At the Scottsdale Aquatic Club --- a year-round, competitive swim club --- professional coaches work with young promising athletes seeking to attain top form.
Officials at the aquatic club, which …
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FIESTA BOWL CHARITIES
Building the total athlete at the Scottsdale Aquatic Club
Fiesta Bowl Charities help fuel pursuit of holistic approach
Posted
At Scottsdale Aquatic Club we strive to develop the total person, not just the athlete”
Bob Platt, director of operations
A breakdown of the elite swim at the Scottsdale Aquatic Club
Many of the senior level athletes at Scottsdale Aquatic Club have the goal of swimming in college, but many ascend to Olympic prominence.
• In 2016 Scottsdale Aquatic Club had 10 athletes qualify for the United States Olympic Trials Swim Meet in Omaha, NE. SAC had one of the largest non college swim teams to participate in the swim meet.
• A member of SAC, Taylor Ruck, competed in the Rio Olympics for Canada at the age of 16, winning two bronze medals in relays.
• During the 2019-2020 swimming season, SAC athletes have matriculated to the University of Utah, The United States Military Academy, The Naval Academy, Duke University, BYU, UCLA, Stanford, Columbia University, UNLV, St Louis University, University of Michigan and the University of Missouri, among others.
At the Scottsdale Aquatic Club --- a year-round, competitive swim club --- professional coaches work with young promising athletes seeking to attain top form.
Officials at the aquatic club, which is a member of USA Swimming, Inc., also contend they are helping swimmers be as competitive as they can be, but also seek to create a whole person.
“As a club, we are dedicated to giving our swimmers the best opportunity for achieving their potential and swimming at the highest level of competition,” said Bob Platt, director of operations at the Scottsdale Aquatic Club. “Our goal is to provide each and every member the best environment to improve their swimming skills and achieve success.”
A 501(c)3 nonprofit, the Scottsdale Aquatic Club launched in 1964; has a Board of Directors overseeing and holds general operations at 7202 E. Cactus Road in Scottsdale.
“At Scottsdale Aquatic Club we strive to develop the total person, not just the athlete,” Mr. Platt points out about the holistic approach to teaching the sport of swim.
“The goal of the staff is to help develop each athlete to be a valued, contributing member of the community. In order to achieve this goal, the staff is focused on adhering to the team’s mission statement and vision statement.
The mission of the aquatic club reads: “We are Scottsdale Aquatic Club. As a TEAM, we develop champions in the pool and in life by creating a positive environment that inspires the dreams of swimmers at all competitive levels.”
But make no mistake, Mr. Platt confirms, the aquatic club seeks to mold top-tier athletes to ascend toward Olympic dreams.
“Scottsdale Aquatic Club is a competitive swim team so all members must meet a minimum requirement in order to be a member,” he said.
“In other words, each athlete, when joining the team needs to demonstrate a minimum proficiency. In general, the younger members of the team start at 6 years old. SAC offers a training group for every level of interest and commitment, ranging from practicing twice a week to eight times per week.”
With hard work and determination, however, a true sense of community emerges within the ranks of the aquatic club --- and that feeling, Mr. Platt contends, bleeds into other areas of the swimmers’ lives.
“Nonprofit youth sports organizations are vital in order to develop a sense of community and provide children an opportunity to participate in a sport in a supportive, encourage environment,” he said. “In many cases these nonprofit youth sport organizations help participants to not only develop the life skills necessary for future success as adults but help to foster life-long friendships.”
Furthermore, Mr. Platt explains oftentimes the skills and effort needed to attain competitive swim success leads to more productive lives today and into the future.
“Members of SAC learn more than just competitive swimming skills, they learn life skills that make them successful members of any community,” he said.
“Among these skills are time management, keen listening skills, independence, self-confidence, an outstanding work ethic, the ability to set a goal and work endlessly towards that goal, the ability to successfully deal with setbacks and to learn from failures just to name a few.”
Youth, sports and education
This grant year, Fiesta Bowl Charities provided the Scottsdale Aquatic Club with a $25,000 grant enabling the club to purchase much-needed training equipment and help shoulder costs to purchase a state-of-the-art electronic display scoreboard.
Funds provided from the Fiesta Bowl Charity help give SAC the ability to purchase much-needed training equipment and in March 2020 the team will install a state-of-the-art electronic display scoreboard which will not only help SAC but also the area high school swim teams, as well as the City of Scottsdale summer recreation, swim teams.
“Our core pillars at Fiesta Bowl Charities are youth, sports and education, so supporting Scottsdale Aquatic Club fits right into our mission,” said Scott Leightman, Fiesta Bowl Charities senior director of communications.
“A unique part of this grant is that it’s also beneficial in hosting bigger swim meets, including ones where visitors will come to Arizona to compete, which can also provide an economic impact to our community. Organizations like Scottsdale Aquatic Club provide our community’s youth with a safe place to spend time and grow in multiples aspects of life.”
Mr. Leightman offers insights to the benefits of swimming as a life skill, and on the competitive front, does much more for a young person than the perfect backstroke.
“Swimming is an important life skill that benefits people throughout their lives --- especially in Arizona,” he said. “Learning to swim is a life-saving skill and the benefits from continuing to swim are key to a healthy lifestyle. Scottsdale Aquatic Club, and all swim teams, promote important life skills like hard work, personal accountability, commitment, goal-setting and teamwork, in addition to physical fitness.”
Mr. Platt says with help from community partners like Fiesta Bowl Charities, coaches at the Aquatic Club can make a real, positive difference in the lives of participants.
The SAC coaches have access to the most comprehensive training and certification program for youth coaches of any sport in the United States,” he said.
“The coaches aim to provide the best opportunity for all of our athletes to grow and improve as well as to allow them to practice in groups with peers that are of the same relative age, maturity and ability levels. SAC wants each child to feel successful in their practice group and the coaches will move swimmers to the next level only when they feel the swimmer is ready to succeed at that next level.”
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