Trying to save my Masters Team!! Need Help!!

Hi Lou, For a program with only 3 lanes and a coach that is just sitting on deck..... I think your being ripped off. If you swim 3 times a week (48 weeks a year) your cost would be $7.36 a workout. If you swim twice a week, your cost is $11.04. You could almost rent a lane to yourself and not deal with anyone in your lane. I don't know a great deal about your program, but you should look at the how much of the money goes to coaches, to pool rental, etc. Determine what are the cost and then see if they give your the benefits your looking for in a masters program. Good Luck.. Dennis :(

Do you get exclusive use of the pool at times that other members cannot use it or that could be used for another revenue generating program? If so, that could be at least part of the justification for an additional fee. If not, then you can simply say, "thanx but no thanx, we'll just all show up at the same time and swim as individuals - the fact that we'll all be doing the same workout we downloaded from the internet last night is no concern to you". That'll save them the cost of putting your "coach" on deck. If you have a beef about the coach you could go and demand they make a change. Of course, such a demand likely only speaks as loudly as the revenue stream from your program dictates. Does the Y provide such program perks as bulletinboard space, information to phone inquiries, space on their web site etc for your program? If so then these are also possible justificatiion for additional fees. Do a bit of research and figure out what it would cost to muster your members, rent another facility and hire a coach to run a program for you. This will give you a good idea of what a reasonable fee for Masters program membership might be in your area. It'll also give you a great head start if your group actually decides that the Y is not the place you want to stay.

Wow, THOSE ARE SOME VERY STIFF CHARGES! WAY OUT OF LINE... Try taking your case to the National YMCA office if this cannot be solved in the local office. GOOD LUCK... Oh, by the way, tell your YMCA you DON'T want to BUT THE YMCA....YOU JUST WANT TO SWIM THERE! Kindest regards, Tom Ellison

Lou, Just as a point of reference, aside from the annual family membership fee of $450.00, our YMCA charges a masters swim program fee of $160.00 for each seasonal session (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall). We get in three 1 1/2 hour workouts per week. No complaints really. It's a brand new six lane facility. And the nearest pool is over an hour away. You should get a discount though for overcrowded lane conditions. Maybe they're generating revunue for three more lanes? Good luck.

Sounds like a lot of fees. But I pay over 400 a year for a health club and 2 dollars a week or more at a rec pool. The health club has one lane you can put in. I usually swim open lane and sometimes its crowded, when someone has the one lane in and you have to share a 15 yard pool with other people. This week I swam alone. But I don't mine the short length since the pool at the health club is indoors. Health club and some Y pools are not that big. The temperature seems high and here in Arizona because of the 100 degree heat, pools can reach 87 and 88 degrees. The health club pool seems to be 83 degrees. I tried to swim at least once a week in the rec pool which is 25 yards. If I join the local masters club here I would have to pay another 40 dollars a month and I would not use their pool even though its a unversity pool because its localed on the other side of town and doesn't fit with my work schedule.

"the Y is supposed to be non profit" They are also supposed to be non-loss. Trust me, the Y is NOT coming close to making a profit on members who pay just $55 a month but make regular use of the facility. Charging additional fees for groups that make regular and exclusive use of some part of the facility (especially if such use requires additional staffing) is a fair and equitable way to make ends meet.

I raised a very similar question about our Y's treatment of masters swimming. It was posted on the old forum, however, before the conversion to this new, snazzy format. I am wondering if the sysop could look up that old thread and post the url here for you to read. I remember there were a lot of thoughtful replies, the gist of which is that the Y is supposed to be non profit, but like most things in our nation, money talks. Try to figure out how you guys can offer the Y powers that be a fair deal--fair to them, and fair to you. I agree with earlier posters here, what you have now sounds like a very bad deal for you guys. Emmett's suggestion of arriving en masse and doing a kind of unofficially organized "lap swimming" (really a workout) is what our team ended up doing both here in Western Pa and also in St. Paul MN when I swam on a team there. I definitely feel your pain. I think Masters swimming is by far the greatest competitive sporting opportunity for adults in US today, but trying to get pool time can be frustrating. Our Y would much rather pack dozens of portly matrons into the overheated pool to joggercise in place than let our team have 3 measley hours a week and half the pool! One thing you might try is to find out is if any of your teammates are on the board of your Y, or are friends with someone on the board. I think sometimes the bureaucrats in charge of day to day operations feel a pinch to generate more revenue, but they must answer to the board (which, by the way, is probably generating the pinch in the first place.) I personally have been trying for years to talk someone on the local board into joining our team. It couldn't hurt to get a swimming Godfather. I'll let you know if this strategy works if I ever recruit someone...

Thanks so far for all the help. Our executive director is coming to practice on Friday to "address" us. So, we'll see what happens. At least now, I'm armed with some information about what other Masters swimmers have to pay. It's not so much the cash. I can afford it. It's just that we generally get treated like second-rate members of the Y already (the pool is kept at the temperature recommended by the arthritis foundation, the lane lines are left loose and dangerous so they can turn the pool over quickly for water aerobics, we had to live without flags at one end of the pool for 6 months, etc). Emmett, you hit the nail on the head. Their budget just isn't balancing, and they're looking for additional sources of income. However, for $55/month, someone can use the gym every day, plus take unlimited aerobics, yoga, spinning, etc classes to their heart's content. I swim, and maybe use a treadmill a dozen times a year. That's it. They're not losing money on me. If they're going to add a surcharge for us, they need to do it accross the board. They do have to pay our "coach" a premium for showing up at 5am, but they're not giving up any lap swim time. Originally, we were totally member-run. One of our members had a key. We'd unlock the doors in the morning (5am), and would start our workouts at 5:30. Unfortunately, we were told that we had to have a lifeguard on deck at all times, due to insurance, I believe. That's when all the trouble began.

Maybe one (or more) of you should consider becoming lifeguard(s). I don't know what the Y requires. The red cross certification program isn't too hard. Swim 500 yds, retrieve the brick, learn the rescues, cpr & first aid. Of course each of those involves a bit more ... but the course is usually about 8 long sessions and $200-$400 depending where you take it. If the Y were to hire you ... then lifeguard costs would also be negotiable. Good Luck!

I am a coach at a Y, for both masters and non-USS age group in an inner city YMCA. We are going through a similiar situation. I'm a little distrubed by what I am reading. When I became the masters coach this fall the fees were $9 a month for facility members and $35 for program members. We were paying their USMS reg. fee, they had a coach who just sat on the pool deck and did nothing, and a board member on the team. The coach was driven to bench sitting, I watched it happen. The coached before were driven away. We were losing a major amount of money. The age groups kids pay $35 for fac. mem. and $45 for prog. mem. They pay their $40 reg. themselves. We were and still are barely breaking even...our goal. Since I have gotten the team I am trying to turn it around. I am raising their fees to that of the age groupers and they will pay their own 2003 fees. They get two lanes (for about 3 to 4 swimmers). They have had web space on our web site and I have recently made them their own home page. The YMCA's are not out to get money in general. We have to break even and if we make some money...it is used to help the program grow. The YMCA has a Share Program to help make it possibel for anyone who wants to join to do so. We believe firmly in the last past of our mission..."to provide programs to promote the healthly spirit, mind, and body FOR ALL!" If your coach sits there... talk to them...if they dont change, demand a change in coaches. If someone needs help with the fees invite them to check out the Share Program. If you do your own workouts that's fine too, but unless you have a USMS on deck supervising each workout I believe that puts a void in your USMS insurance if something would happen. I'm not saying you are wrong to be upset...if there isnt a coach there supervising you shouldnt pay that kind of fee, but you should try to get a coach, a real one. ANd trust me the fee can be well worth it.