Merritt Athletic Clubs - Where Your Future Takes Shape

Athletic Club Membership

Membership

The Merritt Athletic Clubs will strive to be an industry leader, dedicated to serving our clients and providing them with the motivation to stay fit, have fun, and further their health and fitness education, while creating profitable partnerships with our community and clients as well as our employees and owners.

The Merritt story began in 1977 when Leroy Merritt built the Towson Court Club, a workout facility with 12 racquetball courts. Member response was so overwhelming that the club underwent two expansions in our first year of operation. Two more clubs were developed over the next three years to accommodate the growing interest in fitness throughout our region. One of these clubs was built in Annapolis and the other was located off the Baltimore Beltway at Security Boulevard. (Merritt Athletic Clubs Annapolis closed in September 2008.)

In early 1989, Merritt acquired the Downtown Athletic Club. This acquisition served to establish Merritt Athletic Clubs as the most complete fitness organization in Maryland. Between 1989 and 1999, we underwent tremendous growth and change. Our fifth club opened in the Southside Shopping Center in 1999 as an express facility. That same year, we broke ground on our largest club to date, located in Eldersburg. In 2001, we were happy to announce the acquisition of our express facility in Owings Mills.

In 2003, Merritt Athletic Clubs celebrated the opening of three new clubs: our Canton and Cranbrook locations and the relocation of our Southside facility to Fort Avenue. In addition, Merritt began management of Tide Point, a 24-hour facility.

Our growth continued. In late 2005, Merritt Athletic Clubs took over the management of Bare Hills where we are the acknowledged leader in the development of tennis players, young and old. Many students from the Merritt Athletic Clubs at Bare Hills program have successfully gone on to compete for their high school, college, USTA, and interclub teams. Others have played professionally at Wimbledon, the US Open, the Australian Open, and the French Open tennis tournaments.

Amenities in all our locations include strength training and cardiovascular equipment, free weights, group exercise classes including Body Pump, Body Step, Body Flow, Body Combat, Body Attack, RPM, Body Jam, and Body Vive, racquetball, squash, handball, basketball, tennis, lap and warm water rec pools, and Kids Zone for our youngest members. Our club services range from towel service to massage and spa facilities, pro shops that feature product lines such as Under Armour and Life is Good as well as protein smoothies, shakes, and bars. We also offer programs geared specifically for children that include dance, martial arts, pre-school and kindergarten learning center, art classes, gymnastics, cheerleading teams, and year-round swim teams. With the recent addition of our Junior Fitness Certification for kids ages 12-15, Merritt Athletic Clubs offers something for every member of the family.

With over 27,000 members, more than 800 employees, swimming pools, squash, tennis, racquetball, more than 300 group exercise classes each week, 10 convenient locations, and over 30 years in the health and fitness industry, Merritt Athletic Clubs is the most complete fitness organization in Maryland.