Youth Fitness & Development Programs

Empower Your Young Athlete

Give your child, middle-schooler, or teenager the confidence to tackle whatever the world throws at them through fitness and development.

Our Empower Youth Fitness Programs in Vancouver are designed to develop strong, adaptable, resilient athletes with superior physical literacy. These programs are designed to meet the neurological and physiological needs of the each respective age group. Because these functional fitness movements are scalable, the athletes can safely train at their level.

Whether your child is just starting their fitness journey, is playing sports at a recreational level or is an experienced elite athlete, our programs will help them excel.

In the gym your young athlete will develop self-awareness, discipline, focus and perseverance that will help them overcome obstacles outside the gym. We want to help create a passion for fitness that your child will carry with them throughout their lives.

Group Classes, Small Group Training, and 1:1 Coaching for Youth

Choose from any of the following programs or call for a custom option

Youth fitness programs: varsity

For athletes aged 8-12 and 13-17

Summer Varsity

Start date: July 2 and August 6, 2025

Classes run on Monday and Wednesday afternoons from 4–5pm. The programming includes all weight lifting movements, gymnastics and metabolic conditioning.

All weights are scaled appropriately to the correct stimulus and intensity for the athlete. We work on injury prevention and strong core conditioning in addition to providing a positive confidence building environment.

Prerequisites: all senior varsity athletes must have pre-approval or attend a 1:1 session with Coach Leon prior to attending a Varsity class.

This assessment and review of movements allows the athlete to transition into the group setting easily and sets them up for success in the program.

Youth fitness programs: varsity

For athletes aged 13-17

Varsity

Ages: 13-17

Prerequisites: Prior assessment

Start date: September 2025

Our Varsity program includes all weight lifting movements, gymnastics and metabolic conditioning. All weights are scaled appropriately to the correct stimulus and intensity for the athlete. We work on injury prevention and strong core conditioning in addition to providing a positive confidence building environment.

Prerequisites: Coach assessment and approval to ensure you can transition to Varsity classes safely and easily. One-to-one coaching sessions are available if needed to set you up for success in this program.

Register now and we'll arrange for an assessment at a time convenient for you prior to joining class.

Youth fitness programs: junior varsity

For athletes aged 8-12

Junior Varsity

Ages: 8-12

Prerequisites: None

Start date: September 2025

The Junior Varsity group learns all the foundational movements of CrossFit. This includes weight lifting, gymnastics and metabolic conditioning. The PVC pipe is an excellent tool for teaching complex movements like clean and jerks without load until the athlete is ready to handle a barbell. If you stop by during class time you might see us playing games like shoulder tap cone grab or tabata hot potato hollow holds. These games help develop the smaller stabilizing muscles as well as make it fun so the kids work hard without realizing it!

Prerequisites: none at this time. All youth athletes welcome. Athletes who have participated in Junior Varsity can graduate to Varsity level when they age up.

Youth fitness programs: homeschool PE

For young athletes on an alternative education path

Homeschool PE

Ages: 9-17

Prerequisites: None

Start date: September 10

Homeschool PE is a CrossFit-based program that incorporates cardio, strength training, and gymnastics movements for complete body conditioning. All weights are scaled appropriately to the correct stimulus and intensity for the athlete.

We work on injury prevention and strong core conditioning in addition to providing a positive confidence-building environment. Best of all, we have fun doing it, by incorporating partner workouts and games.

Early bird pricing ends August 25.

Youth fitness programs: team training

For teams between seasons

Team Training

Ages: 9-18

Prerequisites: None

Start date: Let's talk!

Empower offers dryland training for teams that are coming off the ice, out of the pool or are in between seasons. Bring your team in for strength and conditioning sessions and set them up for success when they return to sport.

Talk to us to set up a training program for your team.

Youth fitness programs: personal training

For all athletes aged 8-17

Youth Personal Training

Ages: 8-17

Prerequisites: None

Start date: Let's talk!

Our Youth Personal Training program is custom built to support the needs of your athlete. These custom programmed sessions can be built to support youth athletes in specific sports with a focus on strengthening, injury prevention, and injury recovery.

Personal training can be done 1:1 or in small groups (1:2, 1:3, 1:4, etc.) so kids can train with their friends.

Whether the group class time doesn’t fit your schedule, your athlete works better one-on-one, or your elite athlete is looking for more specific training, we are here to help meet those needs.

Our Coaches Talk About How We Empower Youth Athletes

youth development programs

More Than Wins: How Pressure Builds Resilient Children

July 24, 20253 min read


"Everything negative—pressure, challenges—is an opportunity for me to rise." – Kobe Bryant

Thought of the Day


We always want to celebrate the wins and try to model the best Instagram-worthy highlight reel. But sometimes the best teacher for your youth is pressure, mistakes, challenges, and other seemingly negative things. Giving your child the opportunity to balance the pressure of school and sports may be exactly what sets them up for success as an adult.

We know that the busyness of life does not slow down once you’re out of school. On the contrary, it usually gets busier—with the constant juggling of life, work, and family commitments. How will you model this balance for your children and support them in creating their own?

While I was taking my son to swim lessons, he asked me, “Why are you up and working before I get out of bed?” The short answer: So I can take you to swim lessons, bud.
I was happy to have a chat with him about balancing time with him and his sister, while also fitting in work and all of life’s other commitments. It’s good for kids to witness how we handle pressure, and I hope to instill in them the ability to manage it better than I have. Usually, what we say has little bearing on the outcome; because what we do, how we model, and what we help them commit to is the real teacher.

You want your children to grow into not just great kids, but well-rounded and balanced adults. That doesn't happen by lobbing the easy path in their direction, but by helping them overcome pressure, challenges, and other seemingly negative experiences. The first step can be helping them balance school with sports and other activities.

If they don’t make this a priority while life’s demands are still relatively low, how do you expect them to make the shift when life gets crazier and more demanding?

If you’re looking for an activity to help them rise, we have our Empower Youth programs. These classes are a great opportunity for them to build physical literacy, learn commitment to a process, and have fun along the way.

For more information on our Homeschool PE, Teen, and Tween classes, follow this link: Youth programs

Thursday

H: 03-10 Warm up (7 min)

  • 500 meter row or bike

  • Chest stretch, wall angle and thoracic stretch

  • With a PVC pipe:

    Shoulder pass thru

    Around the world

    Overhead squat with PVC or resistance band

  • Hamstring stretch, Cossack stretch

 

H: 10-24 Tech (14 min)

If use barbell and perform snatch first:

Snatch mini pull, snatch high pull, and snatch to overhead

Use 2 or 3 weights to build up to the workout weight.

Suggestion on the weight choice: 70-80% of 1RM, aiming for unbroken 10 reps

 

If not able to perform overhead with a good form, or afraid of barbell overhead:

Use a plate. Try to align your arms with your ears while maintaining your heels down.

 

H: 25 WOD

4 rounds for time of:

Row 500 meters

155-lb overhead squats, 10 reps

Time cap: 20 min

 

Notes:

  • We have limited number of rower. Can use bike as an alternative

  • Snatch to overhead is recommended. Share the bar with a partner if more than 6 people on the platform.

 

  • For partners who share the bar:

You will use either the rower or bike for the cardio part.

Partner A will start from one cardio equipment

Partner B will start from the barbell with one minute staggered

If both are going for their cardio part and one is already on the rower, the other can use the bike for that round.

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Coach Leon

Leon will help you create a fitness practice that will allow you to excel at the activities you enjoy inside and outside of the gym. Leon started coaching at Delta Kaigan Judo Club in 2007, branching out into leading personal safety and fear management courses. Leon competes in CrossFit, Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has been coaching CrossFit since 2012.

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Accomplish Personal Bests

"Empower has provided our son with a safe and supportive environment in which to test himself, accomplish personal bests and celebrate the results among peers."

-Chris H.

Incredibly Supportive Environment

"Empower has become a gym for our family. The coaches are so knowledgeable and can also scale weights/movements to your fitness level. Smaller group classes allow coaches to ensure all movements are performed safely. It is an incredibly supportive environment which makes Empower Youth unique."

-Carmine L.

Empower

Contact Us

235-2083 Alma Street

Vancouver, British Columbia

info@empowereverybody.com

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