Editing YMCA (section)

=== 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}}</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}}</ref>
YMCA Peru was created on 17 May 1920. It has presence in the departments of Lima, Arequipa, and Trujillo.<ref name="ymcaperu.org"/>