Boys & Girls Club scales back swimming pool hours
New Jersey Race Club makes other arrangements for members
As of Friday, the Asbury Park unit of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monmouth County will shift their pool hours back to summers only.
“The reason for this is two-fold,” said executive director Doug Eagles in an email. “Our current Club programming needs don’t necessitate regular use of the pool. In addition, after an in-depth analysis of the year-round operating costs of maintaining the pool at our Asbury Park facility, it made financial sense to make the shift.”
For the past two winters, the New Jersey Race Club [NJRC] rented the pool to provide training time for their youth swim team of about 175 swimmers from towns in Monmouth and Ocean counties, according to Pete Nagle, NJRC team manager. Along with the youth swim team, the Boys and Girls Clubs allowed the NJRC to generate revenue by renting the pool to local high schools during their seasons and to other groups, he said in an email to the Sun.
“NJRC has worked hard to achieve that goal and even contributed an above market rate to make that happen,” Nagle said in the email. “However, with two of four high schools opting to not use the pool this winter due to their concerns of the neighborhood, the revenue gap became too great. The added cost to be absorbed by the NJRC team as well as the real security concerns of its team members made continuing untenable.”
Arrangements have been made to accommodate the NJRC youth team to rent time at another privately owned pool, but other organizations and individuals will have to seek alternate places to swim while the NJRC completes the final stages of its new aquatic and fitness center on Shafto Road in Tinton Falls in the near future, Nagle said.
In regard to the neighborhood security concerns, Eagles said the reason the club exists is to serves kids who grow up in difficult environments.
“That is precisely why the Club is here — to offer a safe and secure place for children to learn and play,” Eagles said. “The safety of those who come to our Club is our highest priority, and we’ve gone to great lengths to ensure every child’s safety.”
In a National Youth Outcomes Initiative survey conducted by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, 96 percent of the club kids said they felt safe in the facility, according to Eagles, who said he personally walks the streets around the club on a regular basis to build relationships with area neighbors who recognize the club’s importance.
“We look forward to using the pool for our eight-week long summer camp, when it will be available for lessons, recreational activities, and general use — just as we have for the last 50 years,” Eagles said.
[Photo at top taken from the New Jersey Race Club website.]
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