Wednesday, September 19, 2007

DSHN plays!

9-14-07 Members of the DSHN (Desert Sierra Health Network) and nutritionists from the Riverside and SB County Public Health Depts. had a field trip to the Zone last Friday. This was over a year ago when they first visited the Zone...and it was still under construction! Most had not visited us since, so this was quite a change for them. And they actually got to PLAY!

So after a quick tour and talk on the programs and services we offer here (like our IEHP-supported Family Fit Zone program), I let them out to play. Check out the photos and if you're part of DSHN and missed this field trip, I'm sure we can schedule another one in the future! ;-)

Thanks to Pam and Melani (and whoever else helped!) for organizing this field trip!

Have you ever seen your colleagues act like little kids at a playground? Well now's your chance! Here they are, scampering all over the bouldering wall, trying to finish the green (easiest) route on it. As far as I know, only a couple of people were able to do that. Something about "long nails" prevented a lot of others from finishing it!

You knew Erin was a serious Wii bowler when she put on her headband to play (she's on a Wii bowling team. Seriously!).

Pam plays soccer on the Trazer. Here she has to go from side-to-side to block a score, and then lunge forward in order to "kick" the ball into the opposite net.

She's played this before, and wanted to race her jet ski on the Gamebike again!

She's tall, but she can kick high! I wouldn't mess with her in a dark alley!

DSHN member thinking: "Wow, she can kick my head off if she wanted to...."

The Makoto machine didn't have a chance when attacked by 3 DSHN members!

These DSHN members have got the beat!Some homeschoolers check out these ladies trying to play DDR.

Famous women's boxer Laila Ali better watch out for this DSHN member!

Run, Jackie (Chan, that is), run! For those who played the Xavix J-mat, you know why we use this game as one of our fitness assessment tools pre and post in our Famly Fit Zone class.

In the Eye Toy Zone, they see themselves in the game!

Once Pam figurd out you were supposed to crash into the cars for more points, she earned a silver medal!

Monica's fellow DSHNers cheer her on as she tries to make it through the most difficult section on the bouldering wall.Alas, it was not meant to be...at least today.

Here's one of the 2 DSHN members who did make it past that hard spot on the wall, and is finishing up the 2nd hardest part of the wall, at the very end. The DSHN crowd goes wild when she completed the green course without touching the floor!

Sunday, September 09, 2007

XRGames crowns new champions!

9-9-07 On the same day the finals of the US Open (tennis) at Flushing Meadows was being contested, our own local battle was brewing. After our practice tourney back in July, this was the real deal. Titles were to be defended. Revenge was in the air. Check out the pictures to see how the drama in the XRGames unfolded! This was also to benefit the Redlands Rec Dept. as well.

Michael was there early, fueling up to avenge his loss in the Wii tennis finals last July.
Summer and Natalie also fuel up for their first Wii tourney ever.
Conchita checking in the Maury-Holmes family.
Zone Personal Trainer Jules was our tournament co-director. She was a big help in setting up the brackets and seeding, which is what she's doing here.
Jules going over the format with volunteer Lynsie, who was in charge of the Wii Tennis tourney. According to Jules, Lynsie did a great job, picking things up very quickly, especially since this was her first time at the Zone. Good thing she's smart since she's studying nursing!

Wii Tennis Amatuer Division

The Wii Tennis Amatuer division was a round robin format. Here Summer (in red) and Claire watch Natalie and Bianca play their best of 5-set match on Center Court.
Claire demonstrates her 2-handed backhand (or forehand?) in her match. Comes in very handy when she has to battle her older brothers on their Wii at home!
Looks like Summer is demonstrating an inside-out forehand, though in reality, she's just trying to keep the ball in play. (She just started playing the Wii 2 nights ago, thanks to Vicky for letting us borrow her Wii while she was on vacation!)
The "sisters" Natalie and Summer shake hands after doing battle on Center Court.
In the end, Claire wins the top spot and the trophy, with Summer (red) coming in 2nd, Bianca (green) 3rd, and Natalie (white,back) 4th.
Proud papa Pastor Bill (and disc golf player) gives daughter Claire a congratulatory smooch. Maybe this will lead to that tennis scholarship to Standford!

Wii Tennis Pro Division

Lynsie overseeing the Pro division on Courts 1 and 2 where a lot more players had their matches. Their format was a double-elimination format.
Samuel (white t-shirt), the reigning Wii tennis champ, unleashes a wicked left-handed forehand to Michael H.
Anael and Jake battling it out.
Michael C. shakes Samuel's hand before their semi final match. Michael lost to Samuel in Wii tennis last July and had been looking forward to this grudge match all summer long. Up to this point, Michael had already lost his first match to...Samuel, dropping into the bottom bracket, but they meet up again. If Samuel wins one more time, he's the overall champ. (Note the similarities to the real US Open taking place--Federer all dressed in black--Michael dressed in all black. Federer lost lost to Novak just 3 weeks ago--Michael lost to Samuel just over 2 months ago....)
The importance of this match wasn't lost on either of them, who started out a bit crazily. (No, they were just playing around for the camera! Both were excellent sports.)
There match was fast and furious, with great returns and net play, amazing the onlookers.
Amazingly, Samuel (in white) lost his first match, and so, they were both even and had to play one more time. The tension and drama increases as we moved their final game to the Center Court. The two continue their hard-hitting, net smothering game.
And on the final out, all-dressed-in-black-like-US Open '07-Champ Federer Michael C. raises his hands in victory as he wins the top prize.
Not only did Michael dress like Federer today, but he was a good sport and congratulated Samuel on their hard fought game. He knows he'll be seeing him again in the next Wii tennis tournament. No doubt, we'll be seeing a lot more of that young Samuel, just like we'll be seeing a lot more of that 20-year old Novak.
And so your top 4 winners in the Wii Tennis Pro Division are (l-r): 4th-Josh; 3rd-Joel; 2nd-Samuel; & 1st-Michael.

DDR Event - Light and Standard Divisions

After the Wii Tennis events were done, the DDR tournament resumed. Jules confers with Zone staffer Casey on the format and seeding. All the players in the Standard division did a song for score to determine their seeding in the double elimination brackets.
Brothers Joel and Samuel compete against each other in the finals of the DDR Light division.
It's an all Maury-Holmes family sweep in the Light Division, with Samuel taking home the trophy, Joel taking 2nd, and Claire taking 3rd.
After the seeding round in the Pro division, Jules sets up the brackets.
Heather (green) and Anael (black) battle it out in the Pro division.
The two Michaels battle it out in an early round.
As the rounds wind down, the crowd grows as they watch the remaining players left dancing.
And in the finals, it's defending champion Sara competing against Jake. They both put on an amazing show, the arrows were flying fast and furious!
And in the end, Jake is crowned the new DDR Pro champion and receives his hard-earned trophy!
Jake beaming with his trophy, while brother Josh looks on. (Thanks to Summer for taking a lot of these pictures. You probably can't tell which ones are hers and mine, she's getting that good and loved using my big digital SLR. Hint: I didn't get down low to shoot any of my pictures today.)
Here are the winners of the DDR Pro division: 4th-Anael (black); 3rd-Christian (green); 2nd-Sara (blue); and 1st-Jake (lime).
During the tournament, the players had a chance to preview the prizes for the raffle. Tennis racquets, movie passes, XRtZ swag (clothing, bags, pedometers), DS Lite game, and more! The big prize was the iPod Shuffle, which Conchita kept a close eye on.
After all the events were done, we raffled off prizes. Here Summer draws the tickets (she wanted to do that rather than win a prize) and Jules calls out the numbers.
And Claire is the big winner for the iPod Shuffle!

Congrats to all of our tournament participants today! They were all winners and we hope to see all of them at our next XRGames tournament! And a special thanks to all of our volunteers and staff for helping to make this XRGames a success!