZ. "What we're trying to do is get in these schools and have fun with the kids. We really just make it a form of physical education where we take them through sports specific training and just make it fun. It's been a blast getting into these schools."

On this day, the kids at Cresthill Middle School in Highlands Ranch are feeling the burn. Chad is taking them through numerous lunges, squats, ladder drills and frog leaps, just to name a few.

"As you can see, they're crying, they're screaming. But the next day, I hear them come back and say, 'That's the toughest things we've ever done,'" said Jones. "And they always wonder when we're coming back."

The outreach program to Douglas County Schools is only a fraction of what Jones does. Normally, he's at the CATZ Highlands Ranch facility in Lone Tree where athletes of all ages and abilities can be found training in many non-traditional ways.

"A CATZ workout is a fun, dynamic multi-dimensional workout. More than just PE class or strength conditioning class," said CATZ owner Russ Bergeman.

It's also more than just a money maker. With three kids of his own, Bergeman and his wife strive for a family type atmosphere.

"I want this to be a 'Cheers' mentality where everybody knows your name," said Bergeman. "We keep our groups small. Six athletes or less unless we're doing an entire team."

Athletes have fun with their workouts at CATZ, but it helps to start young. Which is why they've volunteered their services to schools.

"If you can associate that PE program with fun and not just crusty old PE teacher, it can be fun and it can be dynamic," said Bergeman. "It's exciting and we want to change mindsets and keep them active into their adult years."

For more information about CATZ Highlands Ranch, click here.

Source: http://www.9news.com/sports/article.aspx?storyid=88519