At a time when communities are concerned about gangs and violence, I’d like to invite you to attend a local Swim Meet. You could find around 100 young people involved. There are plenty of other places this many young people could be on a Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. Multiply this by several different locations across the country.

Swimming is usually managed by a state swimming organization as part of a national program sponsored by United States Swimming (USS). USS is the organization that oversees amateur competitive swimming in the United States. As the sport’s national governing body, USS is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the International Swimming Federation.

Nationally, each year, more than 20,000 volunteers register with USS as non-athlete members. Interested individuals donate their time, energy, and expertise to serve as officials, administrators, coaches, and workers involved at all levels, from serving on national committees to participating in the local swim club. Utah Swimming currently has 240 non-athletes and 1,600 registered athletes.

All pools must develop and run a comprehensive aquatics program that includes swim lessons and a pre-competition swim team program. These aquatic programs would lead in many cases to the formation of an official USS Group swim team in which each swimmer pays an annual registration fee to USS and an additional $20.00 to $30.00 monthly fee. This money is used to pay coaches’ fees and other team expenses.

In a competition, six swimmers enter the pool at the same time. They are grouped by age and ability. In each group of six there is an even chance that any one of the six will finish first. But getting there first isn’t really the problem. Each swimmer has a personal best time from previous experiences in the pool. The goal of each individual swimmer is to decrease her individual personal best time. As a result, there are NO losers, everyone is a winner.

Swimming should not have rules about the number of swimmers that can be on a team. Anyone who wants to work and progress can be in a team. Anyone who wants to work can be a winner. Who can put a price on the value of this experience for those young people who are positively committed to self-improvement and hard work?

Some school districts are considering closing all district pools to save money and avoid liability issues. It’s interesting that no one has considered rolling up basketball courts or breaking up football fields. In some states, age group swim teams must rent pool time. We have become a community where ALL decisions are based on the “bottom line”. Our community values ​​may be based on money or trophies.

In many areas of the country, communities or schools provide pool time to USS Age-Group Swimming in recognition of the contribution that participation in swimming makes to the individuals involved and to the community at large. You simply cannot find a better way to ensure freedom from drugs and other antisocial behavior in a youth group.

Come to any swim meet and pick any parent at random. Ask them what their child has gained from the swimming experience. Any parent will tell you about the growth in self-confidence and discipline that is unmatched by participation in any other type of sport or activity.

Swimming doesn’t usually get much glory or publicity, except perhaps during the Olympics. As a result, coaches are less likely to have too much ego on the line to produce “winning” teams. Age group coaches are generally not hired or fired based on their win-loss record. They have a lot of personal time and effort invested in helping people grow and develop and helping swimmers define winning in their own personal way.

It has been perceived that many valuable values ​​are inherent in sports participation, but are not automatically accessible to all who participate. There are values ​​that are not only worth pursuing, but must be made available and accessible to more of our youth. It’s not about saturating a community with organized sports leagues or simply improving physical education programs in schools. Many young people, including many of those who participate, do not really benefit from sports for a variety of reasons, but at least in part because of today’s prevailing “win at all costs” concept.

Participation in sports should be a vehicle for comprehensive personal growth and the development of a positive self-image. This process includes two key elements:

1. Putting it win your own perspective. There are winners and there are “winners”. Everyone needs to “win” sometimes if they want to get satisfaction out of any sport. Winning can, however, be expanded to include progress on many levels. Each individual can learn to set their own personal goals and define “winning” in their own personal way.

2. Creating an environment that provides the essential experiences that not only make sporting values ​​more accessible, but also provide the motivation to participate in sport, learn the necessary skills and develop the self-esteem needed to face life with confidence . — and that’s what it’s all about.

Well managed Complete Aquatic Programs are designed to develop the skills and attitudes that help a person feel in charge of their own life and feel like a winner. Research by United States Swimming indicates that participation in water sports will encourage an interesting list of characteristics:

– Individuals acquire a strong work ethic.
– Individuals gain great physical conditioning
– Individuals gain mental strength.
– Individuals acquire skills for goal setting and achievement.
– Individuals gain strong self-esteem.

Further research indicates that 35% of beginner swimmers drop out by the time they turn 16, primarily due to an incomplete or inadequate program and/or conflict with the personalities of those running the program.

The objectives of a swim club should be:

1. Provide opportunities for social and emotional development.
2. Provide a healthy and valuable physical and recreational outlet.
3. Provide opportunities to learn sportsmanship and develop an awareness of team cooperation.
4. Provide an educational environment.
5. Provide opportunities to learn good health habits.
6. Provide training and competition that will aid in the development of valuable attitudes.
7. Provide a broad base of experience for everyone, not just the highly skilled.
8. Provide opportunities to develop good work habits and self-assessment.

Note that there is no mention of the goal of developing national champions or a winning team. Mediocrity should not be anyone’s goal, everyone should strive for excellence. However, the real winner in age-group swimming is often not the race winner, as he may be achieving that goal at the cost of missing some other goal available on the schedule, which may be more important. It should always be kept in mind that the only justification for this program is that it exists for the benefit of each child.

It’s hard to argue that winning is important, but the kids are more important.

In 1979, two groups, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and the American Academy of Pediatrics, approved a Bill of Rights for Young Athletes. This “Bill of Rights” should be incorporated into all approaches to coaching. We cannot think that the agony of one child’s defeat can be the thrill of another’s victory, that winning is the only reward and losing is punishment. Children and psychologists know this is not true. The drive to overcome physical barriers and, later, compare one’s ability to others is a natural part of a child’s development, vital to forming feelings of competence and a secure self-identity. They are all key ingredients for competitiveness and self-motivation in sports, but they don’t have to come at someone else’s expense. Learning to win and to lose are parts of the same process. Children can be taught to define “winning” in their individual ways so that their efforts toward personal growth and development are seen as winning.

It has been said that “if you build it, they will come”. However, this is simply not true when it comes to swimming pools. Efforts should be made to reach out to the community to encourage and make participation not only attractive but also financially possible. Pools can sit empty, and when pool program managers take the position that staff cannot be hired until there are enough participants to pay staff, a program will simply never get off the ground. How can you hire a lifeguard when you have to tell them that if there aren’t enough people involved in the program, you may not be able to give them hours? It just won’t happen. Establish funding, hire staff and find participants.