Last year’s historic floods left the Riverbrook Regional YMCA’s Wilton Family Y Branch with long-term damage estimated at upwards of $4.2 million. For over 50 years, the YMCA has played an invaluable role in Wilton and beyond, supporting people of all ages and from every walk of life — families, seniors, children and youth, people experiencing financial hardship, and individuals with physical, intellectual and developmental disabilities — to strengthen the community. GOOD Morning Wilton‘s new series called “Why the Y?” shares just why the YMCA is so important to Wilton. Please consider donating to the YMCA’s “Restore * Rebuild * Recover” Flood Relief fundraising campaign.

Through many incarnations Riverbrook YMCA’s Senior Camp and Sports Director, Mike Kazlauskas or “Coach Kaz” has reinvented himself, transformed lives and also found an untapped market for youth pickleball. 

From summer camp counselor to working the front desk and the aftercare program to archer extraordinaire, this Ridgefield native and volunteer firefighter sincerely enjoys seeing his littlest fans at Stop and Shop (for real), knows how to stay calm in an emergency, and most definitely had his girlfriend at ‘Hello.’ 

Lesley Kirschner caught up with this everyday superhero for some real-life lessons on what it means to start over where you are, a look at how how life can feel amplified in a mad world, and an oat milk latte on the house. Thanks, Coach Kaz! 

1. Wilton is, by and large, a family town but also a big sports town. Having worked at the Wilton Family Y for many years, is there a sport you think most Wiltonites share a love of? What makes the crowd go wild? 

Mike Kazlauskas: Football…and maybe basketball. I go to a lot of games, just to support and I see big crowds at the football games. 

It’s really nice to see all of the parents supporting their kids. 

I think cheerleading is big in town, too. 

Pickleball and paddle… those are really popular. 

We actually just got a pickleball youth grant. We received the highest award and we’re getting three nets, 72 paddles and two hundred balls. 

I have this mission to create a youth program for pickleball. It’s really an untapped market; but it’s the future. I went to a training in Kentucky and we heard all the analytics and everything coming down the pike. With so many colleges putting it in, high schools are paying attention and elementary schools, too. 

Anyway, it’s sort of the reverse because usually, you learn to play a sport as a kid and then it continues into adulthood but pickleball is more an adult sport that kids are now learning. It’s very unique. 

2. The Riverbrook Y is such a valuable cornerstone in our community and truly transforms lives every day. In what ways do you feel you’ve been changed for the better by being a part of the YMCA community? 

Kazlauskas: So this will be my 18th year working here. I love it here. I met all my friends here. 

Working here has really shown me that everyone really does have a purpose in this world. This has been my home, every single day and the people here make it that and that’s why I keep coming back. 

Sometimes I’ll be in Stop and Shop and some kid will come up and high five me and be like, “Hey, Coach Kaz!” It’s really nice to be in the community. 

3. I know volunteering is a big part of your life. What does giving back mean to you, and how has that shown up in your life? 

Kazlauskas: I’ve been a volunteer firefighter [in Ridgefield] for about 12 years. 

I’d always wanted to be a police officer. I went to school for criminal justice. I’m a big superhero fan. I always wanted to help people, and then I got the job here [at the Y], and… this is helping people. This is what I like. 

Living in Ridgefield specifically, I was able to respond to calls at any time of the day, and I didn’t care if it was two o’clock in the morning, if people needed my help, I would go. 

But I grew up that way. That was the way my parents taught me, and I think it’s just a model I live by… to help no matter what. 

One of my favorite things actually is when we have Safety Day and you know, the families come and the kids can see the fire truck and we’re educating them, right? But it’s also fun. I love to do that, to talk and connect with everybody. I think volunteering is huge. 

We have these drills once a week through the Ridgefield Volunteer Fire Department, and we go over different skills and stuff, like ice water rescue. We got out on the lake, and we cut a hole with the chains. We practice that. We practice extrication. 

But also just going over where things are on the truck… knowing where the hundreds of tools are because everything has to be exactly organized in an emergency. Sometimes, people are running around frantically, and you have to act [quickly] and stay calm because if the people in charge are panicking, then everyone around is going to panic. 

4. My daughter is a Junior in college now and still remembers you and the positive impact the Y’s aftercare program had on her when we first moved to town. With so many working parents looking to fill in the gaps, what can say about the benefits of afterschool programs and the vital role they play in a community like Wilton? 

Kazlauskas: That’s such a high compliment, first of all, and it’s funny. It’s great when I remember them, too. I know your daughter loved her books. 

Sometimes I’ll be in my office and I will hear a kid in the hallway crying to their parents that they don’t want to go home and I feel bad for the kid but that’s a good feeling too, right? That you’re doing your job because they don’t want to go home. 

But I would say the after-school program is about being here and being social. It’s about getting your homework done and having a healthy snack… spending time with friends, going outside and playing, doing craft projects. And you really don’t know the impact you have until you hear about it. Sometimes people lose sight of that. 

Sometimes I’ll hear people [outside of the Y] saying something like, “That kid’s just a tough kid,” or, “That kid’s a problem.” And I’m like, “No, they’re just a kid and you have to believe in the kid because they’re not a tough kid, they’re just having a tough time.” 

You remember that and you’re golden.

5. When I was a kid, I used to go to the laundromat with my mom, and for whatever reason, [working there] seemed like the most fascinating career in the world to me — the shiny quarters, the smell of hot water hitting Tide, a vending machine stocked full of stale candy. Thinking back, did you have your own laundry lady dream or a version of it, and did your life take turns in ways you didn’t expect? 

Kazlauskas: I think the DARE officer I had in fifth grade, Officer Luis, totally changed my life. I see him all the time because of my work with the RVFD, and I told him a couple of years ago, “You’re the reason I pretty much am who I am. You took so much time with us and gave us so much attention.” 

My whole feeling about law enforcement and the police really shifted. I saw how he got to help people, to help kids, and that was the coolest thing. 

My grandma always said, “It’s important to love what you do, but you also have to make money to live.” 

I was working at the old Ancona’s in Ridgefield, back in the day, and my best friend’s mom used to work at the Y and she asked me if I wanted to work over the summer in the camp. 

I worked my way up to my job now, and people say, “You really must love it” and I do. I love to help kids. I love to help parents. You never know what people are going through, so you just be there, offer guidance. Sometimes, “Hello” goes a long way. 

I know the life I have and I also know the impact it makes and… maybe that’s my own laundromat dream. 

If you have a story to share about why you love the Y, please let us know through our contact link.