Presidents Report to Club Members 2014
Text from Address at Club Annual Meeting on June 5, 2014
I begin our remarks by confirming that the Water Rat Parents’ Club remains a strong organization of dedicated volunteers. We are a non- profit organization with annual revenues and expenses of in excess of $150,000. After hearing the report of our Treasurer, you can see that we are well managed and fiscally sound.
The purpose of the Club is to support the Water Rat Swim Team. We do that in a myriad of ways. We raise funds to be used for the benefit of the program and its participants. We assist the coaches by managing meets and providing other administrative aid, such as managing the USA Swimming Accounts and PET-WRAT program. We also organize and conduct social functions for the swimmers on the team. The Club is able to provide this support by maintaining and managing an annual budget that comes from the PET-WRAT fees paid by the families of each swimmer at the beginning of the Short Course Season.
The strength of our organization lies in our volunteer base. Our effectiveness over the past year resulted from a willingness of our many volunteers to pool their collective knowledge, skills, and abilities and work together to achieve a common vision, which is a world-class competitive swim team. Our future success will depend on us continuing to nurture that volunteer pool as some of our senior parents leave the team when their children graduate high school, and new parents join.
As we move from the Downtown facility to Mahackeno this fall, we would like to take the time to reiterate the Club’s mission. The Water Rats Parents’ Club was created to assist the Y’s swim team program. We have to remember the Water Rats are a Y swim team and as such the Parents’ Club’s role is limited. The Parents club cannot become directly involved in the management of the team and Y employees. Having said that, we still have a tremendous impact on the team. Without the volunteers from the Parents’ club the team cannot run meets nor can the swimmers socialize at organized events off the pool deck like our much-heralded Recognition Night. By continuing our fiscal oversight of the parents’ funds, the Parents’ club is able to provide support to the swimmers on and off the deck and to assist the coaching staff so that they may provide the premier coaching that has been the team’s trademark. It is because of parents working with the coaches that our children learn the value of giving back as this year’s fundraiser Swim for the Phillipines illustrates. The team raised $40,000 for Save the Children and the event could not have gotten off the ground without the efforts of members of the Parents’ Club.
To close, we wish to note that this is has been a great year for the entire team with many new team records set at all swim levels. We look forward to continued success in our upcoming swim season and future seasons at the new facility at Mahackeno. We encourage all parents to become involved and help us provide our kids with a great swimming experience, and we thank all of you who have been actively engaged this year.
Adrienne Williams and Andy McNab
Co-Presidents
Water Rats Parents’ Club
