The Barrhead Swim Club is one step closer to a fully functioning club.
About 20 people gathered at the Barrhead Agrena’s multipurpose room June 14 to hear the status of the recently-resurrected club.
The club held its first meeting, in March, after more than a two-year hiatus.
President Janeen Millar said in order for the club to join Swim Alberta and be eligible to compete in meets they must first become a registered non-profit society.
“There are pros and cons to it,” she said, adding the main issue against being the time crunch. If the club wants to have its status in time for the upcoming winter swim club season they will need to have its application to Service Alberta by July 17.
However, Millar said, on the plus side, being an official non-profit society will give them more fundraising options — most notably by being able to access provincial casino monies.
Which could be important, because Millar said the club’s expenses will be higher than first anticipated. At the old aquatic centre the club was charged $57 an hour for use of the facility, while the fee in the new centre will be $20 an hour per lane. “We are looking at having five lanes of the pool so that means we are looking at $200 a night. That is 43 per cent increase,” she said, adding the club plans to meet four days a week throughout the winter September to April season.
However, Millar noted they are not committed to rent a specific number of lanes. The only limitation is that the club cannot rent all the lanes of the competition pool.
“The town has decided that one lane will always be available to the public for lane swims,” she said, adding club members would also be restricted to using the competition pool. “We can use the hot tub very briefly for afterwards, but if we want to use the other facilities, we will be asked to pay for a regular admission.”
Due to the increase, Millar said the club might have to increase its proposed fee structure, depending on the number of swimmers.
For the season, the club is proposing $200 for children enrolled in the non-competitive stream. For competitive swimmers the fee increases to $450. Costs associated with swim meets would be in addition to the club fee.
In an effort to keep the rates as low as possible, the three coaches are volunteers.
“I know when I was going to other swim meets and talking with people from other clubs how rare of a thing that really is — and it is something we all need to appreciate and be thankful for.”
