Meet October Community Captain of the Month, REFIT Kanawha’s Tina White
Our October Community Captain of the month was born and raised in Cross Lanes (Charleston), WV. A few months after graduating from Nitro High School in 1989, Tina moved to Japan with her husband who served in the US Air Force. While there, she was asked to substitute for an aerobic instructor on the base who was out on vacation. “I think that is when I caught the fitness bug“, says Tina.
Tina moved back to WV in 1993 and was very active playing softball in community and church leagues until she became pregnant with her first child. She had her son in January 1996 and daughter in May 1997, and spent 10 years taking care of them while working fulltime as an insurance agent. In 2006, Tina decided to start taking care of herself again, and through playing softball, entered a national transformation contest and won! This propelled her back into to exercise and group fitness which led Tina to start teaching classes in January 2007. Tina has taught many formats- kickboxing, bootcamp, pilates/yoga, HIIT, and finally REFIT. Tina also continued her career as an insurance agent and in 2021 opened her own agency purchasing a building in South Charleston, WV in July 2022.
Tina joined Active SWV in 2020 and started her own class in 2021. It is now the only class she teaches each week.
Tina stays active to feel her best physically and mentally. She always enjoyed being active but after her children were born there didn’t seem to be as much time for her fitness needs. Once the children began school, fitness worked its way back into the schedule and became a priority for Tina again.
Tina was motivated to join Active SWV as a Community Captain during the COVID 19 pandemic. “The pandemic was very hard on group fitness and gyms. Offering a free class in my community, at my church, was the perfect solution to get my exercise and social connection in together!”
Tina stays motivated because she simply refuses to get old or make excuses. It hurts just as much to lay around and do nothing as it does to workout six days a week. Mentally it is a much better option to be active and volunteer. “I feel like helping and motivating others is my purpose and being active is my path to fulfilling my calling.”
Tina believes others should join Active SWV because they are free and welcoming! Come as you are, you are accepted, loved, and encouraged.
To keep up with Tina and our other volunteer Community Captain free program options, visit Active SWV’s website calendar.
To help your own community become healthier through free physical activity programming, email [email protected] to get started.
