McGrath Family YMCA - Spring Valley, California

Olha M.

Our family has made the difficult decision to cancel our YMCA membership.

I want to start by highlighting the positives. Our children have truly enjoyed the gymnastics program, and the childcare staff have been kind, caring, and supportive. These programs have been great, and I’m thankful for the positive experiences we’ve had. Personally, I’ve had a mostly great year, attending the gym almost daily and feeling welcomed every time.

However, I must share the reason we are choosing to leave.

I had two very upsetting and frightening encounters with an older male member at the gym. On both occasions, he aggressively confronted me while I was using a leg extension machine, yelling at me to get off — even though I was actively using it, with normal 30-45 sec. rest periods between sets. He didn’t like that I was using my phone during my rest breaks.

This man was doing a circuit workout, jumping from machine to machine, slamming weights and skipping cleaning protocols — despite the YMCA having two dedicated circuit areas. When I calmly told him I had just finished my first set and had three more to go, he continued yelling at me. He remained standing directly in front of me, intimidating me while I tried to finish my workout. I left the area in tears, humiliated in front of others, and feeling completely unsupported. I can’t understand how any reasonable person expects someone to do four to five sets without any rest.

After the second incident, I reported the situation to staff. I was visibly upset. Multiple staff members told me that this man — possibly named "Ron" and referred to as "Coach" — had done this before. He had been spoken to previously, yet the behavior continued. Nothing changed. He still comes regularly.

Worse, I began to notice some staff gossiping about the situation, which only increased my discomfort. I even started timing my gym exit to avoid being in the parking lot at the same time as him — that’s how unsafe I felt.

It’s disheartening that someone with a known history of aggressive behavior is allowed to continue threatening and intimidating members, particularly women. As a mother, I expected the YMCA to be a safe place not only for my children, but for me.

I’m sharing this not only to explain our departure, but in the hope that this feedback leads to real change. Every member deserves to feel safe, supported, and respected in this community. Unfortunately, I no longer do.

Cassidy D.

Love this gym! Staff is amazing, community is respectful and friendly. Feels very safe and is kept clean. Shower are hot & they loan locks for the locker room. 🙂 highly recommend the splash pad for little ones

Rachel B.

This has been my home gym for about a year. Good equipment- you have pretty much everything you need here for strength training and cardio. The gym goers are nice and courageous. I don’t use the pool or take any classes, but it’s nice to have the option. Locker rooms are clean but you have to bring your own lock if you want to use the lockers. Overall, great gym for the price.

George G.

The swim coach Thomas does a phenomenal job with the kids. Coach Thomas has expanded the team, creates excellent workouts for the kids and has incredible knowledge of the sport of swimming. He volunteers his time freely and the entire swim program has evolved brilliantly thanks to him

Brit G.

This is our favorite YMCA. I've been taking April's Wednesday zumba classes and I never knew working out could be so enjoyable. I look forward to this class all week.

The child watch here is also amazing. It's definitely our son's favorite child watch and he's smitten with Lily(spelling?) who is always so happy to see him. Thank you Lily and April! You guys make coming here every week a great experience for us.

Ash

Can we start with the amount of people filming here I saw a woman going live on her of in the stretch room around 5 pm? Shortly after that I was trying to do lat pull downs and had a guy filming himself saying some odd stuff with me in the background.
I could’ve sworn this was a no film gym and I take my privacy seriously but no one is ever walking around the gym at 5 to prevent these things from happening

Jana P.

I have brought my son here for swimming lessons 3 times so far, Saturdays in the morning. When I show up and have shown up a few mins late before (my fault) but when I ask anyone which class he's in and who his teacher is have gotten nothing but incredibly rude reactions and responses. No one has been helpful. Another mom had to let me know which class my son was in today because she saw how lost I was. I switch off every other weekend taking him here with his dad and it seems like every time it's a new teacher. Work on your organization and not being super rude when someone is clearly just asking for some guidance.

Fawaz A.

Gym is clean,people's are really nice,BUT machines are really low! Smith machine is just 1! So have to wait so long! Need at least 1 more short back seat. Shoulder press machine is really not the one you expect! Need more of the Lower weight dampells like 10,15,20 lbs. Last
Opening hrs are really limited,especially on weekends,