A Perfect Situation

Work hard, pray, and trust that God will put you where you should be.

David Scheck says those are the factors that allowed him to make a home in Highlands County 20 years ago and, last March, become program director at the Highlands County Family YMCA.

Shortly after he joined the Y full-time in April 2008, the organization opened its new fitness center and swimming pool. Since then, membership has more than doubled to over 1,000.

"The new fitness center and the pool had a lot to do with that," Scheck said. But, he said, the paid staff and volunteer coaches and instructors remain the organization's key assets.

"Whatever success I may have in my job, I can only give the credit to the coaches and the instructors," he said. "If they do a good job, then I'm doing a good job.

"We are blessed with a lot of people who care about making a difference in people's lives, and they are very knowledgeable."

For both youth and adult sports and fitness programs, Scheck constantly has his eye out for something new. "I don't think you can ever be satisfied," he said. "I'm always looking to add something, to make it better."

The Y recently added scuba classes, day and evening Pilates, adult flag football, two new aerobics classes, and Fun and Fitness Fridays for children ages 8 to 12. New offerings being launched soon include beach volleyball, youth flag football, Zumba aerobics dance, and pickleball.

Born and raised in the rural town of Clyde, Ohio, Scheck, 42, went from high school into the Marine Corps and served four years.

Upon his discharge in 1989, he and wife Robin - they now have two children, Brittany, 22, and David, 15 - came to the Sebring area, where David had spent every summer through junior and senior high school. He learned horticulture and spent his summers landscaping with his grandfather, the late Gene Scheck, who owned Gulf and Lake Realty and launched the Sebring Rotary Club's annual apple sale.

"I always liked the area, I had family here, and I wanted to come down here and try to make a go of it," he said.

Looking for the economic anchor to raise a family here, Scheck was working a temporary job planting orange trees while trying to break into a career in law enforcement when a chance meeting changed his life.

"You know when things fall in place that sometimes it's not ironic, sometimes you know there is more of a driving force behind it, and that's what I felt," he said. "It seemed to be God's plan when I got the job at the Last Chance Ranch, and also when I came here to the YMCA."

At the county workforce office, Scheck met an Army sergeant major manning the front desk.

"We immediately hit it off, me being an ex-Marine and he being in the Army," Scheck recalled. "We talked about the service and then he said, 'I have just the job for you.'"

There was an opening for a counselor at the Last Chance Ranch, a residential facility for juvenile offenders in the Venus area. Scheck had never thought of that type of work. But, he said, "five minutes after I sat down in the sergeant major's office, he had me on the phone with Last Chance Ranch."

A few days later, Scheck landed the job and, driving home to give his wife the good news, saw her stopped at a red light next to him on U.S. 27 just north of Lake Jackson.

"I'll never forget rolling the window down and saying, 'I got the job,'" he recalled. "And she said, 'I did too.' She's been with SunTrust Bank ever since, and has worked her way up to branch manager."

At Last Chance Ranch, Scheck taught horticulture, served as a counselor, and coached the 15- to 18-year-old boys for vocational, educational and athletic competitions. While turnover in the job is often less than a year, Scheck stayed 19 years, relishing the opportunity and the challenges of helping teen-age boys turn their lives around.

"The positive side," he said, "is that so many times you see a kid come in with a rebellious type attitude and no respect for any authority. And by the time they leave you see a respectful young man who has some job skills...

"Sometimes, kids came in at a sixth- or seventh-grade level, and you saw them leave with a high school diploma if they were willing to put forth the work. Going to their graduations would definitely inspire you to keep going, it would get you through some of the rough days."

Scheck met staff at the YMCA taking Last Chance Ranch students there for landscaping projects, then began volunteering, and was invited to take on the part-time job of running the youth basketball program.

The unexpected chance to become full-time program director at the Y came at a time when, Scheck said, "I was ready for a change of pace, I was starting to get a little burned out working with teen-agers all those years."

Scheck said he thoroughly enjoys being part of the YMCA, because the organization not only provides sports and fitness, but also stresses Christian values and a family environment.

"We have so many things for kids and adults, so many things a family can do," he said. "It's about bringing families together, and that's important, especially in these days and times."