Hello,
I have not posted here before, but I need help. Hopefully some in this group will have ideas to share.
I'm a member of my local YMCA, which has a Masters Team. It's a really great group of people, and I would hate to see it go away. But our YMCA has decided to start treating us like an organized sport, rather than like a class (like aerobics or spinning). They're planning on charging us each $400 per year to be a memeber of the masters team, in addition to being a full program member ($55/month). Maybe it's just me, but this seems WAY out of line, especially since nearly every class is offered to full members for FREE (including spinning and aerobics). This expense could be justified if someone actually coached us, but our "coach" just writes the workouts on the board, and sits there watching to make sure nobody drowns. By the way, our pool is a 3-lane, 25-yard pool, that's generally kept at 88 degrees.
A fair number of people in the group have mentioned that they'll drop out before paying. And the YMCA will terminate the program if we don't have good membership.
Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation? Could someone from USMS or YMCA on the national level be of help? Am I going off for no reason?
Help!!!
Lou Savastani
Parents
Former Member
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.
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.
