2013: The meeting

There was a meeting last night at the West Y.  It was hastily called, and the people who made this lamentable decision about the swim team were not there.  But a token Management person (Paul, from the west side) was there.  I didn't go -- couldn't, 'cause I had to work (and the meeting had about 2 hours advance notice).  But I did hear from a reliable source a couple interesting things.

Paul was surprised at the turnout.  (!)  I've seen on various facebook posts that it was more than 50, about 80, so that was the size.  Swimmers of different ages talked about the impact the change would have, and I was told they were quite eloquent.  They were exemplars, therefore of the YMCA core principles of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility (Far more, IMO, than the people driving this campaign).

The YDC Swim team is quite large:  200+ families.  Compared to when the son started, it's HUGE.  There are so many people I don't know (especially now that the son is older).  This decision is directly affecting 200+ YMCA Members (Swim team members are YMCA Members...I repeat that a lot because I think the Management of the YMCA forgets it sometimes) and their parents, many of whom are also YMCA members.

How is it in the best interests of the Y to antagonize this group of members?  The timing of this change could not be worse from the standpoint of Club Swimming.  You are in the middle of the season, and space on other teams is extremely limited.  If the Upper Management of the Y knew this change was on the horizon -- even potentially -- they had a duty to report that to Swim Team families so the families could make an informed decision about their plans for the year.  That is what honesty means, and honesty is one of the 4 core principles of the Y.