Recruiting

Originally posted by dorothyrde Unfortunately here it does, pools are closing or being replaced with water parks and lazy rivers and slides. In Illinois, the rate of competition pool closures have hit many age group teams very hard, and since kids seem to get priority over adults, that means adults are also getting hit hard. You won't see new pools being built downstate, that's for sure. And if USMS had more exposure, and if there was a LOT more demand for the pools, and if there was actually some profit in operating a pool (whioch would mean most people would have to pay for the value that they're getting) then there would be people operating and buildiong pools left and right. Don't you people see the connection here. Everyone thinks swimming should be for free or somehow subsidized, and yet facilities are closing left and right. I bet if most people thought that there should be no admission to waterparks or amusement parks, and that they should be free, they would be closing too. You can't have something of quality if you aren't willing to support it. If you aren't willing to allow those providing that something to you to make a living. Heck, look at gyms, like 24 hour fitness, they keep opening up left and right, and people are willing to pay hefty fees to go there. I bet a lot of those are the same people that think swimming should not cost very much. Look at the rest of the world, you want something extra, you pay for it. Here within USMS, all you hear is whine whine whine about how they're not getting more for a nominal fee, and acting like quality coaching etc is sort of an entitlement. Like OMG, I pay $30 a month and I don't get enough coaching attention or pool time because there is 25 of us in the group... Look at your local Gym, you'll probably end up paying $50 a month to just get through the door. No coaching, no help, no instruction, no guarantee that it will not be overcrowded.

Originally posted by dorothyrde Unfortunately here it does, pools are closing or being replaced with water parks and lazy rivers and slides. In Illinois, the rate of competition pool closures have hit many age group teams very hard, and since kids seem to get priority over adults, that means adults are also getting hit hard. You won't see new pools being built downstate, that's for sure. And if USMS had more exposure, and if there was a LOT more demand for the pools, and if there was actually some profit in operating a pool (whioch would mean most people would have to pay for the value that they're getting) then there would be people operating and buildiong pools left and right. Don't you people see the connection here. Everyone thinks swimming should be for free or somehow subsidized, and yet facilities are closing left and right. I bet if most people thought that there should be no admission to waterparks or amusement parks, and that they should be free, they would be closing too. You can't have something of quality if you aren't willing to support it. If you aren't willing to allow those providing that something to you to make a living. Heck, look at gyms, like 24 hour fitness, they keep opening up left and right, and people are willing to pay hefty fees to go there. I bet a lot of those are the same people that think swimming should not cost very much. Look at the rest of the world, you want something extra, you pay for it. Here within USMS, all you hear is whine whine whine about how they're not getting more for a nominal fee, and acting like quality coaching etc is sort of an entitlement. Like OMG, I pay $30 a month and I don't get enough coaching attention or pool time because there is 25 of us in the group... Look at your local Gym, you'll probably end up paying $50 a month to just get through the door. No coaching, no help, no instruction, no guarantee that it will not be overcrowded.