Thursday, October 1, 2026
For kids, fitness does not have to feel like a workout. At Rookies Kids Fitness & Athletics, the goal is to make children move, play and build confidence without necessarily realizing how hard they are working.
The children’s fitness program officially opened its second location in Oceanside at 3648 Long Beach Road on Sept. 14, following the success of its original location in Bellmore. Owner Marc Dern said Oceanside stood out as a natural fit for the growing business.
“It’s such a family-oriented community,” Dern said. “There’s a lot of kids, a lot of sports. It’s a very close-knit group of people. I felt like this was a good market for us.”
Dern, who lives in Bellmore, said the community’s atmosphere, along with what he saw as an opportunity in the local market, made the location appealing.
The Oceanside facility features a large, open space with navy blue turf and bright, kid-friendly colors. Rookies offers group fitness classes for children ranging from about 6 months old through age 14.
“We love starting with them when they’re young because it enhances their performance later on in life — it really does build a foundation” Dern said.
The programming combines fitness with sports and coordination activities, with an emphasis on making exercise enjoyable.
“It’s a very high-energy program,” Dern said. “It’s meant to be so fun that the kids don’t realize how hard they’re actually working.”
The classes are designed to help children develop more than physical strength. Coaches incorporate hand-eye coordination, teamwork, sportsmanship and leadership into activities.
“This teaches them to work as a team, for sportsmanship, as a leader, whether it be in a sport or a future career,” Dern said.
One of the program’s mottos is “Train like a champion, play like a kid,” reflecting the balance between athletic development and simply having fun.
The idea behind Rookies came from Dern’s own experience as a father. After working as a trainer for about 15 years, including at Equinox in Roslyn, Dern began taking his children to programs throughout Long Island.
When his oldest child, Carter, was young, Dern noticed how much the quality of the coaching affected his experience. That helped inspire Dern to create Rookies in Bellmore, where he said there was a need for a similar program. The business has since expanded to Oceanside.
For Dern, the coaches are one of the most important parts of the program. Rookies has an extensive interview and training process, with an emphasis on creating coaches children want to see each week.
“Part of our coaches training is motivating the kids,” he said. “We make sure all the kids have good sportsmanship, win or lose.”
Inclusivity is also an important component. Coaches can modify activities based on a child’s abilities and experience, and the program has coaches with experience working with children of different abilities.
“We do a really good job of making sure everyone in that class gets a touch and everyone is getting something out of it,” Dern said.
Beyond classes, Rookies offers birthday parties, Kids Night Out events and themed activities during school breaks, including workouts with Santa Claus, Spider-Man and princesses.
The business also hopes to establish relationships with Oceanside schools and community organizations, offering activities such as sports nights, field days, fun runs, assemblies and field trips.
Ultimately, Dern said he hopes Rookies becomes more than a place for children to exercise.
“Building friendships is one of my biggest takeaways,” he said. “The parents built the community. The kids made friends, just from being in their classes together.”
For Dern, seeing that community develop — now in two locations — has been among the most rewarding parts of the business.
“I love being a hands-on owner and being so active with Rookies,” he said. “Watching the excitement of the kids when they have a breakthrough, it really is exciting.”
