Welcome to Midlakes 2010!
We are about to start another season and it could be our best ever!
We provide an organizing network for 26 neighborhood pools to compete in
the summer. It is primarily for swimming, but also includes diving and
water polo. We have been doing this for 50 years and our success is
measured by this longevity and having more than 3500 athletes, but also
by the high quality of the people involved.
We have been able to attract new swimmers, summer swimmers and
year-round swimmers by providing competition at swim meets plus Division
and League Championships. Our members host nearly 150 meets which takes
probably 40,000 volunteer hours. The League has a few people on contract
to help with training and organization, but the Officers, Board and Club
Representatives are all volunteers. It is a great non-profit
organization that provides a rich and authentic experience for youths
through high school.
Last year was a particular challenge because we were unable to host a
League Championship Meet and got our final results by using the
Preliminary Meets as timed finals. While this was unfortunate, it led to
our developing the Championship Shirt within the League umbrella rather
than having it assumed by one of the clubs. This new revenue for the
League will be used to fund the rental of the King County Aquatic Center
for our Championship as well as other expenses. Last year we also
started to recognize the Coaches who are responsible for some much of
our success by having them vote for the Coach of the Year for the League
and each Division.
This year we will be back at KCAC for the Championship meet and will be
better at sharing our best practices by having a Championship
Coordinator. We will also start recognizing the efforts of our meet
officials by providing them with collared shirts. These volunteers are
appreciated and help the athletes improve their individual skills.
We are currently challenged to find a new Treasurer. The previous
Treasurers did so much that we need to hire bookkeeping help now to make
this job more reasonable for a volunteer.
We are currently reviewing our insurance coverage which is our
greatest expense. Also our members are facing challenges for major
maintenance expenses and new requirements, such as new drains which cost
$20,000 or more. Our network is based on competition, but we cooperate
and share information which is another value we provide our member
clubs.
I would like to say thank you to everyone for their efforts and good
luck.
Swim Fast and Have Fun!
Ron Griffin, Midlakes Swim League, President’s Report, May, 2010
