Reply to AAC President in the SAFESPORT Database

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Although he might be gone why is AAC not safe sport certified anymore?  Thinking of switching to AAC but notice through this they are not safe sport certified like many other clubs.  Is this due to this? Or their inability to do it?

Also, have would love to know more about boosters.  No information anywhere about who they are and how to contact them.  Seems ran by coaches with no oversight? Does county have any oversight?[/quote]

I am not sure why AAC is not safesport certified anymore, it might have something to do with Black.  Not really sure. They used to have all the Booster information very public but after the Black thing they seemed to have become a weird shadow organization at AAC. There is nothing public and they send nothing to the club members either.

The Boosters at AAC is a problem and there is definitely more tension with the competition groups at AAC and the Boosters.  AAC is run by the County (1st), then the coaches.  But, in practice, the Boosters has morphed from a group that is supposed to help and assist the coaches to a group that thinks they are in charge.

The County does not understand how to run a swim team/club.  So because of the County, AAC does not host many meets even though they have a nice facility even if a slow pool.  They make hiring coaches difficult and they have treated the head coach poorly. The County also just doesn't understand how to run a swim program or a club, they should probably look at other clubs to see how it is done and emulate.

As for the boosters, they are probably the bigger issue to holding the club back. They do not hold open meetings, publish minutes, list their leadership or hold elections.  They are a group of friends that over lawyer every decision hiding behind fake liability so that they do not have to act on anything. They do not support the coaches but do a great job of roadblocking them.  They have allowed the team's insurance to lapse so there is no more team travel (when there was team travel it was only the competition group that their children were in that were allowed to go) so the only travel is family.  They have an extremely limited charter but have somehow expanded themselves to think that they are a governing body.  So when the coaches want to do something, they say no, when they should be figuring out how to make it happen.

The bigger hiccup with them is that they gatekeep messages to the coaches.  Over the years I have known at least a dozen amazing families wanted to get involved and help to improve the club, etc.  They have asked to chaperone travel meets, plan events/socials, help organize, help with merchandise, and want to be on the boosters and they have been blocked from doing so. The boosters then messages to the coaches that they just cannot get people to help.

The boosters do not fundraise like traditional boosters do for organizations.  There is a mandatory fee that each swimmer pays that is a few hundred dollars. This budget is quite a bit and they pay for the banquet with it.  The rest of the money makes everyone wonder.  They do not pay for team travel, they do not host events, they do buy t-shirts for certain meets but this is for a very small number of top swimmers.  So basically the money taken in is to benefit the elite swimmers off the backs of the general membership.

The Boosters has also become a way for those parents on it to get their kids in the better competition groups that their times and abilities do not support.  This is well known in the club and kind of sad for those swimmers.  Literally you will hear the kids say so and so should not be in this group but is in it because mom or dad is on the boosters.

We have been with the club a while and have one swimmer left.  We would have left, but our swimmer likes their friends.  Are there better clubs?  Yes.  AAC used to be pretty good. it actually is very disheartening. My husband tried for years to help and get involved and we were frozen out - so maybe it is just sour grapes on our part with the team.  But, I will say we just had our team banquet and there was a ton of unrest.  The recommendations for groups had just come out and there were obvious favoritism in where booster kids were put or kept that are not in line with what the groups should be - adding that the boosters quashed an event that the coaches wanted to do for the kids that would have been a good team building event (for all kids, not just theirs).

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Boosters are supposed to fund raise and support - literally what boosters means.  They boost the team.  The coaches should be like I need this and the boosters should see if it is a covered expense and make it happen.  They should have zero say beyond that.  Give money or not give money.

Why would the Boosters be responsible for insurance?  That should be the County.  Sounds like a county fail.[/quote]

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