The Cowra PCYC looks set to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic at full strength, with a range of equipment updates and new activities being rolled out for after-school care and fitness classes.
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Among the updates are a full-size boxing ring, a refitted training area, basketball backboards, revised after-school programs, badminton and Judo.
These updates are part of a larger renewal of the Binni Creek Road facility, and PCYC manager Stewart Mead is excited at the prospect of the new look.
"We're putting flags up, painting the insides - just getting it looking nice so that when people come in here, it's a place to be proud of," Mr Mead said.
The aim of these refurbishments is to allow the PCYC facility to have more participants, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's not designed to be empty. It's designed to have people through the day and then into the evenings," Mr Mead said.
"The shutdown was an opportunity for us to get in and to make things better".
Of all the changes, the Boxing program has seen the biggest upgrade, with a new full-size competitive ring to run in conjunction with the old three-quarter ring.
This will allow the PCYC to have sparring days with multiple simultaneous fights and practice.
"This is actually the biggest space we've had in the time that boxing has been in Cowra" Mead explains.
"We've effectively got three areas that people can train in, which allows us to have better numbers even with the social distancing".
As well as the new ring, the boxing practice area has also been refitted, with close to two thousand dollars being spent on new gear, punching bags and renovations.
Basketball has also undergone a revamp, starting with the instalment of new backboards on the basketball courts.
"It's an important thing that's been missing," Mr Mead said.
A survey of the local High School students found that basketball was the main sport that the kids wanted to play.
"Also with the Michael Jordan series ("The Last Dance" on Netflix), basketball is popular," he said.
"I grew up when basketball was popular in Cowra in the 1980s and 90s, and we would like to get it back to that, when we were playing until ten o'clock at night".
Backboards are not the only improvement though. Through a partnership with a former ACT junior coach, the basketball program has been redesigned, with a weekly lesson plan focusing on skill improvement and games.
These reshuffles are also part of a larger change in the PCYC's after-school care activities and community programs.
Activities soon to come are Badminton and Judo.
"Badminton is a new one coming to Cowra. We've got a small group of people who are actually keen to do Badminton, so that's a new activity we're doing at the club on a Tuesday night," he said.
"We're also looking to get Judo back, as well as the boxing".
Those activities are happening at the Binni Creek Road facility, with some more new activities occurring at the Young Road site.
"Another activity that we're starting up is a senior's program. We've got a gentle exercise class on a Monday and a Friday - that's a group of people from the Bilyara self-care Units who started that, but we welcome the wider community to come and do that.
"It's run by a personal trainer, Sarah Mead, so it's a qualified trainer delivering the session, and we've got people ranging in age from seventy to over ninety, so age is no barrier."
The PCYC has previously offered a chartered bus to take school students to the Binni Creek Road facility. That service is being extended.
"We'll have our after-school care kids get off at Binni Creek Road, and then the rest of the kids who want to play indoor netball on a Monday, volleyball on a Tuesday, basketball on a Wednesday or Futsal on a Thursday can travel over to the Young Road [Facility]. That's launching court-based junior sport, every day of the week".
The junior program is important to Mead, as it is one of the PCYC's main services to the community, and one of the major reasons for the refurbishments.
"We're really looking forward to getting our junior program up and running because that's the core of what PCYC does - to get the kids in here and burning off some energy - and it's the most important thing that we can do".
