![YMCA summer program: Several children in t-shirts and shorts holding orange/red pompoms in the air stand facing a grassy sports field with backs to camera](https://youthtoday.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/06/NEWS_2022.06.09_YMCA-Florida03_DSC03864-scaled-1.jpg)
Katie Hyson/WUFT News
A cheer team eggs on the kickball players at Hawthorne’s YMCA summer camp.
![YMCA summer program: Woman stands to far right with back to camera as tatching Two children face each as one prepares to kick approaching kickball.](https://youthtoday.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/06/NEWS_2022.06.09_YMCA-Florida01_DSC03871-scaled-1.jpg)
Katie Hyson/WUFT News
Angela Howard (right) president of North Central Florida YMCA, said she’s “overjoyed” to see all their work come to fruition.
![YMCA summer camp: FFive people with backs to camera stand behind the kicker waiting for a pitch during a kickball game and cheerleaders with red pompoms sit in bleachers across the playing field surrounded by green trees.](https://youthtoday.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/06/NEWS_2022.06.09_YMCA-Florida02_DSC03842-scaled-1.jpg)
Katie Hyson/WUFT News
A team watches in suspense as the kickball pitch is made.
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Katie Hyson is a Report for America Corps Member at WUFT News covering racial and rural inequities in East Gainesville and north central Florida.
This story is part of Youth Today’s coverage of out-of-school-time programs, best practices, and legislation at the federal and local level.
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