HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-09-21 Public Comment - J. Mittelsteadt - Pool issues in BozemanFrom:jane mittelsteadt
To:Agenda
Subject:Pool issues in Bozeman
Date:Sunday, May 9, 2021 11:07:27 AM
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Good morning
I am writing as a concerned parent of a Bozeman Barracuda and a board member of the same
organization. My daughter has been swimming for 8+ years. She is currently a junior in highschool. Recently, we learned that due to lack of staffing that our summer practice time has
been changed. The change from our normal slot of 3:55pm - 5:30 pm to 9:45 am -11:45 amdoes not work for about 20 % of our swimmers.
While we are happy to finally be able to go back to 2 hour practices- they were shortened to
1.5 hours during covid to allow spacing and cleaning of the facility, it comes at a cost. Inaddition to this new time change, we have been told we will most likely be losing our early
morning 5:30- 7:30 am time slot for our senior group and our entire team practice on Saturday.This is a reduction in training time of 6 hours a week for our senior highschool swimmers.
This is concerning as a parent of a high school junior since her and her highschool teammates
are losing out on critical practice hours at a time when she is doing a final push to get theattention of college coaches. These same swimmers missed a whole season of competition
last summer due to COVID, so were relying on this season to reach their goals.
As a board member, I am concerned due to the high number of athletes that will not be able toattend this new practice time. Many of our highschool swimmers have summer jobs and have
already been given their summer schedule. A lot of parent's will be unable to get theirswimmers to practice in the middle of the morning due to work. In addition, we have several
of our coaching staff that are not able to participate in practice at that time since for many thisis a part time job and they work from 8-3 at their other jobs.
These issues present a financial crisis for our team. We will be forced to refund dues for those
that cannot attend. These dues were part of a budget we created that pays our pool rent, andcoaches salaries. Several of these young swimmers may not return to the sport of swimming if
they were to find another sport to fill the void this summer. So this effect may be long termnot just one season. In addition to the financial hit is the emotional one. Swimming is a great
life time sport that provides mental and physical stimulation. Many of our swimmers haveenjoyed swimming this past year during COVID as it was one bright light in a time of so many
things being taken from them. In addition, all these swimmers are learning life saving skillsby being strong swimmers.
I know the swim center can only do so much to recruit candidates to fill the positions, which is
why I am reaching out to the city. I am hopeful the city can step in and assist in this crisis.
First, the rate of pay is not enough to recruit candidates in this tough job market, I would hopethe city would consider increasing the starting wage ( and the wage of existing guards) to be
competitive with other employment opportunities within the Gallatin Valley.
I would also like the city to consider an option to allow our coaching staff to act as lifeguardsfor our team during our practice. A similar practice has been approved in Billings for the
Billings Aquatic Club . All our coaches are lifeguard certified and one is certified to teachCPR and Lifeguard certification, as well as being a certified pool operator. If our coaches
were allowed to lifeguard for our team during our normal practice slot, it would free up twohours during the day where other user groups would be able to use the pool.
Bogert and The Swim Center are the only public pools in the city and the city continues to
grow. Bogert is used by families with young children. It provides a place for kids to go tosplash and play on a hot summer day and provides an outlet to learn to swim. Learning to
swim is key to preventing accidental drownings in our lakes, rivers and ponds throughoutMontana. There are seniors that use the pool for water aerobics, another competitive swim
team and a synchronized swim team and lap swimming for the public. So by decreasingoverall pool space/ availability by 50% will hurt many.
I hope that the city will consider evaluating this issue and attempt to solve the problem of
limited pool time quickly. While I understand there are staff shortages all throughout thisvalley, I believe the city is in a position to at least improve the current staffing shortages by
being creative and try to maintain as many pool hours as they can.
Thank you for your time and consideration Jane Mittelsteadt