If you were going to jump clubs...

[Anonymous]

In Arlington and debating our club and moving. Swimmer would be in the top group and is in high school.

If you have experience with the higher competitive groups what are the pros and cons of your club. Name the club and would you recommend it? There is no perfect club but maybe better fits.

[Anonymous]

I’d look for clubs where other swimmers from their high school compete. I’d look to see how many swimmers quit swimming altogether from potential clubs due to injury or burnout. And if mornings, I wouldn’t go more than 20 minutes from home.

What clubs would be options geographically and what club are you considering leaving (and why)?

[Anonymous]

Go somewhere the kids still have FUN. Swimming is not and should not be a full time job for high schoolers. They need lives outside of it.

[Anonymous]

What about the current club is making you feel like it’s not a good fit? What does your kid want out of swimming, do they want to continue in college or are they looking to scale back?

[Anonymous]

We were in AAC. Take a look club. it is not Safe Sport certified anymore, and it shows with the treatment of their athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were in AAC. Take a look club. it is not Safe Sport certified anymore, and it shows with the treatment of their athletes.

???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were in AAC. Take a look club. it is not Safe Sport certified anymore, and it shows with the treatment of their athletes.

You imply that it’s the coaching but to be SafeSport certified a certain number of parents need to complete the training as well

To see if coaches have violated SafeSport you can look in a database for certain types of violations. However, swimmer violations (bullying, suspensions,) are not listed publicly I believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go somewhere the kids still have FUN. Swimming is not and should not be a full time job for high schoolers. They need lives outside of it.

Then don't go to AAC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were in AAC. Take a look club. it is not Safe Sport certified anymore, and it shows with the treatment of their athletes.

???

AAC has a long history of not treating boys well in almost all their competition groups. They seem to not want to develop their male swimmers and give up on them. Someone told me in their top groups it is 70% women and 30% men which is an issue and not typical of a club.

I wonder if it the Huske effect. They had one Olympian who was a late bloomer by swimmer standards so they got her where she needed to be and the success was great and now they want to recreate it. But, in reality by not investing in their boys they are letting them fail. Boys keep growing through college so they should really be working with them. But they tend to focus on the early blooming boy and then he peaks out and who knows all the talent that they let slip through the cracks because of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about the current club is making you feel like it’s not a good fit? What does your kid want out of swimming, do they want to continue in college or are they looking to scale back?

OP here. We are just hearing a lot recently from families and seeing some trends that are worrisome. When we want to talk to coaches or admins they are not responsive and seem dismissive of issues.

[Anonymous]

Hi. We are looking to join York and talking to the coach currently. He said they have a lot of interest this year in kids trying to get a spot on their team. After talking to him, I understand why... He has energy, genuine energy.

I don't want to talk poorly of my current club but we have felt for several years that there is a gender bias in the coaching at our club. So several families are shopping. Some that are staying just can't afford the jump financially or they live in a location that their pool/club choices are limited.

[Anonymous]

I have a HS swimmer and I have very little substantive interaction with their coach. What exactly are you trying to discuss with them that they are not responsive to? If you have a D1 prospect swimmer, I would say your options are limited to NCAP and AAC. If your kid isn’t looking swimming past HS, the range of options is larger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a HS swimmer and I have very little substantive interaction with their coach. What exactly are you trying to discuss with them that they are not responsive to? If you have a D1 prospect swimmer, I would say your options are limited to NCAP and AAC. If your kid isn’t looking swimming past HS, the range of options is larger.

I would say that York and Hydra are also options for D1 swimmers. I think on reputation I would choose York and the new coach there, coached for years at AAC but he has done some amazing things with the group this past year. They had some boys make some great commitments and overall did well over AAC and Hydra.

NCAP will always be in a league of its own and makes it hard for any Virginia club to compete with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were in AAC. Take a look club. it is not Safe Sport certified anymore, and it shows with the treatment of their athletes.

???

AAC has a long history of not treating boys well in almost all their competition groups. They seem to not want to develop their male swimmers and give up on them. Someone told me in their top groups it is 70% women and 30% men which is an issue and not typical of a club.

I wonder if it the Huske effect. They had one Olympian who was a late bloomer by swimmer standards so they got her where she needed to be and the success was great and now they want to recreate it. But, in reality by not investing in their boys they are letting them fail. Boys keep growing through college so they should really be working with them. But they tend to focus on the early blooming boy and then he peaks out and who knows all the talent that they let slip through the cracks because of it.

How do they treat non-binary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were in AAC. Take a look club. it is not Safe Sport certified anymore, and it shows with the treatment of their athletes.

???

AAC has a long history of not treating boys well in almost all their competition groups. They seem to not want to develop their male swimmers and give up on them. Someone told me in their top groups it is 70% women and 30% men which is an issue and not typical of a club.

I wonder if it the Huske effect. They had one Olympian who was a late bloomer by swimmer standards so they got her where she needed to be and the success was great and now they want to recreate it. But, in reality by not investing in their boys they are letting them fail. Boys keep growing through college so they should really be working with them. But they tend to focus on the early blooming boy and then he peaks out and who knows all the talent that they let slip through the cracks because of it.

How do they treat non-binary?

Sometimes I wonder who the trolls are and why. How many clubs have non-binary swimmers at their top competitive groups in the DC area? Off the top of my head I can think of none. So what kind of question is this, but to throw the thread off topic.

If this question is important to you, start a new thread.