Thomas Jefferson Community Center

Thomas Jefferson Community Center is a world class place for everyone. The center equipped with just about everything you really need. I have been a regular user for 15 years. It is spacious with great staffers, great atmosphere for workout under newly installed LED light, decent participants, generous open hours… Remember this is a public community center in Arlington, Va., it is lucky for Arlington residents having such a nice place to go and for non-​residents who will pay a little more, but still a great bargain fee as compare
to commercial gym. I want to mention again that this is a truly world class community center, I am a world traveler, I have not seen any community center in all over the world even close to Thomas Jefferson Community Center! You must to see and feel it for yourself.

Sports galore! This is a huge gym for Arlington. There are four, rubber surfaced basketball courts surrounded by a running track. There is fitness equipment along the southern end of the gym. This place is not that crowded unless there is basketball or roller skating.

If you’re looking for a basic gym at a good price — the gym at Thomas Jefferson Community Center is perfect. It is a great place to go if you want to save on what you pay to join a gym. You can join the Arlington County fitness program for a fraction of the price of private gyms. In addition to Thomas Jefferson, Arlington has fitness centers in a slew of other community centers. The fitness center at TJ has all the equipment you really need: bikes, elliptical, stair machines, rowing machines, and a variety of weights/​lifting machines. They even have personal trainers. The gym is in a huge gym (used by the middle school) that has a track, and basketball courts. They even provide towels. The one disadvantage of this place and the Arlington County fitness program in general is that classes are extra (usually $ 5 per class in addition to cost of membership).

In addition to indoor basketball and volleyball options, there is a selection of elliptical, bike, and row machines; a track surrounding the basketball/​volleyball courts, a free-​weight room, an area for various pulley-​style weight machines, another weight room for beginners who wish to have a trainer, various aerobics and karate classes, ping pong and pool tables, a locker room and sauna. Outside there are some more basketball courts, tennis courts, two soccer fields, and a little playground.
On certain days they set up a «pickle ball» court inside — look that sport up for yourself, but beware of TONY, the pickle ball shark! In addition to beating people his own size I’ve seen him gloating and taunting over a 12 year old girl he was beating! It’s all good though, everyone knows Tony (a robust man in his mid 60’s) is a decent human being — off the pickle ball court that is. Just imagine Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford, but in good health for his age at a gym. To see and hear Tony in his element is to love him.
Now, the gym is attached to a middle school, so be aware that you may be there when a hoard of screaming pubescent juveniles are doing what they do (and you once did) in gym class. Remember — this is a public community center, not an exclusive gym where Greek gods and goddesses between the ages of 25 – 45 go to cavort and sport and flaunt their virility, although there are some of those people too. There are special needs people, the old, the young, in between; the ugly, the beautiful, the proud, the deranged; fools, the clueless, honorable citizens, philosophers; the amusing, charming, and horrifying bric-​à-​brac of humanity. There is a nice old man who always shows up to work out in khakis with his shirt sloppily half-​tucked in, with a paperback book jammed into his back pocket — the book stays there the whole time; guys with perilously horrible form who jerk the weights about in the mad pursuit of a bad workout and injury to themselves and the equipment. This is sometimes annoying, but ALWAYS colorful and diverse. If you are the type who is willing to pay high gym fees in order to be surrounded by state-​of-​the-​art gym equipment, tanned and toned fitness freaks, and hoping in turn to be noticed for your glorious physique and rewarded with carnal delights, then TJ IS NOT FOR YOU! What you do get is a great all-​around place for a killer price (for Arlington residents at least — whatever they have or don’t have in Fairfax County, Alexandria or D.C. is your pleasure or problem).
The staff is very nice, but like all government workers, they don’t do as much as they should to enforce the rules — like unruly underage kids sometimes goofing off with the weight machines — a hazard to themselves, those around them, and the equipment, not to mention a legal liability to the county if things go awry. But if they get too out of hand you can always yell at ‘em yourself (it’s a «community» center remember?) and the police are never far away for egregious offenders, which thankfully seldom goes down like that. All in all, TJ is a heck of a place for the money.

By far the best pick-​up basketball games I’ve played in Arlington have been here. Only knock is that you have to pay $ 5 to play and $ 10 if you’re a non-​resident. They are pretty strict with providing proper identification too, though my friends and I’ve always been able to talk our way out of it. You could also play $ 115 for a yearlong pass, but there are too many free outdoor courts in Arlington (including two right outside the center) for me to bother with that once the temperature tops 60. I guess it is possible that you’re supposed to pay to play at Langston Brown or Walter Reed, too, but I’ve just unknowingly been a delinquent every time I’ve gone.
At TJ, there are four full courts and a half court, although most times I’ve seen two courts taken for volleyball (at least on Tuesdays nights and Saturday afternoons when I go; by the way, of the two sports that reward height and jumping ability, volleyball definitely has the better-​looking women). On the two courts that remain for basketball, it’s clear one has varsity talent and the other is holding JV practice. Lots of good, competitive runs on the varsity court. On the JV court I’ve seen games go for five full minutes without anyone scoring, and that’s too similar to my style so I can’t go there. Games are to 11 points or 15 minutes, and there’s a scorekeeper/​timekeeper who also manages who gets to play next. On Tuesday nights, it’s not tough to get into a game. On Saturday afternoons, expect the waitlist to be 30 – 45 minutes for a varsity game. But if you’re looking for some pick-​up talent to play against in Arlington, this is where you’ll find it.