View source for YMCA

{{Short description|Worldwide youth organization}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=October 2012}}
{{About|the organization|the Village People song|Y.M.C.A. (song)|other uses}}

{{Infobox organization
| logo = World YMCA logo.svg
| caption = World YMCA logo
| name = YMCA 
| founded_date = {{start date and age|1844|6|6|df=yes}}
| founder = [[George Williams (philanthropist)|George Williams]]
| founding_location = [[London]], England
| type = [[International non-governmental organization|International NGO]]
| headquarters = [[Vernier, Switzerland|Vernier]], Canton of Geneva, Switzerland<ref name=HQaddress>{{cite web|url=https://www.ymca.int/|title=Home|publisher=YMCA|access-date=2025-07-27|quote=Contact World YMCA Chemin de Mouille-Galand 1 1214 Vernier Geneva - Switzerland}}</ref>
| region_served = Worldwide
| leader_title = President
| leader_name = Soheila Hayek
| leader_title2 = Secretary General
| leader_name2 = Carlos Sanvee
| revenue = 
| staff = 88,485 (2018)
| volunteers = 919,671 (2018)
| formerly = Young Men's Christian Association
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}

'''YMCA''', sometimes regionally called '''the Y''', is a worldwide [[youth organisation]] based in [[Vernier, Switzerland|Vernier]], [[Canton of Geneva]], Switzerland,<ref name=HQaddress/> with more than 64&nbsp;million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |date=2018-07-10 |title=Blue Book |url=http://www.ymca.int/ymca-blue-book-world-ymca-movement-statistics-2018/ |access-date=2018-11-10 |publisher=World Alliance of YMCAs}}</ref> It was founded in [[London]] on 6 June 1844 by [[George Williams (philanthropist)|George Williams]] as the '''Young Men's Christian Association'''. The organisation's stated aim is to put [[Christian values]] into practice by developing a healthy body, mind, and spirit.

From its inception, YMCA grew rapidly, ultimately becoming a worldwide movement founded on the principles of [[muscular Christianity]]. Local YMCAs deliver projects and services focused on youth development through a wide variety of youth activities, including providing athletic facilities, holding classes for a wide variety of skills, promoting Christianity, and humanitarian work.

YMCA is a [[non-governmental federation]], with each independent local YMCA affiliated with its national organisation. The national organisations, in turn, are part of both a geographically regional area alliance and the World Alliance of YMCA. YMCA programs vary between nations and regions, but are all based on the principles espoused in the [[Paris Basis]].

The YMCA is a [[parachurch organisation]] based on [[Protestantism|Protestant]] values.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrxyDQAAQBAJ&dq=ymca+parachurch+protestant&pg=PA5 | title=American Churches and the First World War | isbn=9781532601149 | last1=Heath | first1=Gordon L. | date=31 October 2016 | publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UzgHBgAAQBAJ&dq=ymca+protestant+values&pg=PA44 | title=Interpreting LGBT History at Museums and Historic Sites | isbn=9780759123748 | last1=Ferentinos | first1=Susan | date=16 December 2014 | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}</ref> Similar organizations include the [[YWCA]], and the [[Young Men's Hebrew Association]] (YMHA). The YWCA is independent of the YMCA, but a few local and national YMCA and YWCA associations have merged into YM/YWCAs or YMCA-YWCAs and belong to both organizations, while providing the programs from each (e.g. [[YWCA-YMCA of Sweden|Sweden did so in 1966]]).

In popular culture, the YMCA is the subject of the 1978 song "[[Y.M.C.A. (song)|Y.M.C.A.]]" by the [[Village People]].

== History ==
=== 19th century ===
{{Further|George Williams (philanthropist)|Muscular Christianity}}

[[File:Sir George Williams by John Collier.jpg|thumb|[[George Williams (philanthropist)|George Williams]], who founded YMCA in 1844]]
[[File:Geneve archives YMCA 2011-08-23 11 24 53 PICT4048.JPG|thumb|The World Alliance of YMCAs logo displayed in [[Geneva]]]]
[[File:Montreal - YMCA, Rue des Récollets et Rue Sainte-Hélène - Note - 20050324.jpg|thumb|A historical marker at the YMCA in [[Montreal]], noting its 1851 establishment]]
[[File:Gymnasium-wood-engraving-Young-Mens-Christian-Association-June-16-1888.jpg|thumb|A YMCA gym in [[London]] in 1888]]
[[File:Georgia_Directory_Company's_directory_of_the_city_of_Macon._April_24,_1896._Volume_I_-_DPLA_-_6a4bf0d4b323becf10f72d159e04d6d0.pdf|page=3|thumb|An advertisement for the YMCA in [[Macon, Georgia]], {{Circa|1896}}]]

The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was founded on 6 June 1844, by [[George Williams (philanthropist)|George Williams]] and eleven friends.<ref>{{cite web |title=YMCA Founder's Day: Celebrating 170 Years — Greater Joliet Area YMCA |url=https://www.jolietymca.org/blog/founders-day/ |access-date=2019-06-06 |website=www.jolietymca.org}}</ref> Williams was a London [[draper]] who was typical of the young men drawn to the cities by the [[Industrial Revolution]]. They were concerned about the lack of healthy activities for young men in major cities; the options available were usually [[tavern]]s and [[brothel]]s. Williams' idea grew out of meetings he held for prayer and Bible-reading among his fellow workers in a business in the [[city of London]],<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Young Men's Christian Association |volume=28 |pages=940–941}}</ref> and on 6 June 1844, he held the first meeting that led to the founding of YMCA with the purpose of "the improving of the spiritual condition of young men engaged in the drapery, [[embroidery]], and other trades."<ref name="report">[[#IC95|Report of the Thirteenth International Conference]]: xix</ref> The first YMCA premises opened on Great Russell Street, London, in 1844.<ref name=first>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[Camden New Journal]]|title=Shock as world's first YMCA closes down|last=Maskell|first=Caitlin|page=3|date=5 December 2024}}<!--no URL yet, might be on paper's web site soon. pol098,5De24--></ref> [[Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury]] served as YMCA's first president from 1851 until his death in 1885.<ref name=":3">{{cite book |last=Cannon |first=John |title=A Dictionary of British History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2015 |isbn=9780191044809}}</ref>

By 1845, YMCA started a popular series of lectures that from 1848 were held at [[Exeter Hall]], London, and started being published the following year, with the series running until 1865.<ref>{{cite book |last=Finnegan |first=Diarmid A. |title=Journal of Victorian Culture |year=2011 |pages=46–64}}</ref>

YMCA was associated with [[industrialisation]] and the movement of young people to cities to work. YMCA "combined preaching in the streets and the distribution of religious tracts with a social ministry. Philanthropists saw them as places for wholesome recreation that would preserve youth from the temptations of alcohol, gambling, and prostitution and that would promote good citizenship."<ref name="frost">J. William Frost, "Part V: Christianity and Culture in America", ''Christianity: A Social and Cultural History'', 2nd Edition, (Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1998), 476.</ref>

The YMCA spread outside the United Kingdom in part thanks to the [[Great Exhibition]] of 1851, the first in a series of World's Fairs which was held in [[Hyde Park, London]].<ref name=":3" /> Later that year there were YMCAs in [[Australia]], [[Belgium]], [[Canada]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Hong Kong]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Switzerland]], and the [[United States]].

The idea of creating a truly global movement with an international headquarters was led by [[Henry Dunant]], Secretary of YMCA Geneva, who would later go on to found the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] and win the first [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. Dunant successfully convinced YMCA Paris to organise the first YMCA World Conference. The Conference took place in August 1855, bringing together 99 young delegates from nine countries, held before the [[Exposition Universelle (1855)]]. They discussed joining in a federation to enhance cooperation amongst individual YMCA societies. This marked the beginning of the World Alliance of YMCAs. The conference adopted the [[Paris Basis]], a common mission for all present and future national YMCAs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Paris Basis |url=http://www.ymca.int/index.php?id=115 |access-date=2012-07-01 |publisher=Ymca.int}}</ref> Its motto was taken from the Bible, "[[That they all may be one]]" ([[John 17]]:21).

Other ecumenical bodies, such as the World [[YWCA]], the [[World Council of Churches]], and the [[World Student Christian Federation]] have reflected elements of the Paris Basis in their founding mission statements. In 1865, the fourth World Conference of YMCAs, held in Germany, affirmed the importance of developing the whole individual in spirit, mind, and body. The concept of physical work through sports, a new concept for the time, was also recognized as part of this "[[muscular Christianity]]".

[[The Boy Scouts of America]] grew out of YMCA work, with YMCA organizers taking over and merging their organization into the Boy Scouts of America soon after it was incorporated by [[William D. Boyce]] when it existed only on paper. [[Edgar M. Robinson]], a Chicago-area YMCA organizer became the BSA's first director. YMCA has cooperated with camping organizations, including [[Boy Scouts of America]], [[Girl Scouts of the USA]] and [[Camp Fire (organization)|Camp Fire]].

Two themes resonated during the first World Conference: the need to respect the local autonomy of YMCA societies, and the purpose of YMCA: to unite all young, male Christians for the extension and expansion of the Kingdom of God. The former idea is expressed in the preamble:

{{Blockquote|The delegates of various Young Men's Christian Associations of Europe and America, assembled in Conference at Paris, the 22 August 1855 feeling that they are one in principle and in operation, recommend to their respective Societies to recognize with them the unity existing among their Associations, and while preserving a complete independence as to their particular organization and modes of action, to form a Confederation of secession on the following fundamental principle, such principle to be regarded as the basis of admission of other Societies in future.}}

YMCA was influential during the 1870s till the 1930s, when it most successfully promoted "evangelical Christianity in weekday and Sunday services, while promoting good sportsmanship in athletic contests in gyms (where [[basketball]] and [[volleyball]] were invented) and swimming pools."<ref name="frost" /> Later in this period, and continuing on through the 20th century, YMCA had "become interdenominational and more concerned with promoting morality and good citizenship than a distinctive interpretation of Christianity."<ref name="frost" /> Prior to the beginning of the [[American Civil War]],<ref name="YMCAhistory">{{cite web |title=US YMCA's history page |url=http://www.ymca.net/about_the_ymca/history_of_the_ymca.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310220044/http://www.ymca.net/about_the_ymca/history_of_the_ymca.html |archive-date=10 March 2010 |access-date=2012-07-01 |publisher=Ymca.net}}</ref> YMCA provided nursing, shelter, and other support during wartime in the United States.

In 1878, the World YMCA offices were established in [[Geneva]], Switzerland by Dunant. Later, in 1900, North American YMCAs, in collaboration with the World YMCA, set up centres to work with emigrants in European ports, as millions of people were leaving for the US. In 1880, in Norway, YMCA became the first national organization to adopt a strict policy of equal gender representation in committees and national boards.

In 1885, Camp Baldhead (later known as [[Camp Dudley]]), the first residential camp in the United States and North America, was established by George A. Sanford and Sumner F. Dudley, both of whom worked for YMCA. The camp, originally located near Orange Lake in [[New Jersey]], moved to [[Wawayanda State Park|Lake Wawayanda]] in [[Sussex County, New Jersey]], the following year, and then to the shore of [[Lake Champlain]] near [[Westport, New York]], in 1891.<ref name="100YrsCamping">{{cite web |last=Turner | first=Eugene A. Jr. |year=1985 |title=100 Years of YMCA Camping |url=https://primo.lib.umn.edu/permalink/f/1q7ssba/UMN_ALMA21490363380001701 |access-date=2020-08-04 |publisher=YMCA of the USA |via=umn.edu}}</ref><ref name="YMCAbuildingNY">{{cite web |date=4 July 2009 |title=YMCA Building Photo |url=http://www.vintpix.com/photo.php?id=137 |access-date=2012-07-01 |publisher=Vintpix.com |archive-date=17 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717210000/http://www.vintpix.com/photo.php?id=137 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== 20th century ===
[[File:NH 123036 Place Sadi Carnot- YMCA Restaurant - Brest, France.tif|thumb|A YMCA in [[Brest, France]] in 1902]]
[[File:Christian Street YMCA Historical Marker 1724 Christian St Philadelphia PA (DSC 4165).jpg|thumb|A historical marker for the Christian Street YMCA at 1724 Christian Street in [[Philadelphia]], noting its 1914 establishment]]
[[File:Hotel Arthur Helsinki.JPG|thumb|Hotel Arthur in [[Helsinki]], founded by YMCA in 1907<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hotelarthur.fi/en/hotel/history/|title=History|website=Hotel Arthur}}</ref>]]
[[File:Beaver Hut Canada YMCA.jpg|thumb|A Canadian YMCA poster in 1914]]
[[File:National Youth Administration WPA boxing lessons YMCA Boise ID 1936.gif|thumb|A self-defence class at the YMCA in [[Boise, Idaho]] in 1936]]
[[File:Fireplace YMCA Jerusalem wwwm8558.jpg|thumb|A fireplace at the YMCA in [[Jerusalem]] in December 1932]]
[[File:Roof Garden, YMCA Hotel, Chicago - Front.png|thumb|A postcard photograph of the YMCA in [[Chicago]] in 1955]]
[[File:1964 - New Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) Building Allentown PA.jpg|thumb|A YMCA in [[Allentown, Pennsylvania]] in 1964]]

==== YMCA Scouts ====
YMCA was one of the earliest organisers of [[Scout Movement|Boy Scouts]] in the [[United Kingdom]] from 1907, before there were central Scout organizations. Some of the first recorded Boy Scout troops were YMCA Boy Scouts who met in the Nottingham and Birkenhead YMCA buildings.<ref>{{cite news |title=YMCA Through the Years |url=https://www.ymca.org.uk/about/history-heritage/timeline |access-date=15 November 2021 |website=YMCA.org.uk}}</ref> YMCA Scouts in Britain remained separate troops under the YMCA but registered with local and central scout associations. Later, when [[Robert Baden-Powell]] formed his own [[The Scout Association|Boy Scouts organization]], a YMCA worker who had organized many YMCA Boy Scout troops became one of his first two travelling organizers. In Devonport, Tasmania, Australia, YMCA Boy Scouts met at the YMCA hall and later affiliated as 1st Devonport Boy Scouts with the Tasmanian branch of [[The Boy Scouts Association]]. The YMCA would also influence the [[Boy Scouts of America]] (BSA) and [[Verband Christlicher Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder|German Scouting]]. [[Edgar M. Robinson]], a Chicago-area YMCA administrator, worked at YMCA while also becoming the BSA's first director. In Europe, national YMCA Scout organizations were formed.

In 1916, [[K. T. Paul]] became the first Indian national general secretary of India. Paul had started rural development programs for self-reliance of marginal farmers, through co-operatives and credit societies. These programmes became very popular. He also coined the term "rural reconstruction", and many of the principles he developed were later incorporated into the Indian's government nationwide community development programs. In 1923, [[Y. C. James Yen]], of YMCA China, devised the "thousand character system", based on pilot projects in education. The method also became very popular, and in 1923, it led to the founding of the Chinese National Association of the Mass Education Movement. In 1878, YMCA was organized near the [[Jaffa Gate]] of the Old City of [[Jerusalem]] and the current landmark building was dedicated by General Lord Allenby in 1933 during the British Mandate of Palestine.

Within ten days of the declaration of [[World War I]], YMCA had established 250 recreation centres, also known as huts, in the United Kingdom, and went to build temporary huts across Europe to support both soldiers and civilians alike, run by thousands of volunteers. Many soldiers from WW1 were apart of the YMCA and helping with spreading religion in these camps and boosting morale.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tapsbugler |date=2025-09-21 |title=The YMCA in WWI |url=https://www.tapsbugler.com/the-ymca-in-wwi/ |access-date=2025-10-15 |website=Taps Bugler: Jari Villanueva |language=en-US}}</ref> Some of them, known as field secretaries, also went into war zones to support prisoners-of-war in Europe and Russia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elliott |first=Wendy |title=Grit and Grace in a World Gone Mad: Humanitarianism in Talas, Turkey 1908-1923 |publisher=Gomidas Institute |year=2018 |isbn=9781909382442 |location=London |pages=141–43}}</ref> Notable supporters and volunteers included [[Clementine Churchill]]<ref>{{London Gazette| issue = 30460| date = 7 January 1918| page = 368| supp = y}}</ref> (for which she was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in 1918), [[Oswald Chambers]] and [[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Robert]] and [[Olave Baden-Powell]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2007-04-18 |title=Window on My Heart. Chapter X. The War Years. |url=http://pinetreeweb.com/bp-olave-10.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070418053447/http://pinetreeweb.com/bp-olave-10.htm |archive-date=18 April 2007 |access-date=2019-12-22}}</ref> Within the first month the YMCA Women's Auxiliary <ref>{{Cite web |last=ymcamatthew |date=2022-03-08 |title=Women in the YMCA |url=https://ymcaandyhaarchives.wordpress.com/2022/03/08/women-in-the-ymca/ |access-date=2025-10-15 |website=Cataloguing the YMCA and YHA archives |language=en-GB}}</ref>was formed, and [[Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein]] would go on to become a notable member and chairman of its organising committee.<ref>{{cite web |title=Christmas Day in the London Bridge YMCA Canteen: HRH Princess Helena Victoria, Chairman of the Ladies' Auxiliary Committee of the YMCA is standing by Mrs Norrie, CBE, Superintendent of the canteen. Miss Ellen Terry is sitting by the table |url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1056 |access-date=2019-12-22 |website=Imperial War Museums |language=en}}</ref>

During World War I, YMCA raised and spent over $155&nbsp;million on welfare efforts for American soldiers. It deployed over 25,000 staff in military units and bases from Siberia to Egypt to France. They took over the military's morale and comfort operations worldwide. [[Irving Berlin]] wrote ''[[Yip Yip Yaphank]]'', a revue that included a song entitled "I Can Always Find a Little Sunshine in the YMCA". [[Frances Gulick]] was a YMCA worker stationed in France during World War I who received a [[United States Army]] citation for valour and courage on the field.<ref name="That Damn Y">{{cite book |last=Mayo |first=Katherine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OFx0Lc4IQOYC&q=Frances+Gulick+YMCA&pg=PA118 |title='That Damn Y' a Record of Overseas Service |date=May 2009 |publisher=Bibliographical Center for Research |isbn=9781110810208 |access-date=9 October 2009}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], YMCA was involved in supporting millions of [[prisoner of war|POWs]] and in supporting [[Japanese American]]s in [[Internment of Japanese Americans|internment camps]]. This help included helping young men leave the camps to attend [[Springfield College]] and providing youth activities in the camps. In addition, YMCA was one of seven organizations that helped to found the [[USO]].

In [[Europe]], YMCA helped refugees, particularly displaced Jews. Sometimes YMCA participated in escape operations.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://journals.openedition.org/dhfles/2108|title=Accueil des enfants juifs étrangers en France et leur sort sous l'Occupation|first=Sabine|last=Zeitoun|date=1 January 2011|journal=Documents pour l'histoire du français langue étrangère ou seconde|issue=46|pages=123–144|via=journals.openedition.org|doi=10.4000/dhfles.2108|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Mostly, however, its role was limited to providing relief packages to refugees.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQO2gmIsKuEC&q=YMCA&pg=PA129|title=The Holocaust & the Jews of Marseille: The Enforcement of Anti-Semitic Policies in Vichy France|first=Donna F.|last=Ryan|date=11 June 1996|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=9780252065309|via=Google Books}}</ref>

It was also involved in war work with displaced persons and refugees. It set up War Prisoners Aid to support prisoners of war by providing sports equipment, musical instruments, art materials, radios, [[Phonograph|gramophones]], eating utensils, and other items. [[Donald A. Lowrie]] of the YMCA created and led the Committee of Nîmes, also known as the Camps Committee, a group that gathered leaders from over twenty humanitarian organizations to coordinate advocacy for people in the internment camps, including helping children leave these camps to live in children's colonies or eventually escape to freedom.<ref>Donald Lowrie, The Hunted Children, 1963.</ref>

YMCA Motion Picture Bureau, renamed Association Films in 1946, was one of the United Kingdom's largest non-theatrical distribution companies.<ref>{{cite web |title=Collection: YMCA film bureau records |website=University of Minnesota Archival Finding Aids |url=https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/7/resources/890 |access-date=2020-01-25}}</ref> In 1947 the World YMCA gained special consultative status with the [[United Nations Economic and Social Council]]. In 1955 the first black President of the World YMCA, Charles Dunbar Sherman from Liberia, was elected. At 37 years, he was also the youngest president in World YMCA history. In 1959 YMCA of the USA developed the first nationally organized [[scuba diving]] course and certified their first skin and scuba [[diving instructor]]s.<ref name="DivingHistory">{{cite web |title=History of YMCA Underwater Program |url=http://www.divinghistory.com/id21.html |access-date=13 January 2011 |publisher=Diving History.com |archive-date=15 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215232647/http://divinghistory.com/id21.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="SPUMS1999">{{cite journal |last=Richardson|first= Drew |year=1999 |title=A brief history of recreational diving in the United States. |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/6019 |via=Rubicon Research Repository  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515131921/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/6019 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=15 May 2009 |journal=South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society Journal |volume=29 |issue=#3 |access-date=13 January 2011}}</ref>

By 1974, YMCA had set up a curriculum to begin teaching [[cave diving]].<ref name="Kendrick2009">{{cite journal |last=Kendrick, DF |year=2009 |title=Science of the National Association for Cave Diving (NACD): Water Quality, Hydrogeology, Biology and Psychology |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/10114 |via=Rubicon Foundation Archive |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130705014546/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/10114 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=5 July 2013 |journal=In: Pollock NW, ed. Diving for Science 2009. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences 28th Symposium. Dauphin Island, AL: AAUS; 2009. |access-date=2013-04-20}}</ref>

In 1973, the Sixth World Council in [[Kampala]], Uganda, became the first World Council in Africa, hosted by [[Uganda YMCA]]. It reaffirmed the Paris Basis and adopted a declaration of principles, known as the Kampala Principles.<ref>{{cite web |title=World Alliance of YMCAs: Kampala Principles - 1973 |url=http://www.ymca.int/index.php?id=116 |access-date=2012-07-01 |publisher=YMCA International |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090719130529/http://www.ymca.int/index.php?id=116 |archive-date= Jul 19, 2009 }}</ref> It include the principles of justice, creativity and honesty. It stated what had become obvious: that a global viewpoint was more necessary. It also recognized that YMCA and its national member organizations would have to take political stands, particularly in international challenges and crises.

In 1976, YMCA of the USA appointed [[Violet King Henry]] to executive director to its Organizational Development Group, making her the first woman named to a senior management position with the American national YMCA.

In 1985, the World Council of YMCAs passed a resolution against [[apartheid]], and anti-apartheid campaigns were formed under the leadership of Lee Soo-Min ([[Korea]]), the first Asian secretary general of the World YMCA.

In 1998, the 14th World Council of YMCAs in Germany adopted "Challenge 21",<ref>{{cite web |title=Challenge 21 - 1998 |url=https://www.ymca.int/who-we-are/mission/challenge-21-1998/ |access-date=2019-12-21 |website=YMCA International - World Alliance of YMCAs |language=en-US |archive-date=21 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221141209/https://www.ymca.int/who-we-are/mission/challenge-21-1998/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> intended to place more focus on global challenges, such as [[gender equality]], [[sustainable development]], war and peace, fair distribution, and the challenges of [[globalization]], racism, and HIV/AIDS.

=== 21st century ===
[[File:YMCA of Greater Moncton.jpg|thumb|A YMCA in [[Moncton]] in [[New Brunswick]], Canada in July 2007]]
[[File:YMCAUB.JPG|thumb|A YMCA in [[Ulaanbaatar]], Mongolia in August 2007]]

In 2002, the World Council in [[Oaxtepec]], Morelos, Mexico, called for a peaceful solution to the Middle East crisis. On 12 July 2010, YMCA of the USA rebranded its name to the popular nickname "The Y" and revised the iconic red and black logo to create five colored versions.<ref>{{cite web |date=14 July 2010 |title=World Alliance of YMCAs Issues Statement on YMCA USA Rebrand |url=http://www.ymca.int/newsroom/latest-news/world-alliance-of-ymcas-issues-statement-on-ymca-usa-rebrand/ |access-date=4 April 2011 |archive-date=9 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609035526/http://www.ymca.int/newsroom/latest-news/world-alliance-of-ymcas-issues-statement-on-ymca-usa-rebrand/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=History of YMCA logo |url=https://www.greenbayymca.org/about/history/history-of-the-ymca-logo/ |publisher=Green Bay YMCA |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=6 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106204251/https://www.greenbayymca.org/about/history/history-of-the-ymca-logo/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Today, YMCAs are open to all, regardless of ability, age, culture, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic background.<ref>{{cite web |date=2018-08-08 |title=World YMCA celebrates International Youth Day 2018 |url=https://www.ymca.int/world-ymca-celebrates-international-youth-day-2018/ |access-date=2019-12-21 |website=YMCA International - World Alliance of YMCAs |language=en-US}}</ref>

During the 19th World Council meeting in 2018 in Chiang Mai, Carlos Sanvee from Togo became the first African and current Secretary General of World YMCA. During the same World Council meeting, Patricia Pelton from Canada emerged as the first female President of World YMCA.

YMCA's 175th anniversary in 2019 was celebrated with a global gathering of the organisation's young leaders at [[ExCeL London]] from 4 to 7 August, with 3,200 people from 100 countries. The event celebrated youth leadership, and elevated the United Nations [[Sustainable Development Goals]].<ref>{{cite web |date=7 August 2019|title=The YMCA at 175: from a small drapery store to a global Christian youth movement|first=Rob|last=James|url=https://www.christiantoday.com/article/the-ymca-at-175-from-a-small-drapery-store-to-a-global-christian-youth-movement/132982.htm|work=Christian Today}}</ref> It was attended by guests including [[Jayathma Wickramanayake]] on behalf of [[Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth]], and [[María Fernanda Espinosa]], the [[President of the United Nations General Assembly]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Strub |first=Chris |title=YMCA Ambassadors From 100+ Nations Join in London To Commemorate 175 Years At #Y175 |date=18 August 2019 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisstrub/2019/08/18/y175/ |access-date=18 August 2019 |website=Forbes }}</ref>
====London Central YMCA building====

In December 2024 the Central YMCA building, on London's [[Great Russell Street]] and recognized as the first YMCA in the world since its founding in 1844, was sold.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 December 2024|first=Harry |last=Low |title=World's first YMCA in central London to close in February |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0mv0vn821eo |access-date=14 January 2025 |website=BBC News }}</ref> The decision, attributed by the YMCA to high maintenance costs and demographic changes, was met with widespread dismay from members and the broader community. A petition to reverse the closure garnered thousands of signatures on Change.org, reflecting the significant public outcry. The Central YMCA had long been a cornerstone of the community, boasting extensive facilities including a swimming pool, sauna, steam room, exercise studios, and a cycling studio, making it the largest YMCA premises in London. However, after an injunction application by a club member failed, the Central YMCA building closed on 7 February 2025.<ref>{{cite news| last=Warren | first=Jess | title=Soho: London YMCA closes for good after injunction bid fails | publisher=BBC News | date=7 February 2025 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn57pwyl2gwo}}</ref> The YMCA said "The Central YMCA has not shut down – we have announced the sale of our Club site at 112 Great Russell Street only. Our operations, including our education services and programmes across the country, will still continue and we still have CYMCA club sites at Kings Cross and Moorgate."<ref>{{cite web | title=Central YMCA Club Site Closure | publisher=Central YMCA Club | date=7 February 2025 | url=https://www.ymca.co.uk/central-ymca-club-site-closure-response-to-faqs/}}</ref>
[[File:YMCA FLASH MOB 1.jpg|thumb|World's first YMCA closure protested by Village People flash mob in 2025]]
The closure sparked criticism toward [[Criterion Capital]], the property company which acquired the site, which already had a Criterion-owned Zedwell hotel in the basement.<ref name=twentieth>{{cite news| title=Bloomsbury brutalism: Listing support for world's first YMCA – The Twentieth Century Society | publisher=The Twentieth Century Society – Campaigning for outstanding buildings | date=28 May 2025| url=https://c20society.org.uk/news/bloomsbury-brutalism-listing-support-for-worlds-first-ymca}}</ref> [[Conservation area]]s surrounds the building on all sides, but the building itself is excluded and may be demolished or redeveloped.<ref name=twentieth/> Campaigners alleged that the company's focus on commercial redevelopment conflicted with the YMCA's historical mission of providing affordable and inclusive services for the community. The "Save the YMCA" campaign emerged as a grassroots effort to halt the closure,<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 January 2025|first1=

Olivia |last1=Demetriades |first2=Gem |last2=O'Reilly|title=Central London flash mob tries to save YMCA from closure |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrwrv0p8y5o |access-date=14 January 2025 |website=BBC News }}</ref> with supporters calling for a six-month pause to explore sustainable solutions for retaining the facilities. The campaign drew media attention, with coverage from BBC News and other outlets, highlighting concerns about the loss of vital community resources in central London.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Central YMCA face protest of flash mob |first=Caitlin |last=Maskell|url=https://www.westminsterextra.co.uk/article/central-ymca-face-protest-of-flash-mob |access-date=14 January 2025|date=10 January 2025 |website=Camden New Journal }}</ref>

Critics of the decision have argued that the sale of the premises to Criterion Capital or its affiliates undermines the YMCA's legacy,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The gym as a cultural asset 💪 |url=https://camdenist.beehiiv.com/p/the-gym-as-a-cultural-asset|first=Tom |last=Kihl|access-date=14 January 2025|website=Camdenist|date=10 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Central YMCA: Historic English basketball venue facing closure |date=10 January 2025|url=https://www.basketballengland.co.uk/news/2024/central-ymca-historic-english-basketball-venue-facing-closure/|access-date=14 January 2025|publisher=Basketball England}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Waterson |first=Jim |title=Merry Christmas, you're evicted |url=https://www.londoncentric.media/p/merry-christmas-youre-evicted |access-date=14 January 2025|date=12 December 2024|website=LondonCentric.media}}</ref> suggesting that the closure represents a broader trend of prioritizing private development over public good. Campaigners have urged Criterion Capital and its leadership, including the [[Asif Aziz|Aziz family]], to collaborate on preserving the facilities, emphasizing the potential to reimagine the site while maintaining its original purpose of serving the community. A ''Save the ExCYMCA'' campaign was established by YMCA members hoping that the building could revert to active YMCA use secured "Asset of Community Value" status for it, and in May 2025 submitted a [[Listed building|listing]] application to [[Historic England]].<ref name=twentieth/> Asif Azis has said that "we did not acquire YMCA to close it down".<ref name=coldwell>{{cite news| last=Coldwell | first=Will | title='The city is being hollowed out': the billionaire landlord locked in a David v Goliath battle for Londons West End | newspaper=The Guardian | date=14 June 2025 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jun/14/the-city-is-being-hollowed-out-the-billionaire-landlord-locked-in-a-david-v-goliath-battle-for-londons-west-end}}</ref>

== Global structure ==
[[File:Geneve archives YMCA 2011-08-23 11 38 30 PICT4058.JPG|thumb|Former head office in Geneva]]
[[File:The Young Men's Christian Association on the Western Front, 1914-1918 Q6174.jpg|thumb|A YMCA at the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] during [[World War I]] in September 1914]]
[[File:YMCA (5401450045).jpg|thumb|A YMCA in the [[Chinatown, San Francisco|Chinatown]] section of [[San Francisco]]]]
[[File:Harrisburg PA YMCA.JPG|thumb|A YMCA in [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]]]]
The YMCA organisation has its head office in [[Vernier, Switzerland]], where it moved to from [[Geneva]] in 2020. The organisation had been based in Geneva beginning in 1878. From 1995 to 2020 the head office was at 12 Clos Belmont, a villa listed as a historic site by the Canton of Geneva.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ymca.int/goodbye-12-clos-belmont/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727120619/https://www.ymca.int/goodbye-12-clos-belmont/|archive-date=2020-07-27|title=Goodbye 12 Clos Belmont|publisher=YMCA|date=2020-05-26|access-date=2025-07-27}}</ref>

A federated model of [[governance]] has created a diversity of YMCA programmes and services, with YMCAs in different countries and communities offering vastly different programming in response to local community needs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zald |first1=Mayer N. |last2=Denton |first2=Patricia |date=September 1963 |title=From Evangelism to General Service: The Transformation of the YMCA |journal=Administrative Science Quarterly |volume=8 |issue=#2 |pages=214–234 |doi=10.2307/2390900 |jstor=2390900}}</ref> Financial support for local associations is derived from programme fees, membership dues, community chests, foundation grants, charitable contributions, sustaining memberships, corporate sponsors and other funding models used in the charitable sector.

YMCA globally operates on a federation model with each independent local YMCA affiliated with its national organization, known as a National Council. The national organizations, in turn, are affiliated to both an Area Alliance, including Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and the World YMCA. The World YMCA is the highest affiliation body. Each local, national and regional YMCA is independent of each other, but local, regional and international cooperation, partnerships and collaborations are part of the organizations work. Each National Council is led by a National General Secretary, a role that similar to that of a CEO. At each stage of the affiliation process, there are usually membership fees paid by local YMCAs to the central organization.

Ever since the first World Conference in August 1855, in [[Paris]], the World YMCA has convened a World Conference, later renamed the World Council, every three to four years and is YMCA's highest decision making forum. Every National Council sends a delegation who hold a number of votes, which are dependent on the financial turnover of that National Council. The World Council is "responsible for setting the policies and direction of the World YMCA, electing its Officers and Executive Committee, evaluating the work of the last four years, and deliberating on priorities for the next quadrennium".

The most recent World Council took place in 2022 in [[Aarhus]], Denmark,<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-11-01 |title=20th YMCA World Council to be hosted in Aarhus, Denmark |url=https://www.ymca.int/worlds-largest-youth-organisation-to-convene-in-aarhus-denmark/ |access-date=2019-12-21 |website=YMCA International - World Alliance of YMCAs |language=en-US}}</ref> and the 21st World Council is scheduled for July 2026 in [[Toronto]].

== Activities and services ==
[[File:Capital Bikeshare station at YMCA (9715671610).jpg|thumb|A YMCA in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
[[File:Robert Baden-Powell in South Africa, 1896 (2).jpg|thumb|[[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Baden Powell]]]]
[[File:The Young Men's Christian Association on the Western Front, 1914-1918 Q5405A.jpg|thumb|A YMCA at the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]]]
[[File:YMCA Conference Centre, Mendalgief Road, Newport - geograph.org.uk - 1601185.jpg|thumb|A YMCA in [[Newport, Wales]]]]

=== Accommodation ===
[[File:YMCAHousing.jpg|thumb|A YMCA with residential housing in [[Downtown Columbus, Ohio]] in 2021]]
YMCAs around the world offer various types of accommodation. In some places, this takes the form of budget accommodation available to the public such as youth hostels, or hotels, which, in turn, generate income for other charitable activities. In [[England]] and [[Wales]], YMCAs offer supported accommodation for vulnerable and homeless young people.<ref name="Accommodation">{{cite web |title=Accommodation |url=https://www.ymca.org.uk/about/what-we-do/accommodation |access-date=2019-12-21 |website=YMCA England & Wales |language=en-GB |archive-date=5 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305154050/https://www.ymca.org.uk/about/what-we-do/accommodation |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Until the late 1950s,<ref name="YMCAhistory" /> YMCAs in the United States were built with hotel-like rooms called residences or dormitories. These rooms were built with the young men in mind coming from rural America and many foreign-born young men arriving to the new cities. The rooms became a significant part of [[American culture]], known as an inexpensive and safe place for a visitor to stay in an unfamiliar city (as, for example, in the 1978 [[Village People]] song "[[Y.M.C.A. (song)|Y.M.C.A.]]"). In 1940, there were about 100,000 rooms at YMCAs, more than any hotel chain. By 2006, YMCAs with residences had become relatively rare in the US, but many still remain.<ref>{{cite web |title=Glendale, California YMCA |url=http://www.glendaleymca.org/residence.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927110236/http://www.glendaleymca.org/residence.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 |access-date=4 April 2011}}, {{cite web|title=McGaw YMCA – Evanston, Illinois|url=http://www.mcgawymca.org|access-date=4 April 2011}}, {{cite web|title=Berkeley, California YMCA|url=http://www.baymca.org/index.php/d_hotel.html|access-date=4 April 2011}}</ref>

=== Arts and humanities ===
YMCAs offer classes in the [[visual arts]], including ceramics, drawing, painting, and photography, the [[performing arts]], including music, dance, and poetry, and [[literature]], including reading, storytelling, and public readings. These programs are not offered at each YMCA but the ones who have same to offer these programs give a benefit to their communities to give children a safe place to go to enjoy such activities.<ref name=":7">{{cite web|title=YMCA USA|url=https://www.ymca.int/member/ymca-usa/|access-date=2021-11-23|website=YMCA International - World Alliance of YMCAs|language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Camping ===
[[File:2013-05-06 17 29 22 Entrance for YMCA Camp Bernie.jpg|thumb|YMCA Camp Bernie]]
[[File:YMCA Maple Syrup.JPG|thumb|A YMCA camp in [[Huguenot, Orange County, New York|Huguenot, New York]]]]
YMCA camping began in 1885 when Camp Baldhead (later known as [[Camp Dudley]]) was established by G.A. Sanford and Sumner F. Dudley on Orange Lake in [[New Jersey]] as the first residential camp in [[North America]].<ref name=":4"/> The camp later moved to Lake Champlain near [[Westport, New York]].<ref name="100YrsCamping" />

Camping also had early origins in YMCA movement in [[Canada]] with the establishment in 1889 of [[Big Cove YMCA Camp]] in Merigomish, [[Nova Scotia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=YMCA Timeline : 1880–1899 |url=http://www.ymca.ca/html/tl_1880.htm |access-date=2012-07-01 |publisher=Ymca.ca |archive-date=3 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403030238/http://www.ymca.ca/html/tl_1880.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Our History |url=http://www.ymcastorercamps.org/who-we-are/our-history/ |access-date=19 April 2015}}</ref>

=== Children's and family programs ===
YMCAs offer child care, including supervised space for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children to stay and play while parents enjoy a workout. YMCA staff members are trained to ensure the safety and well-being of the children in their care so that parents can confidently pursue their fitness goals or take part in the various YMCA programs.<ref name=":7" />

Family programs include family nights, parent-child classes, and different events put on by the YMCA.<ref name=":7" /> YMCA's parent/child programs, conducted under YMCA's Y-Guides program, provides structured opportunities for fellowship, camping, and community-building activities, including craft-making and community service, for several generations of parents and children from kindergarten through eighth grade.<ref name="townhall">{{cite web |last=Michelle Malkin |date=12 September 2003 |title=P.C. vs. the Indian Princesses |url=http://townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2003/09/12/pc_vs_the_indian_princesses |access-date=2012-07-01 |publisher=Townhall.com |archive-date=17 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217094100/http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2003/09/12/pc_vs_the_indian_princesses |url-status=dead }}</ref>

YMCA after-school programs are geared towards providing students with a variety of recreational, cultural, leadership, academic, and social skills for development.

=== Education and academia ===
Multiple colleges and universities have historically had connections to YMCA. [[Springfield College]], of Springfield, Massachusetts, was founded in 1885 as an international training school for YMCA Professionals, while one of the two schools that eventually became [[Concordia University (Montreal)|Concordia University]]—[[Sir George Williams University|Sir George Williams College]]—started from night courses offered at the [[Montreal]] YMCA. [[Northeastern University (Boston, Massachusetts)|Northeastern University]] began out of a [[Boston YMCA|YMCA in Boston]], and [[Franklin University]] began as YMCA School of Commerce. San Francisco's [[Golden Gate University]] traces its roots to the founding of YMCA Night School on 1 November 1881.

[[Detroit College of Law]], now the [[Michigan State University College of Law]], was founded with a strong connection to the [[Detroit]], Michigan YMCA. It had a 99-year lease on the site, and it was only when it expired that the college moved to [[East Lansing, Michigan]]. [[Youngstown State University]] traces its roots to the establishment of a law school by the local YMCA in 1908. The [[Nashville School of Law]] was YMCA Night Law School until November 1986, having offered law classes since 1911 and the degree of [[Juris Doctor]] since January 1927. YMCA pioneered the concept of [[wikt:night school|night school]], providing educational opportunities for people with full-time employment. Many YMCAs offer [[English as a second language|ESL]] programs, [[alternative high school]], [[day care]], and [[summer camp]] programs.

In India, [[YMCA University of Science and Technology]] of [[Faridabad]] was founded in 1969. It offers various programs related to science and engineering. During the 1880s, the Cleveland YMCA<ref>{{Cite web |title=YMCA of Greater Cleveland {{!}} Grow with Us |url=https://www.clevelandymca.org/ |website=clevelandymca.org}}</ref> began to offer day and evening courses<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.csuohio.edu/about-csu/history |website=Cleveland State University}}</ref> to students who did not otherwise have access to higher education. The YMCA program was reorganized in 1906 as the Association Institute, and this in turn was established as Fenn College in 1929. In 1964, Fenn College became a state college named Cleveland State University.

American high school students have a chance to participate in [[YMCA Youth and Government]], wherein clubs of children representing each YMCA community convene annually in their respective [[State legislature (United States)|state legislatures]] to "take over the State Capitol for a day."

American students in [[Elementary and Secondary Education Act#Title_I|Title One]] public schools are sometimes eligible to join a tutoring program through YMCA called Y Learning. This program is used to help low-income students who are struggling in school complete their homework with help from tutors and receive a snack as well as a safe place to be after school. Y Learning operates under the main mission of bridging achievements gaps and providing essential resources to help underprivileged students thrive in school.<ref>{{cite web |title=Y Learning, standardized tutorial program |url=https://www.ymcatriangle.org/programs-services/tutoring/y-learning |access-date=2018-02-06 |website= YMCA of the Triangle |language=en}}</ref>

The International Coalition of YMCA Universities<ref>{{cite web |title=YMCA International Coalition – Site da International Coalition |website= ymcauniversitiescoalition.org  |url=http://ymcauniversitiescoalition.org/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412155916/http://ymcauniversitiescoalition.org/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=12 April 2018 |access-date=21 December 2019}}</ref> brings together universities from all over the world, including Brazil, England, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Uruguay, United States, and Venezuela. The universities offer a wide variety of courses on different levels.

=== Health and wellbeing ===
[[File:YMCA Association Men Cover June 1919.png|thumb|The June 1919 cover of ''Association Men'', a YMCA publication]]
[[File:War Relief - YMCA - Activities - Service of Interior (165-WW-572A-34) - DPLA - d519c56d87005699c867d5febfb6a03b.jpg|thumb|War Relief YMCA]]
[[File:YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. CAMP ACTIVITIES LCCN2016868875.tif|thumb|A YMCA library in [[Charleston, South Carolina]]]]
[[File:YMCA May Building in Huntington West Virginia late at night in February 2022.jpg|thumb|A YMCA in [[Huntington, West Virginia]] in 2022]]
In 1891, [[James Naismith]], a Canadian American, invented [[basketball]] while studying at YMCA International Training School in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]] (later to be named [[Springfield College]]). Naismith had been asked to invent a new game in an attempt to interest pupils in physical exercise. The game had to be interesting, easy to learn, and easy to play indoors in winter.

In 1895, [[William G. Morgan]] from YMCA of [[Holyoke, Massachusetts]], invented the sport of [[volleyball]] as a slower-paced alternative sport, in which the older YMCA members could participate.

In 1930, Juan Carlos Ceriani from YMCA of [[Montevideo]], Uruguay, invented the sport of [[futsal]], an indoor version of [[Association football|football]], having been created in synthesis with the rules of the three indoor sports of [[American handball|handball]], basketball and [[water polo]].

YMCA also organizes fitness, wellness, and help and awareness programs. One of the programs is the Diabetes Prevention Program, in which trained staff members help diabetics to make their lives healthier and more active.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Tina |date=2014-07-03 |title=At a YMCA Near You, a Course for a Diabetic Nation |url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/at-a-ymca-near-you-a-course-for-a-diabetic-nation/ |publisher=The New York Times |access-date=2019-06-06 |website=Opinionator |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Publishing ===
{{Main|YMCA Press}}

YMCA founded YMCA Press [[publishing house]] in Russia in 1900. It moved to Paris after [[World War I]], where it focused on providing intellectual and educational works to Russian [[émigré]]s. YMCA Press published some of [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]]'s books while he was imprisoned by the Russian government.<ref name="Raeff1990">{{cite book |last=Marc Raeff |url=https://archive.org/details/russiaabroadcult00raef_0 |title=Russia Abroad: A Cultural History of the Russian Emigration, 1919-1939 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-19-505683-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/russiaabroadcult00raef_0/page/78 78] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
The first YMCA included [[Bible]] studies, although the organization has generally moved on to a more [[secular]] approach to youth work. Around six years after its birth, an international YMCA conference in Paris decided that the objective of the organization should become "[[Disciple (Christianity)|Christian discipleship]] developed through a program of religious, educational, social and physical activities" (Binfield 1973:265).

=== Sports ===
{{Further|YMCA Baseball Team}}

Sports offered at YMCAs include [[baseball]], [[basketball]], [[gymnastics]], [[American football|football]], [[karate]], [[racquetball]], [[soccer]], [[volleyball]], [[Scholastic wrestling|wrestling]], and others.<ref name=":7" />

==== Aquatics ====
Aquatics offered at YMCAs range from recreational classes to [[competitive swimming]]. Classes are offered for parent-child, preschool, youth, family, teen and adult, arthritics classes, and other water therapies. Certain YMCAs also offer a special Olympic swim class or swim team. [[CPR]] and first aid classes are offered to employees and the public. Away from swim classes, individuals can also take [[water polo]] lessons, water fitness lessons, or take part in the open swim times where families can swim in a lane to themselves.<ref name=":7" />

==== Basketball ====
{{Further|History of basketball}}

In 1891, [[basketball]] was invented at the YMCA in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]], by [[James Naismith]], a clergyman, educator, and physician.<ref>{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Daniel |date=30 January 2018 |title=History Lesson: Early basketball at YMCA |url=https://eu.courierpress.com/story/life/2018/01/30/history-lesson-early-basketball-ymca/1077521001/ |access-date=2 January 2018 |website=Courier & Press}}</ref> Naismith was asked to create an indoor "athletic distraction" to keep rowdy youth busy in the cold [[New England]] winter months. [[Luther Gulick (physician)]], the head of Springfield YMCA gave Naismith two weeks to come up with a game to occupy a particularly incorrigible group. Naismith decided the game had to be physically active, simple to understand and would have minimal physical roughness.

The first contest was played at the International YMCA Training School in December 1891.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |title=How The YMCA Helped Shape America |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/06/02/410532977/how-the-ymca-helped-shape-america |access-date=2020-04-16 |newspaper=NPR |date=2 June 2015 |language=en|last1=Weeks |first1=Linton }}</ref> During those earliest games the school's custodian, "whose antipathy to the students was well known," retrieved successful shots from the baskets – using a ladder.<ref name=":5">{{cite journal |date=7 February 1931 |title=Article |journal=The Statesman of Salem, Oregon}}</ref> The original game was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets nailed to the balcony of Springfield YMCA. The game was an immediate hit, although originally the baskets still had their bottoms, and the ball had to be manually retrieved after each score, considerably slowing play. It was mostly a passing game, and dribbling did not become a major part of the game until much later, when the ball was improved to its present form.

Gulick worked with Naismith to spread the sport, chairing the Basketball Committee of the [[Amateur Athletic Union]] (1895–1905) and representing the [[United States Olympic Committee]] during the [[1908 Olympic Games]]. Naismith and his wife attended the [[1936 Summer Olympics]] when basketball was included for the first time as an Olympic event.<ref>{{cite book |last=Loucky, Wallechinsky |first=David and Jamie |title=The Complete Book of the Olympics |publisher=Aurum Press Limited |year=2008 |location=London |pages=399–400}}</ref> For his efforts to increase the popularity of basketball and of [[physical fitness]] in general, Gulick was inducted into the [[Basketball Hall of Fame]] as a contributor in 1959.

==== Futsal ====
{{Further|Futsal}}

"Futsal" started in 1930 when Juan Carlos Ceriani [fr], a teacher in [[Montevideo]], Uruguay, created a version of indoor football (football is called "soccer" in the United States) for recreation in YMCAs.<ref>{{cite web|title=Futsal History|url=https://www.usyouthfutsal.com/futsal-history|access-date=2020-12-29|website=www.usyouthfutsal.com}}</ref> This new sport was originally developed for playing on basketball courts, and a rule book was published in September 1933.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} Football was already highly popular in the country and after Uruguay won the 1930 World Cup and gold medals in the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics, it attracted even more practitioners. Ceriani's goal was to create a team game that could be played indoor or outdoor but that was similar to football.

The YMCA spread the game immediately throughout South America. It was easily played by everyone, everywhere, and in any weather condition, without any difficulty, helping players to stay in shape all year round. These reasons convinced João Lotufo, a Brazilian, to bring this game to his country and adapt it to the needs of physical education.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}

==== Gymnastics ====
[[Gymnastics]] came to be at the YMCA in 1869. Three YMCAs, those in [[Boston]], [[San Francisco]], and the 23rd Street Branch in [[New York City]], each constructed buildings with gyms inside. These gyms then allowed men to train on the sport of gymnastics. Most of the men who knew gymnastics, however, were circus performers and did not fit the ideas and values of the YMCA. [[Robert J. Roberts]] was one of the original circus performers at the Boston YMCA in the 1870s and 1880s, but he was hurt in a fall and could not perform or teach gymnastics. This led him to start the group exercises that exist currently at YMCAs.<ref>{{cite web|title=YMCA and Early Gymnastics|url=http://ynationals.weebly.com/ymca-and-early-gymnastics.html|access-date=2021-11-15|website=History of YMCA National Gymnastics Championships|language=en}}</ref> Even though Robert stopped teaching gymnastics in Boston, the YMCA in [[Salem, Massachusetts]] was creating the sport of gymnastics, holding boy/men classes as far back as 1895, where they learned [[Parallel bars|parallel]] and horizontal bars, [[Pommel horse|German horse]], mat exercises, [[juggling]], and [[Weight training|weight lifting]]. They would then train to perform for an audience.

A few years later, gymnastics began to filter out of the YMCA as other group sports, such as [[basketball]] and [[volleyball]], became more popular. Gymnastics as we know it today started at the Marblehead/Swampscott YMCA in [[Massachusetts]]. Compared to the other YMCAs who were stopping the sport of gymnastics held group classes in their basketball gym. They had to break down their equipment each day until their program was moved to the [[Salem State College]] in 1990. Salem State had recently dropped their college team, and the youth director at the YMCA went to see about expanding their program by renting the colleges space. Since then, two of the Marblehead/Swampscott gymnasts have gone on to be named all-American gymnasts and placed in the top five at the National Championships. The team has also placed in the top 10 at several National Championships.<ref name=":6">{{cite web|last=Lyons|first=Stephanie|title=Gymnastics, an Olympic favorite, evolves with YMCA|url=https://www.salemnews.com/archives/gymnastics-an-olympic-favorite-evolves-with-ymca/article_559adf31-652c-5034-a828-e30deaad14c6.html|access-date=2021-11-15|website=Salem News|date=18 July 2008 |language=en}}</ref>

YMCAs around the world now offer gymnastics to boys and girls of a variety of ages. Equipment now ranges from the men's events of pommel horses, parallel bars and the men's high rail to the [[uneven bars]], [[balance beam]]s, [[vault (gymnastics)|vault systems]] and [[trampoline]]s. These YMCAs now offer camps, lessons and teams in gymnastics and [[cheerleading]] and [[tumbling (gymnastics)|tumbling]].<ref name=":6" />

==== Racquetball ====
[[Racquetball]] is another YMCA-invented sport. [[Joseph Sobek]] a tennis, handball and squash player who worked in a rubber manufacturing factory, was dissatisfied with the options for indoor sports in [[Greenwich, Connecticut]]. He could not find squash players of his caliber and he did not care particularly for handball, so in 1950 he designed a short, stringed racquet, used a children's toy rubber ball, and created rules for a new game using the handball courts. He called his new sport "paddle rackets". The sport really took off in the 1970s and there are an estimated 15&nbsp;million players worldwide today.<ref>"Popular sports invented at YMCA" by Jill Fandrich, 25 May 2009</ref>

==== Volleyball ====
{{Further|Volleyball}}

Four years after James Naismith invented basketball in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]], in 1891, [[William G. Morgan]], an instructor at YMCA in [[Holyoke, Massachusetts]], wanted to create a game for older gentlemen which had less physical contact. He borrowed a tennis net, raised it 6 feet, 6 inches above the floor, and invented the game of "mintonette", which could be played by a group of any number and involved volleying a large ball over the net. Alfred T Halsted suggested that a better name for the new sport would be "volleyball".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. Alfred Thompson Halsted Portrait |url=https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id/2547/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250513094123/https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id/2547/ |archive-date=2025-05-13 |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Volleyball Story |url=http://www.fivb.com/EN/Volleyball/story.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127012658/http://www.fivb.com/EN/Volleyball/story.htm |archive-date=2007-01-27 |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=www.fivb.com}}</ref> In 1912, [[J. Howard Crocker]] introduced volleyball to schools and YMCA locations in China.{{efn|name=fn2|The [[Fédération Internationale de Volleyball]] credits Crocker for introducing volleyball to China via the YMCA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fivb.com/en/volleyball/thegame_glossary/history|title=History – Volleyball|year=2022|website=[[Fédération Internationale de Volleyball]]|access-date=January 28, 2023|archive-date=December 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204142733/https://www.fivb.com/en/volleyball/thegame_glossary/history|url-status=live}}</ref> Crocker wrote in a letter than the introduction of volleyball to China occurred in 1912.<ref>{{cite news|title=Another Letter From J. H. Crocker|date=June 25, 1912|newspaper=[[Brantford Expositor]]|location=Brantford, Ontario|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brantford-daily-expositor-crocker-19/123388791/|access-date=May 28, 2023|archive-date=April 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428081517/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brantford-daily-expositor-crocker-19/123388791/|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

== Regions ==
=== Africa ===
{{Further|Kampala YMCA}}

[[File:Logo AA - gif white keyline.gif|thumb|The Africa Alliance of YMCAs logo]]
[[File:YMCA ACCRA CENTRAL GHANA.jpg|thumb|YMCA Accra Ghana in [[Accra]]]]

YMCAs in [[Africa]] are united under the Africa Alliance of YMCAs (AAYMCA).<ref>{{cite web |title=Africa Alliance of YMCAs website |url=http://www.africaymca.org/}}</ref> The core focus of the organizational work done by the AAYMCA is youth [[empowerment]]. AAYMCA is the oldest non-governmental organization network in Africa, reaching approximately five million programme participants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.africaymca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/annual_report_2010.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.africaymca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/annual_report_2010.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=AAYMCA Annual Report}}</ref> The first YMCA in Africa was established in [[Liberia]] in 1881,<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.lib.umn.edu/special|title=Archives & Special Collections · University of Minnesota Libraries|website=www.lib.umn.edu|date=8 September 2023 }}</ref> and the AAYMCA was founded in 1977 as the umbrella body for all national movements on the continent.<ref name=":0" />

AAYMCA collaborates with national movements to conduct research, develop localized as well as continental programming, monitor and evaluate progress, and communicate impact of youth development work undertaken on the continent.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web |last=volunteer |first=Christine Davis, Africa Alliance of YMCAs |date=2010-04-01 |title=Transactional sex, HIV and livelihoods |url=https://www.modernghana.com/news/269910/transactional-sex-hiv-and-livelihoods.html |access-date=2016-05-17 |website=Modern Ghana |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2009-09-14 |title=Ghana YMCA technical training addresses critical educational gaps |url=https://www.modernghana.com/news/238343/ghana-ymca-technical-training-addresses-critical-educational.html |access-date=2016-05-17 |website=Modern Ghana |language=en-GB}}</ref> From 2015, the Africa Alliance of YMCAs has aligned much of its programmatic work to some of the goals set out by the [[African Union]]'s Agenda 2063 Development Plan in order to contribute towards the achievement of the ideals envisioned by the [[African Renaissance]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Agenda2063 |url=http://ymca2063.org/agenda2063/ |access-date=2016-05-17 |website=ymca2063.org |archive-date=10 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810031157/http://ymca2063.org/agenda2063/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1975,  Africa's YMCAs tried to revive the ones in [[Côte d'Ivoire]] and [[Kenya]] followed by those in [[Madagascar]], [[Jordan]], [[Suriname]], and [[Angola]].

Active YMCA organizations exist in [[Angola]], [[Cameroon]], [[Côte d'Ivoire]], [[Egypt]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Gambia]], [[Ghana]], [[Kenya]], [[Liberia]], [[Madagascar]], [[Nigeria]], [[Senegal]], [[Sierra Leone]], [[South Africa]], [[Tanzania]], [[Togo]], [[Uganda]], [[Zambia]], [[Zimbabwe]], and [[Namibia]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{cite web |title=Africa YMCA {{!}} Vision and Mission |url=http://www.africaymca.org/about-us/vision-and-mission/ |access-date=2016-05-17 |website=www.africaymca.org |archive-date=11 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611124426/http://www.africaymca.org/about-us/vision-and-mission/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Namibia – Africa YMCA |url=https://africaymca.org/namibia/ |access-date=2025-07-13 |language=en-US}}</ref> Associate movements exist in [[Niger]], [[Rwanda]], and [[South Sudan]].<ref name=":2" /> YMCA organizations are in formation in [[Malawi]]. {{Citation needed|date=August 2017}}

=== Asia ===
{{Further|National Council of YMCAs of India|YMCA in South Australia}}

[[File:Y. M. C. A. Headquarters, Peking.jpg|thumb|YMCA headquarters in Peking, now [[Beijing]]]]
[[File:YMCA, Vijayanagar, Mysore.jpg|thumb|YMCA Mysore in [[Mysore]], India]]

==== China ====
In 1911, the YMCA appointed [[J. Howard Crocker]] to serve as the foreign work secretary to promote physical education based in [[Shanghai]], the headquarters of all YMCA work in China.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mr. Crocker Will Be Sent To China|date=May 18, 1911|newspaper=[[Brantford Expositor]]|location=Brantford, Ontario|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brantford-daily-expositor-crocker-19/123360067/|access-date=May 28, 2023|archive-date=April 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428121426/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brantford-daily-expositor-crocker-19/123360067/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="YMCA-1930">{{cite news|title=Howard Crocker's Resignation|author=National Council of [[YMCA#Canada|Young Men's Christian Associations of Canada]]|date=November 1930|newspaper=The News Bulletin|location=Toronto, Ontario|pages=1–2}}</ref> When he first arrived in China, the YMCA had facilities in large cities, but lacked a nationally co-ordinated effort.<ref name="Henderson-1953">{{cite news|title=Retire at 60? No, Sir! Dr. J. Howard Crocker Carved a Second Career|last=Henderson|first=Jim|date=September 22, 1956|newspaper=[[Brantford Expositor]]|location=Brantford, Ontario|page=18|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-expositor-crocker-1956/122827468/|access-date=May 28, 2023|archive-date=April 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418102940/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-expositor-crocker-1956/122827468/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1911, he arranged the first school for physical education directors in China.<ref name="jan-19-1918">{{cite news|title=Y.M.C.A. Supremacy in Physical Education|date=January 19, 1918|newspaper=[[Brantford Expositor]]|location=Brantford, Ontario|page=18|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brantford-daily-expositor-crocker-19/123538905/|access-date=May 28, 2023|archive-date=April 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429234037/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brantford-daily-expositor-crocker-19/123538905/|url-status=live}}</ref> With the support of president [[Yuan Shikai]], Crocker toured China to conduct training courses and establish a school for physical education instructors.<ref name="Henderson-1953" /> Shanghai subsequently became the first training centre for physical education directors in China.<ref name="jan-19-1918" />

==== Hong Kong ====
{{Main|Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong}}

YMCA Hong Kong was established in 1901, being separated into two separate organizations in 1908, split across linguistic lines: "[[YMCA of Hong Kong]]" and "[[Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong]]". YMCA Hong Kong headquarters has occupied its current location at 22 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui since 1922. YMCA Hong Kong established the College of Continuing Education in 1996<ref>YMCA Hong Kong ''About Us''. [http://www.ymcahk.org.hk/main/en/about_us/history/history_at_a_glance/index.html History at a Glance], 2015</ref> and [[YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College]] in 2003.<ref>[https://www.yhkcc.edu.hk YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College] The first secondary school sponsored by YMCA Hong Kong.</ref>

=== Europe ===
{{Further|Polish YMCA|YWCA-YMCA Guides and Scouts of Norway}}

==== Germany ====
[[File:CVJM Wittenberg 04.jpg|thumb|A YMCA in [[Wittenberg]]]]
[[File:Budynek YMCA ul. Konopnickiej w Warszawie 2020.jpg|thumb|A YMCA in [[Warsaw]]]]
In [[Germany]], as in [[Austria]] and [[Switzerland]], YMCA is called CVJM, which stands for Christlicher Verein junger Menschen (Christian Association of Young People). Up until 1985 the organisation was called 'Christlicher Verein Junger Männer' (Christian Association of Young Men); the name change reflected its activities being accessible to men and women.

==== Sweden ====
{{Main|YWCA-YMCA of Sweden}}

[[YWCA-YMCA of Sweden]] in [[Sweden]] was established in 1966 following a merger of YMCA of Sweden and the YWCA of Sweden. In 2011, the organization decided to use the term "KFUM Sverige" during promotion where "M" stands for ''människor'' ("people") instead of ''män'' (men) as it did previously. YWCA-YMCA of Sweden has 40,000 members in 140 local associations. Several Swedish YWCA-YMCA associations have been successful in sports.

==== United Kingdom and Ireland ====
[[File:The Young Men's Christian Association on the Western Front, 1914-1918 Q5444.jpg|thumb|A temporary [[First World War]] YMCA on the Western Front, near Rouen, France, 1914]]
[[File:Bath YMCA - geograph.org.uk - 3739513.jpg|thumb|YMCA [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], one of 86 locations in England and Wales]]
YMCA in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Ireland]] consists of three separate National Councils: England and Wales, Ireland, and [[Scotland]]. When YMCAs in [[Wales]] joined YMCA England in 2017, the council was renamed YMCA England and Wales.<ref>{{Cite web |title=YMCA England & Wales |url=https://ymca.org.uk/ |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=YMCA England and Wales}}</ref>

YMCAs in England and Wales offer supported accommodation for vulnerable and homeless young people, mental health services, youth clubs, sports centres, nursery schools and family support and after school clubs. Across England and Wales, YMCA in 2024 supports more than 18,000 young people with homes each year,<ref name="Accommodation" /> at 86 locations <ref>{{cite web | url=https://ymca.org.uk/locations/ | title=Find Your Local YMCA &#124; YMCA England & Wales }}</ref> making it one of the largest providers of safe supported accommodation for young people. At the great majority of sites those living in accommodation are supported by personal, social and educational services. Many YMCAs in England and Wales offer services and facilities to the wider community, among them foodbanks, gyms and swimming pools, conference facilities, cafes, theatres, counselling, chaplaincy and housing advice.

The archive of YMCA England and Wales is housed in the Special Collections section of the [[University of Birmingham]] with material from the initial founding of YMCA in London in 1840s to the recent past. The archive of YMCA Scotland is housed at the [[National Archives of Scotland]].

=== Latin America ===
==== Argentina ====
YMCA developed in 1902 in [[Argentina]], where it provided support for physical education teachers. YMCA was most notable in encouraging women's sports in South America, and during the early 1900s, YMCA in Argentina highly promoted basketball, swimming, and track and field. There were many victories for the development of sports in Argentina due to YMCA, such as Frederick Dickens, who served as the director of physical education at the Buenos Aires YMCA. Dickens eventually led the Argentine Olympic delegation to Paris in 1924 and Amsterdam in 1928.<ref name=":1" />

==== Brazil ====
YMCA developed in 1893 in [[Brazil]], and volleyball was deemed appropriate for women from the beginning. Through the encouragement of YMCA, physical educators promoted women's volleyball in schools like Escola Wenceslau Braz and Colégio Sylvio Leite in [[Rio de Janeiro|Rio]]. Sports clubs even began to organize events for women because of YMCA's influence.<ref name=":1" />

==== Mexico ====
[[Mexico]]'s first YMCA branch opened in [[Mexico City]] in 1902 for the American community. By 1904, there were two more branches in Mexico City and one branch established in Monterrey. In 1907, another branch in Chihuahua was set up and then one YMCA in Tampico. In Mexico, YMCA organized physical activity, individual development, and national progress. There was advertising for YMCA programs that would help young men gain life skills and YMCA also had some activities for women. For example, an excursion to Xochimilco in 1910 featured races for boys and girls and indoor baseball for everyone. YMCA had very little influence on rural Mexico until after the [[Mexican Revolution]].<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Elsey |first1=Brenda |title=Futbolera |last2=Nadel |first2=Joshua |date=21 May 2019 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-1477310427}}</ref>

==== Panama ====
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2021}}

[[File:Former YMCA building in Panama Canal Zone.jpg|alt=Former YMCA building in Panama Canal Zone, a gold and white building, now fenced off from the public.|thumb|Former YMCA building in the Panama Canal Zone]]

In 1904, a letter was written by the chief engineer of the [[Panama Canal Zone]], [[John Findley Wallace]], to Admiral J.G. Walker, chairman of the [[Isthmian Canal Commission]], recommending that YMCA be brought to the Canal Zone. With the approval of both President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[William Howard Taft]], A. Bruce Minear, an experienced secretary, was sent to organize the association work in the Canal Zone.<ref name="archives.lib.umn.edu">{{cite web |title=Collection: Records of YMCA international work in Panama {{!}} University of Minnesota Archival Collections Guides |url=https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/7/resources/960 |access-date=2020-03-13 |website=archives.lib.umn.edu}}</ref> Construction was started on YMCA clubhouses in Culebra, Empire, Gorgona, and Cristobal, Panama, as well as in Panama City. These clubhouses were operated by YMCA for several years and were financed by the Canal Zone, they contained billiard rooms, an assembly room, a reading room, bowling alleys, dark rooms for the camera clubs, gymnastic equipment, an ice cream parlor and soda fountain, and a circulating library.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} By 1920, there were nine buildings in operation in the Canal Zone.

Panama YMCA was founded on 24 May 1966.<ref name="archives.lib.umn.edu" /> The 1968 impeachment of President Marco Aurelio Robles and the ensuing riots and political unrest impacted YMCA's work and the after-school programs at Panama YMCA were cancelled. Use of the school equipment, such as the pool and gym, greatly helped YMCA's ability to continue on with the swimming classes and summer programs. These programs remained popular throughout this time.

In 1983, planning was started for the integration of Panama YMCA and the American Services YMCA (ASYMCA). The integration of the remaining two ASYMCAs, the Balboa Branch and the Cristobal Branch, with the Panama Branch, a merger that was completed in 1990.

YMCA Panama continues its work for the betterment of today's society. In 2005, YMCA Panama inaugurated the new YMCA Panama School located on Colinas del Sol, in the Nuevo Chorrillo District of Arraijan.

==== Peru ====
YMCA [[Peru]] has a team of 200 employees and a voluntary body of more than 700 people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nosotros – YMCA Peru |url=http://ymcaperu.org/index.php/nosotros/ |website=ymcaperu.org |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-date=7 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180607230036/http://ymcaperu.org/index.php/nosotros/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The organization describes its mission as "Having a positive impact on the young people so they have the will to transform the Peruvian society".<ref name="ymcaperu.org">{{cite web |title=YMCA Peru – Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes del Perú |url=http://ymcaperu.org/ |website=ymcaperu.org |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-date=30 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530204847/http://ymcaperu.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
YMCA Peru was created on 17 May 1920. It has presence in the departments of Lima, Arequipa, and Trujillo.<ref name="ymcaperu.org"/>

=== Middle East ===
==== Israel ====
[[File:UNSCOP SESSIONS AT THE YMCA IN JERUSALEM Wwwm8562.jpg|thumb|Many of the [[UNSCOP]] sessions to decide the fate of [[Mandatory Palestine|The British Mandate to Palestine]] were held at the [[Jerusalem]] YMCA.]]
In 1924, Archibald Clinton Harte, General Secretary of the International YMCA, raised the sum of one million dollars towards the construction of the building.<ref>{{Cite web|title = YMCA INTERNATIONAL WORK IN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL: An Inventory of Its Records|url = http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/html/ymca/yusa0009x2x2.phtml|website = Kautz Family YMCA Archives|access-date = 2016-02-10|publication-place = University of Minnesota}}</ref> The Jerusalem YMCA was dedicated in 1933 with the words “Here is a place whose atmosphere is peace, where political and religious jealousies can be forgotten and international unity be fostered and developed.” Harte's home on the shores of [[Galilee]] was bequeathed to the [[Jerusalem International YMCA]] as an international conference facility.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Archibald Harte|url = http://www3.springfieldcollege.edu/homepage/dept.nsf/4E93DD891996606345256D1E002E387E/7BAB55A7C1BBFC64852573C4006FA854|access-date = 16 September 2022|archive-date = 17 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117111434/http://www3.springfieldcollege.edu/homepage/dept.nsf/4E93DD891996606345256D1E002E387E/7BAB55A7C1BBFC64852573C4006FA854|url-status = dead}}</ref> The cornerstone was laid in 1928 by [[Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer|Lord Plumer]], the British High Commissioner for [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], on a plot of land in the West Nikephoria section of [[Jerusalem]], purchased from the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem|Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem]].<ref name="ymcahis">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040604143215/http://www.jerusalemymca.org/ENG/History/History.html YMCA history]}}</ref> The building was designed by the American architect [[Arthur Loomis Harmon]] of [[Shreve, Lamb and Harmon]], who designed the [[Empire State Building]]. The Jerusalem YMCA housed the city's first heated swimming pool and first gymnasium with a wooden floor. The first concert broadcasts of the [[Voice of Israel]] radio station were transmitted from the YMCA auditorium.

In 1947, the YMCA was the venue of the [[UNSCOP]] talks leading up to the [[UN Partition Plan]].<ref>[https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1947v05/d778 The Consul General at Jerusalem (Macatee) to the Secretary of State]</ref> At the end of April 1948, the building was taken over by the [[International Red Cross]], which used it to shelter around 80 refugees. Two months later, it was used by the United Nations Mediation Committee headed by [[Folke Bernadotte|Count Bernadotte]] and then was taken over by the U.S. Consulate. In April 1949, the building was returned to YMCA.<ref name="ymcahis" />

==== Gaza ====
[[File:Jean Henri Dunant.jpg|thumb|[[Henry Dunant]]]]

In 1952, the YMCA in [[Gaza City]] was started with the support of the [[Egypt]] YMCA, and was a branch of the Egypt YMCA until 1967, when the [[Gaza Strip]] fell under [[Israel]]’s control following the [[Six-Day War]]. Since then, Gaza YMCA has not been associated with any national organization. YMCA Gaza has five major departments: sports, arts, welfare, preschool, and youth. The youth department consists of approximately 80 youth leaders between the ages of 15 and 25 years old.

Despite having a strong Christian identity, the YMCA in Gaza is well respected in the Muslim community. The majority of YMCA attendees are Muslim. The staff are both Muslim and Christian, and the elected board is 100% Christian to balance inclusiveness without losing the YMCA’s Christian identity. The YMCA teaches youth about [[religious tolerance]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-11-16 |title=Occupied Palestinian territory: Report from the International YMCA-YWCA Observer: No. 17 - Gaza - why do you want to go there? - occupied Palestinian territory {{!}} ReliefWeb |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/occupied-palestinian-territory-report-international-ymca-ywc-0 |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=reliefweb.int |language=en}}</ref> In 2021, Gaza's YMCA served 1,800 youth.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-12 |title=YMCA Gaza: thriving beyond despair |url=https://www.ymca.int/ymca-gaza-thriving-beyond-despair/ |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=World YMCA |language=en-US}}</ref>

In October, November, and December of 2023, the YMCA in Gaza was used as a shelter for hundreds of people from the attacks on Gaza by Israel. On the 17th of December, the building was bombarded and destroyed by Israel, with reports of wounded and killed civilians. The next day, the World YMCA posted a response saying, 
“The World YMCA strongly condemns this horrific attack on civilians and calls on the Israeli government to stop its acts of indiscriminate violence which can only deepen division and which are causing such trauma. Violence begets violence. End it now.”<ref name="YMCA">{{cite web |title=YMCA building in Gaza City hit |url=https://www.ymca.int/ymca-gaza-is-hit/ |website=World YMCA |access-date=18 Dec 2023}}</ref>

=== West Bank ===
There are four YMCA facilities in the West Bank, two of which are in East Jerusalem, one in Beit Sahour, and one in Ramallah. In 1948, the first YMCA in East Jerusalem was established in a tent in the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp after nearly 750,000 Palestinians were displaced from their homes in the 1948 war. It started programs that provided skills to the refugees and offered assistance to those in need. Later expanding to provide sports fields and further youth development. The facilities were then moved to East Jerusalem, where they provided support for the community during the 1967 war and occupation of the West Bank by Israel. In the Beit Sahour facility, they started a special rehabilitation program for disabled victims caused by injuries from the Israeli occupation forces in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This program is still running.<ref name="Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ">{{cite web |title=East Jerusalem YMCA (Palestine) |url=https://www.globalministries.org/partner/east_jerusalem_ymca/ |website=Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ}}</ref>

=== North America ===
{{Anchor|YMCA of the USA}}

==== Canada ====
{{Further|YMCA of Greater Toronto}}

The first YMCA in [[North America]] opened as a charity in [[Montreal]], Quebec, on 25 November 1851.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The YMCAs of Quebec - Our History |newspaper=Ymca Quebec |url=https://www.ymcaquebec.org/en/About-Us/Our-History }}</ref><ref name="YMCA Canada - Who We Are">{{cite web |title=YMCA Canada - Who We Are |url=https://www.ymca.ca/who-we-are/about-us|access-date=5 December 2024|publisher=YMCA Canada|archive-date=24 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124143250/http://www.ymca.ca/en/who-we-are.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref> {{As of|2024}} there were 35 YMCAs and 2 YMCA-YWCAs in Canada, cumulatively serving 2.25&nbsp;million people annually in over 1,700 locations.<ref name="YMCA Canada - Who We Are" /> Programs include children and youth, health, fitness, and recreation, childcare, day and resident camping, employment training, community outreach and newcomer services, international development and education, and leadership development and recognition.<ref name="YMCA Canada - Who We Are" />
Its archives are held by [[Library and Archives Canada]]. Until 1912, when Canadian YMCAs formed their own national council, YMCAs were jointly administered by the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Associations of North America.

==== United States ====
{{Main|YMCA of the USA}}
{{Further|YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga|YMCA of Greater New York}}

[[File:YMCA Onalaska.jpg|thumb|A YMCA in [[Onalaska, Wisconsin]]]]
[[File:Hollywood YMCA in 2007.jpg|thumb|A YMCA in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood, California]] in 2007]]
[[File:"CANADIAN YMCA Beaver Hut" detail, Beaver Hut Canada YMCA (cropped).jpg|thumb|YMCA's Beaver Hut poster in 1939]]
[[File:Ketchum Downtown YMCA, Front View.jpg|thumb|The Ketchum Downtown YMCA in [[Los Angeles]]]]
[[File:Winona YMCA with Sugar Loaf in the background.jpg|thumb|A YMCA in [[Winona, Minnesota]] in 2024]]

In the [[United States]], YMCA is more commonly known as 'The Y', with national headquarters in [[Chicago]]. It has 800 separate organisational entities affiliated to its national office, based in 2,700 branch locations,<ref name="y-usa-org">{{cite web |date=2017-04-11 |title=Who We Are|url=http://www.ymca.net/organizational-profile|website=YMCA.net}}</ref> working with 21&nbsp;million people, to "strengthen communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility."<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome to the Y |url=http://www.ymca.net |access-date=19 April 2015|website=YMCA.org}}</ref> It has about 19,000 staff and 600,000 volunteers.

Major programs include [[After-school activity|after-school activities]], day care, [[youth work]] and physical fitness. A large number of locations have gyms, weight rooms, swimming pools, and sports courts.

The first YMCA in the United States opened on 29 December 1851, in [[Boston]], Massachusetts. It was founded in 1851 by Captain Thomas Valentine Sullivan (1800–59), an American seaman and missionary. In 1853 the Reverend [[Anthony Bowen]] founded the first YMCA for Colored Men in [[Washington, D.C.]] The renamed Anthony Bowen YMCA is still serving the U Street area of Washington. It became a part of YMCA of the city of Washington in 1947. Through the middle part of the 20th century it was associated with covert homosexual subculture, with the athletic facilities providing a refuge and cover for closeted individuals.<ref>Neumann, Caryn E. glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture. [http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/ymca_S.pdf YMCA]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304184310/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/ymca.html|date=4 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=David K. |title=Take the Stranger by the Hand: Same-Sex Relations and the YMCA |url=http://gaybookreviews.info/review/3397/299 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316031710/http://gaybookreviews.info/review/3397/299 |archive-date=16 March 2012 |access-date=16 March 2012 |website=gaybookreviews.info}}</ref>

YMCAs in the USA are one of the largest charitable nonprofits in the US, by public donations received, as listed by ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web |title=YMCA of the USA |url=https://www.forbes.com/companies/ymca/ |access-date=2019-12-21 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> YMCA in the USA is one of the many organizations that espouses [[muscular Christianity]].

Its national archives are located at the [[Kautz Family YMCA Archives|Kautz Family YMCA]], at [[University of Minnesota]] Libraries Department of Archives and Special Collections. More digitally accessible archival information can be found at the Texas Christian University (TCU) Digital Repository.

== Nobel Peace Prize laureates ==
* 1901: [[Henry Dunant]], who co-founded the Geneva YMCA in 1852 and was one of the founders of the World YMCA, was awarded the first-ever [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for founding the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] in 1863, and inspiring the [[Geneva Conventions]] (Conventions de Genève). He shared the prize with [[Frédéric Passy]], founder and president of the first [[Société d'arbitrage entre les Nations|French peace society]].
* 1946: [[John Mott|John R. Mott]], US, president of the World YMCA, was awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for his "long and fruitful labors in drawing together the peoples of many nations, many races and many communions in a common bond of spirituality." John R. Mott also played an important role in the founding of the [[World Student Christian Federation]] in 1895, the [[1910 World Missionary Conference]] and the [[World Council of Churches]] in 1948.

== Logo ==
[[File:World_Alliance_of_YMCAs_logo.png|thumb|The logo of the World Alliance of YMCAs, founded in 1881]] 
[[File:Ymca logo 2011-06-28.png|thumb|The International YMCA logo (top) and the United States YMCA logo (below)]]

In 1881, 26 years after its foundation, the official emblem of the World Alliance of YMCAs was adopted, at the Ninth International YMCA World Conference, in [[London]]. The circular emblem is made up of five segments, one for each continent. The segments are held together by small monograms of YMCA in different languages. As early as 1881, YMCA leaders believed the Movement could be truly international and united across borders. In the center is a larger monogram of X and P, [[Chi Rho|Chi and Rho]], Christ's name, as used by early Christians. An open Bible sits on top of the monogram, showing [[That they all may be one|John XVII, Verse 21, "that they all may be one"]]. This was to remind YMCAs that Christ is at the center of the Movement, a source of strength, hope and unity, binding them all together.<ref>{{cite web |title=YMCA Logo - History |url=https://www.ymca.int/about-us/ymca-history/ymca-logo-history/ |website=World YMCA |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=1 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001150242/https://www.ymca.int/about-us/ymca-history/ymca-logo-history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1891, [[Luther Gulick (physician)|Luther Gulick]], a physical education director at YMCA of the US, introduced a new emblem to represent YMCA, an inverted red triangle. According to Gulick the triangle represented 'the whole man', with the three different aspects: mind, body and spirit.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://infed.org/mobi/luther-halsey-gulick-recreation-physical-education-and-the-ymca/|title=Luther Halsey Gulick: recreation, physical education and the YMCA|first=Thomas|last=Winter|date=2004|website=infed.org}}</ref> This logo became a familiar symbol of YMCA's work on the home front and around the world during WW1 and WW2, and remains in use.

In 2010, the YMCA of the USA changed its logo to "The Y" as part of a larger brand transformation.<ref>{{cite news|title=YMCA changes its logo to just 'The Y'|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/12/ymca-changes-its-logo-to-just-the-y/|date=12 July 2010|newspaper=The Washington Times}}</ref>

== YMCA Vision 2030 ==
At the 20th World Council in [[Aarhus]], Denmark, the global YMCA Movement adopted its first collective strategy, '''YMCA Vision 2030''', intended as a roadmap for every YMCA's strategic goals, closely aligned to the [[Sustainable Development Goals|UN Sustainable Development Goals]]. As of June 2023, 75 YMCA Movements worldwide were in the process of implementing YMCA Vision 2030.

{| class="wikitable"
!Number
!Date
!Name
!Location
!Country
|-
|1
|1855
|First World Conference
|[[Paris]]
|{{flag|Second French Empire}}
|-
|2
|1858
|Second World Conference
|[[Geneva]]
|{{flag|Switzerland}}
|-
|3
|1862
|Third World Conference
|[[London]]
|{{flag|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
|-
|4
|1865
|Fourth World Conference
|[[Elberfeld]]
|{{flag|Kingdom of Prussia}}
|-
|5
|1867
|Fifth World Conference
|[[Paris]]
|{{flag|Second French Empire}}
|-
|6
|1872
|Sixth World Conference
|[[Amsterdam]]
|{{flag|Netherlands}}
|-
|7
|1875
|Seventh World Conference
|[[Hamburg]]
|{{flag|German Empire}}
|-
|8
|1878
|Eighth World Conference
|[[Geneva]]
|{{flag|Switzerland}}
|-
|9
|1881
|Ninth World Conference
|[[London]]
|{{flag|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
|-
|10
|1884
|10th World Conference
|[[Berlin]]
|{{flag|German Empire}}
|-
|11
|1888
|11th World Conference
|[[Stockholm]]
|{{flag|Sweden}}
|-
|12
|1891
|12th World Conference
|[[Amsterdam]]
|{{flag|Netherlands}}
|-
|13
|1894
|13th World Conference
|[[London]]
|{{flag|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
|-
|14
|1898
|14th World Conference
|[[Basel]]
|{{flag|German Empire}}
|-
|15
|1902
|15th World Conference
|[[Oslo|Christiania]]
|{{flag|Norway}}
|-
|16
|1905
|16th World Conference
|[[Paris]]
|{{flag|French Third Republic}}
|-
|17
|1909
|17th World Conference
|[[Elberfeld]]
|{{flag|German Empire}}
|-
|18
|1913
|18th World Conference
|[[Edinburgh]]
|{{flag|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
|-
|19
|1926
|19th World Conference
|[[Helsinki]]
|{{flag|Finland}}
|-
|20
|1931
|20th World Conference
|[[Cleveland]]
|{{flag|USA}}
|-
|21
|1937
|21st World Conference
|[[Mysore]]
|{{flag|British Raj}} (India)<ref>{{cite book |last=Shedd |first=Clarence Prouty |title=History of the World's Alliance of YMCA |year=1955 |location=London |pages=Appendix 1}}</ref>
|-
|22
|1955
|First World Council
|[[Paris]]
|{{flag|French Fourth Republic}}
|-
|23
|1957
|Second World Council
|[[Kassel]]
|{{flag|West Germany}}
|-
|24
|1961
|Third World Council
|[[Geneva]]
|{{flag|Switzerland}}
|-
|25
|1965
|Fourth World Council
|[[Gotemba, Shizuoka]]
|{{flag|Japan}}
|-
|26
|1969
|Fifth World Council
|[[Nottingham]]
|{{flag|United Kingdom}}
|-
|27
|1973
|Sixth World Council
|[[Kampala]]
|{{flag|Uganda}}
|-
|28
|1977
|Seventh World Council
|[[Buenos Aires]]
|{{flag|Argentina}}
|-
|29
|1981
|Eighth World Council
|[[Estes Park, Colorado]]
|{{flag|USA}}
|-
|30, 31
|1985
|Ninth and 10th World Council
|[[Nyborg]]
|{{flag|Denmark}}
|-
|32
|1988
|11th World Council
|[[Aruba]]
|{{flag|Aruba}}
|-
|33
|1991
|12th World Council
|[[Seoul]]
|{{flag|South Korea}}
|-
|34
|1994
|13th World Council
|[[Coventry]]
|{{flag|United Kingdom}}
|-
|35
|1998
|14th World Council
|[[Frechen]]
|{{flag|Germany}}
|-
|36
|2002
|15th World Council
|[[Mexico City]]
|{{flag|Mexico}}
|-
|37
|2006
|16th World Council
|[[Durban]]
|{{flag|South Africa}}
|-
|38
|2010
|17th World Council
|[[Hong Kong]]
|{{flag|Hong Kong}}
|-
|39
|2014
|18th World Council
|[[Estes Park, Colorado]]
|{{flag|USA}}
|-
|40
|2018
|19th World Council
|[[Chiang Mai]]
|{{flag|Thailand}}
|-
|41
|2022
|20th World Council
|[[Aarhus]]
|{{flag|Denmark}}
|-
|42
|2026
|21st World Council
|[[Toronto]]
|{{flag|Canada}}
|-
|}

== See also ==
{{commons cat}}
* [[Clean living movement]]
* [[List of recreational organizations]]
* [[List of YMCA buildings]]
* [[New York Society for the Suppression of Vice]]
* [[Police Citizens Youth Club]]
* [[Polish YMCA]]
* [[TUXIS]]
* [[Young Men's Buddhist Association]] (YMBA)
* [[YMCA of Greater New York]]
* [[YMCA SCUBA Program]]
* [[Y.M.C.A. (song)]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources and further reading ==
* Alleman, Nathan F., and Dorothy E. Finnegan. "'Believe you have a mission in life and steadily pursue it': Campus YMCAs presage student development theory, 1894–1930." ''Higher Education in Review'' 6.1 (2009): 33+ [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dorothy_Finnegan/publication/235791912_Believe_you_have_a_mission_in_life_and_steadily_pursue_it_Campus_YMCAs_Presage_Student_Development_Theory_1894-1930/links/02bfe5138b2012af27000000/Believe-you-have-a-mission-in-life-and-steadily-pursue-it-Campus-YMCAs-Presage-Student-Development-Theory-1894-1930.pdf online].
* Baker, William J. "To Play or to Pray? The YMCA Question in the United Kingdom and the United States, 1850-1900". ''International Journal of the History of Sport'' 1994 11#1: 42-62 
* Copeland, Jeffrey C, and Yan Xu. The YMCA at War : Collaboration and Conflict during the World Wars. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, an imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., 2018.
* Fischer-Tiné, Harald, Stefan Huebner and Ian Tyrrell, eds. ''Spreading Protestant Modernity: Global Perspectives on the Social Work of the YMCA and YWCA (c. 1889–1970)'' (University of Hawai’i Press, 2020) [https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/spreading-protestant-modernity-global-perspectives-on-the-social-work-of-the-ymca-and-ywca-1889-1970/ abstract].
* Garnham, Neal. "'Both praying and playing:' Muscular Christianity" and the YMCA in north-east county Durham." ''Journal of Social History'' 35.2 (2001): 397-407, in England. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3790194 online]
* Hopkins, Charles Howard. ''History of the YMCA in North America'' (Association Press, 1951), a standard scholarly history [https://books.google.com/books?id=da4cAAAAMAAJ&dq=YMCA&pg=PA3 History of the Y.M.C.A. in North America].
* Hosgood, Christopher P. "Negotiating Lower-Middle-Class Masculinity in Britain: The Leicester Young Men's Christian Association, 1870-1914." ''Canadian Journal of History'' 37.2 (2002): 253–274.
* Lord, Alexandra M. "Models of masculinity: sex education, the United States Public Health Service, and the YMCA, 1919–1924." ''Journal of the history of medicine and allied sciences'' 58.2 (2003): 123–152. [https://lhncbc.nlm.nih.gov/LHC-publications/PDF/pub2003041.pdf online]
* Macleod, David I. ''Building character in the American boy: The Boy Scouts, YMCA, and their forerunners, 1870-1920'' (Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2004), a standard scholarly history.
* {{cite book |last=Muukkonen |first=Martti |url=http://epublications.uef.fi/pub/urn_isbn_952-458-207-4/urn_isbn_952-458-207-4.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://epublications.uef.fi/pub/urn_isbn_952-458-207-4/urn_isbn_952-458-207-4.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Ecumenism of the Laity: Continuity and Change in the Mission View of the World's Alliance of YMCAs, 1855–1955 |publisher=University of Joensuu. Publications in Theology 7 |year=2002}}
* Putney, Clifford W. "Going Upscale: The YMCA and Postwar America, 1950-1990". ''Journal of Sport History'' 20#2 1993, pp.&nbsp;151–166. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43609930 online]
* Steuer, Kenneth. ''Pursuit of an “Unparalleled Opportunity”: The American YMCA and Prisoner-of-War Diplomacy among the Central Power Nations during World War I, 1914-1923''.New York: NY. Columbia University Press. 2009.
* Tlustý, Tomáš. “The YMCA in Central European Countries as One of the Ways of Americanising Central Europe after the First World War (Base of Information and Methodological Approaches Zo Researching the Issue).” Acta Universitatis Carolinae. Kinanthropologica 49, no. 2 (2014): 65–79. https://doi.org/10.14712/23366052.2014.7.
* Vertinsky, Patricia, and Aishwarya Ramachandran. "The 'Y' Goes to India: Springfield College, Muscular Missionaries, and the Transnational Circulation of Physical Culture Practices". ''Journal of Sport History'' 46#3 2019, pp.&nbsp;363–379. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jsporthistory.46.3.0363 online]
* Watson, Nick J., Stuart Weir, and Stephen Friend. "The development of muscular Christianity in Victorian Britain and beyond." ''Journal of religion and society'' 7 (2005) pp 7–21.[http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/840/1/2005-2.pdf_sequence%3D1 online].
* Wang, Peter Chen-main. “Caring Beyond National Borders: The YMCA and Chinese Laborers in World War I Europe.” Church History 78, no. 2 (2009): 327–49.
* Winter, Thomas. "Personality, Character, and Self-Expression: The YMCA and the Construction of Manhood and Class, 1877-1920." ''Men and Masculinities'' 2.3 (2000): 272–285.

=== Primary sources ===
* {{cite book |title=The Report of the Thirteenth Triennial International Conference and Jubilee Celebration of Young Men's Christian Associations |publisher=Jubilee Council |year=1895 |location=London |ref=IC95}}
* Young Men’s Christian Associations. National War Work Council. Summary of World War Work of the American Y.M.C.A.; with the Soldiers and Sailors of America at Home, on the Sea, and Overseas; New York, 1920.

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}} {{In lang|en|fr|es}}
* Additional [http://bmrcsurvey.uchicago.edu/collections/1410 archives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927233129/http://bmrcsurvey.uchicago.edu/collections/1410 |date=27 September 2013 }} about the importance of [http://www.trcwabash.org/history.html YMCA to Chicago] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831033753/http://www.trcwabash.org/history.html |date=31 August 2013 }}), IL and to the African American History.

{{Portal bar|Christianity|United Kingdom|Switzerland}}

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