Arlington proposing to close county gymnastics program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

So if there aren't gymnastics coaches, why don't they hire cheer coaches or someone to teach ninja classes or fitness classes in the space? Why don't they offer open gyms with a higher gymnast to staff ratio? Why don't they offer more toddler and preschool classes that require a lower skill level for the coaches? Why don't they offer birthday parties or private lessons that have a much higher margin? All of these are things that other gyms do.

so that the competitive team can be subsidized. Just to be clear that this is what you are suggesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

This isn't that different than the same hiring issues you hear with APS. I know of Barcroft coaches who are furloughed during covid who have availability to coach who haven't been contacted and they haven't tried to return because it's such a hassle. I also know of coaches who interviewed at Barcroft and wanted to work there and ultimately ended up at another gym because Barcroft wasn't getting back to them. And you hear about teens from the team who've applied for spot and also haven't heard back. You can pretend it's standards or you can accept that they're not doing a great job.

I’m just supposed to accept what anonymous people on the internet say they heard about their hiring practices. No thanks.

I do think the Board should ask to see info on this and fact check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

So if there aren't gymnastics coaches, why don't they hire cheer coaches or someone to teach ninja classes or fitness classes in the space? Why don't they offer open gyms with a higher gymnast to staff ratio? Why don't they offer more toddler and preschool classes that require a lower skill level for the coaches? Why don't they offer birthday parties or private lessons that have a much higher margin? All of these are things that other gyms do.

so that the competitive team can be subsidized. Just to be clear that this is what you are suggesting.

So that Arlington makes a use of a facility that they've already invested in to benefit the community. There's demand for all of these things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

So if there aren't gymnastics coaches, why don't they hire cheer coaches or someone to teach ninja classes or fitness classes in the space? Why don't they offer open gyms with a higher gymnast to staff ratio? Why don't they offer more toddler and preschool classes that require a lower skill level for the coaches? Why don't they offer birthday parties or private lessons that have a much higher margin? All of these are things that other gyms do.

so that the competitive team can be subsidized. Just to be clear that this is what you are suggesting.

Not just the competitive team but also rec gymnastics and adaptive. Those are all caught up in the same outcome. The facility needs to be fully utilized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

So if there aren't gymnastics coaches, why don't they hire cheer coaches or someone to teach ninja classes or fitness classes in the space? Why don't they offer open gyms with a higher gymnast to staff ratio? Why don't they offer more toddler and preschool classes that require a lower skill level for the coaches? Why don't they offer birthday parties or private lessons that have a much higher margin? All of these are things that other gyms do.

so that the competitive team can be subsidized. Just to be clear that this is what you are suggesting.

Not just the competitive team but also rec gymnastics and adaptive. Those are all caught up in the same outcome. The facility needs to be fully utilized.

They are not though really because the county can figure out other ways to provide these programs at much lower cost.

[Anonymous]

DPR director also confirmed this type of offering is only provided in Prince George’s and Stanford in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DPR director also confirmed this type of offering is only provided in Prince George’s and Stanford in this area.

stafford

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

So if there aren't gymnastics coaches, why don't they hire cheer coaches or someone to teach ninja classes or fitness classes in the space? Why don't they offer open gyms with a higher gymnast to staff ratio? Why don't they offer more toddler and preschool classes that require a lower skill level for the coaches? Why don't they offer birthday parties or private lessons that have a much higher margin? All of these are things that other gyms do.

so that the competitive team can be subsidized. Just to be clear that this is what you are suggesting.

Not just the competitive team but also rec gymnastics and adaptive. Those are all caught up in the same outcome. The facility needs to be fully utilized.

They are not though really because the county can figure out other ways to provide these programs at much lower cost.

They cannot provide rec gymnastics without a facility. Nor can the other local facilities absorb those gymnasts. Dynamic has sent a letter saying they have huge waiting lists for their classes and YMCA is similarly full.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

So if there aren't gymnastics coaches, why don't they hire cheer coaches or someone to teach ninja classes or fitness classes in the space? Why don't they offer open gyms with a higher gymnast to staff ratio? Why don't they offer more toddler and preschool classes that require a lower skill level for the coaches? Why don't they offer birthday parties or private lessons that have a much higher margin? All of these are things that other gyms do.

so that the competitive team can be subsidized. Just to be clear that this is what you are suggesting.

Not just the competitive team but also rec gymnastics and adaptive. Those are all caught up in the same outcome. The facility needs to be fully utilized.

They are not though really because the county can figure out other ways to provide these programs at much lower cost.

They cannot provide rec gymnastics without a facility. Nor can the other local facilities absorb those gymnasts. Dynamic has sent a letter saying they have huge waiting lists for their classes and YMCA is similarly full.

They do not need that extensive of a facility to offer basic recreational and adaptive gymastics classes. Topic well covered on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

So if there aren't gymnastics coaches, why don't they hire cheer coaches or someone to teach ninja classes or fitness classes in the space? Why don't they offer open gyms with a higher gymnast to staff ratio? Why don't they offer more toddler and preschool classes that require a lower skill level for the coaches? Why don't they offer birthday parties or private lessons that have a much higher margin? All of these are things that other gyms do.

so that the competitive team can be subsidized. Just to be clear that this is what you are suggesting.

Not just the competitive team but also rec gymnastics and adaptive. Those are all caught up in the same outcome. The facility needs to be fully utilized.

They are not though really because the county can figure out other ways to provide these programs at much lower cost.

They cannot provide rec gymnastics without a facility. Nor can the other local facilities absorb those gymnasts. Dynamic has sent a letter saying they have huge waiting lists for their classes and YMCA is similarly full.

They do not need that extensive of a facility to offer basic recreational and adaptive gymastics classes. Topic well covered on this thread.

The facility is already there. Coming up with a different facility would cost money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

So if there aren't gymnastics coaches, why don't they hire cheer coaches or someone to teach ninja classes or fitness classes in the space? Why don't they offer open gyms with a higher gymnast to staff ratio? Why don't they offer more toddler and preschool classes that require a lower skill level for the coaches? Why don't they offer birthday parties or private lessons that have a much higher margin? All of these are things that other gyms do.

so that the competitive team can be subsidized. Just to be clear that this is what you are suggesting.

Not just the competitive team but also rec gymnastics and adaptive. Those are all caught up in the same outcome. The facility needs to be fully utilized.

They are not though really because the county can figure out other ways to provide these programs at much lower cost.

They cannot provide rec gymnastics without a facility. Nor can the other local facilities absorb those gymnasts. Dynamic has sent a letter saying they have huge waiting lists for their classes and YMCA is similarly full.

They do not need that extensive of a facility to offer basic recreational and adaptive gymastics classes. Topic well covered on this thread.

There are other options for toddlers and preschoolers, but by the time you have a 5-year-old (or older) you do need an actual gym for rec classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

So if there aren't gymnastics coaches, why don't they hire cheer coaches or someone to teach ninja classes or fitness classes in the space? Why don't they offer open gyms with a higher gymnast to staff ratio? Why don't they offer more toddler and preschool classes that require a lower skill level for the coaches? Why don't they offer birthday parties or private lessons that have a much higher margin? All of these are things that other gyms do.

so that the competitive team can be subsidized. Just to be clear that this is what you are suggesting.

Not just the competitive team but also rec gymnastics and adaptive. Those are all caught up in the same outcome. The facility needs to be fully utilized.

They are not though really because the county can figure out other ways to provide these programs at much lower cost.

They cannot provide rec gymnastics without a facility. Nor can the other local facilities absorb those gymnasts. Dynamic has sent a letter saying they have huge waiting lists for their classes and YMCA is similarly full.

They do not need that extensive of a facility to offer basic recreational and adaptive gymastics classes. Topic well covered on this thread.

There are other options for toddlers and preschoolers, but by the time you have a 5-year-old (or older) you do need an actual gym for rec classes.

How are other jurisdictions without this kind of facility offering rec gymnastics to 5 and overs? Do they offer it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

So if there aren't gymnastics coaches, why don't they hire cheer coaches or someone to teach ninja classes or fitness classes in the space? Why don't they offer open gyms with a higher gymnast to staff ratio? Why don't they offer more toddler and preschool classes that require a lower skill level for the coaches? Why don't they offer birthday parties or private lessons that have a much higher margin? All of these are things that other gyms do.

so that the competitive team can be subsidized. Just to be clear that this is what you are suggesting.

Not just the competitive team but also rec gymnastics and adaptive. Those are all caught up in the same outcome. The facility needs to be fully utilized.

They are not though really because the county can figure out other ways to provide these programs at much lower cost.

They cannot provide rec gymnastics without a facility. Nor can the other local facilities absorb those gymnasts. Dynamic has sent a letter saying they have huge waiting lists for their classes and YMCA is similarly full.

They do not need that extensive of a facility to offer basic recreational and adaptive gymastics classes. Topic well covered on this thread.

There are other options for toddlers and preschoolers, but by the time you have a 5-year-old (or older) you do need an actual gym for rec classes.

How are other jurisdictions without this kind of facility offering rec gymnastics to 5 and overs? Do they offer it?

In places like Burke where land and space is less expensive and more is available there are private facilities.

Arlington used to have a private gymnastics facility across the street from W&L but the land was purchased by APS and they were evicted. They couldn't find another space in Arlington so moved to Fairfax (Dynamic).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those interested, County work session on this yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrPkJSDlBpQ&t=1657s

Take aways:

Gymanstics program NOT currently covering facility costs
Historically rec program used to subsidize competitive team.
Serious issues finding qualified instructors and they detailed all the things they've done to try to recruit instructors.
Since there are not enough instructors, currently rec classes are being canceled to be sure the competitive team can continue on
Barcroft is NOT heavily used during the day as compared to other rec centers (this is based on data)

The issue of a recreational and adaptive gymnastics program should be separated out from the competitive team.

Forgot this one -

They started the adult gymnastics program to try to get a pipeline of qualified instructors and it didn't work. Apparently there has been some community idea volunteers can be trained to help. With such a specialized and risky sport, County has not done this.

This was a totally stupid idea and shows how incompetent DPR are in running the program. I've heard that older gymnasts in the Barcroft program have tried to get jobs teaching classes or summer camps and DPR never gets back to them. There's absolutely no reason that a high school junior or senior couldn't help teach a class.

I though the adult classes were really important and there was widespread demand for adult gymnastics.

There is. But it wasn't a good idea for a recruiting technique. Those classes seem to be really popular. But as DPR admitted, they haven't resulted in hiring those adults as coaches

I don’t know if you’re the person who said it’s a stupid way to recruit instructors. Doesn’t seem stupid to me. You get creative if you can’t find people.

If you told the high school gymnasts on the competitive team that they each need to teach a rec class per week to keep the program open, you'd immediately have an entire slate of coaches. And they'd do it for free just to be able to keep doing gymnastics.

Yes I’’m sure in all their free time not in school or doing competitive gymnastics or their other obligations it will overlap perfectly for when people want rec classes.

Lol. You mean after school and weekends? Teens are available the same times that rec classes are demanded. And yeah, they would find an hour or two in their week to avoid having to quit gymnastics or commute multiple hours per week to a gym super far away

People do also want rec classes for 0-5 during the day. Do they not have gymnastics practice after school or in the evenings? The competitive gymnasts are free all afternoon, evening and weekends to provide a regular commitment. That is great. Problem solved.

The competitive gymnasts are practicing 20 hours a week after school, on top of their other club and academic commitments that are so common in this area for those planning on applying to college. They don't go home at 3 and sit on their couches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP what you are demanding is the county work harder to subsidize your competitive gymnastics team. I mean cmon. I don’t want them spending their time doing that as a taxpayer.

DPR's time is compensated by the fees they earn from rec classes. If they aren't doing their job and they keep cutting offerings year over year, then revenue keeps dropping year over year, resulting in cuts year over year. This year it's gymnastics. Next year it could be swim or senior programs or teen programs. It's a downward spiral. There's no reason the gymnastics program can't be self-supporting and offer gymnastics to a wide range of kids and adults in Arlington.

Well they said there is a reason. they can’t hire qualified people to teach this activity safely and they said other activities they’ve been able to bounce back and hire people. They mentioned life guards.

I think a disconnect is perhaps their standards of who to hire don’t match what you all find acceptable. I guess it’s their gym and they should figure out what risk they can tolerate.

So if there aren't gymnastics coaches, why don't they hire cheer coaches or someone to teach ninja classes or fitness classes in the space? Why don't they offer open gyms with a higher gymnast to staff ratio? Why don't they offer more toddler and preschool classes that require a lower skill level for the coaches? Why don't they offer birthday parties or private lessons that have a much higher margin? All of these are things that other gyms do.

so that the competitive team can be subsidized. Just to be clear that this is what you are suggesting.

Not just the competitive team but also rec gymnastics and adaptive. Those are all caught up in the same outcome. The facility needs to be fully utilized.

They are not though really because the county can figure out other ways to provide these programs at much lower cost.

They cannot provide rec gymnastics without a facility. Nor can the other local facilities absorb those gymnasts. Dynamic has sent a letter saying they have huge waiting lists for their classes and YMCA is similarly full.

They do not need that extensive of a facility to offer basic recreational and adaptive gymastics classes. Topic well covered on this thread.

There are other options for toddlers and preschoolers, but by the time you have a 5-year-old (or older) you do need an actual gym for rec classes.

How are other jurisdictions without this kind of facility offering rec gymnastics to 5 and overs? Do they offer it?

Fairfax offers beginner-level classes at the rec centers but it looks like they're run by vendors, contractors who aren't employees. For the 1 class my DD took, the teacher had to bring out and set up the equipment each time. Not sure if that's necessary at every location or not. There are a lot more choices for private facilities in Fairfax County though so there's just not the same level of demand for a parks & rec program. People typically use it as a low cost/low commitment way to explore the sport, or if it's just more convenient.

DD was at Dynamic for many years and they also had lots of problems finding staff people for the team and higher level classes.