Family Sued For Not Fulfilling Swim Club’s Volunteering Requirements

A Canadian swim club is suing the parents of one of its most successful swimmers, alleging the parents have skipped out on $4900 worth of volunteer work. Filed in Yukon territory’s small claims court, the Whitehorse Glacier Bears Swim Club alleges that Adrian and Riana Robinson, parents of swimmer and multiple club record holder Adrian Robinson, monetarily owe the club for ‘ignoring fundraising and volunteer commitments’, as well as for the non-payment of a membership fee installment.

As outlined on the team’s website, parents of the club’s ‘Silvertip’ swimmers are required to work 10 club bingo games as a caller or banker, while also volunteering a minimum of 10 sessions at swim meets. An additional 45 hours of club volunteering is also expected. According to claims court documents, the Robinsons completed just 3 bingo commitments and none of the 45 volunteer hours. With the club valuing each missed volunteer hour at $40, each bingo commitment at $300 combined with the missing membership fee, the club says the family owes $4900.

CBC reports that the club filed its suit after learning that the Robinson family was moving to Africa. A recent email from Glacier Bear club president George Harvey to the Robinsons reportedly warned that the unpaid debt “may lead to Adrian not being able to swim in Canada, and potentially internationally.”

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SwimDad
7 years ago

I wonder how long this went on for, and if lawsuit was filed because they were losing their star swimmer. The clubs that I’ve been around usually won’t let things “linger” for more than one season….also star swimmers are usually the ones with MORE family involvement, i.e. volunteering/fundraising. Seems like there is probably MORE to this story.

fatherof4waterbugs
7 years ago

As a father of 4 boys that swam USA club, summer recreation, high school and college for 18 years and still counting…. I understand entirely the cost in time and money the sport requires. It is a huge commitment, as much and probably more than any other sport my boys could be involved with. But it WAS WORTH IT! The boys all developed a great work ethic, got the fitness bug for life and all stay in great shape even after their swim “careers” are over. Blessed with no injuries. Had some fantastic mentoring from great coaches and great people. Made friends for life. Their mom and I always were able to go above and beyond in the team support… Read more »

Swimfan
Reply to  fatherof4waterbugs
7 years ago

Mandated and excessive were the issues. And just because it works for a family like yours, with “the boys” and “my wife and I” doesn’t mean it works for all families the same way. Think: multiple kids in different sports (rather than parents mandating same sport for all), a child with disabilities in the family, a spouse with a terminal illness, single parent family, etc etc.

It may indeed be the case that some families can contribute more than others. And that is OK.

Adam
7 years ago

Went to the USA Club Business Management 201 course and got some good feedback from it. I strongly recommend this club send it’s board members/coach to it, if they haven’t done so already.

In regards to fundraising, the advice I got was: Charge the members what it’s worth so you don’t have to fundraise.

I hope this helps.

Swimfan
Reply to  Adam
7 years ago

Totally agree on the fundraising. I don’t want to sell wrapping paper or cookie dough, so we end up doing the buyout, which is annoying.

CanadianSwimParent
Reply to  Adam
7 years ago

OK — it’s a Canadian club first of all and each province does offer club excellence training if the club wants it. Second — I’ve known clubs that don’t charge any fundraising but bill fees to actual costs — some of those have failed or are struggling to stay afloat. These are not new ideas and have been tried. Many of the policies that exist in many Canadian clubs are there due to years of struggling out how to offer the sport reasonably. There is a solution that all Canadian clubs I am familiar with offer — pay out the fundraising. You don’t have to sell wrapping paper, raffle tickets or the rest. You can just cover those with the… Read more »

Jeff
7 years ago

Swimming is not always the nice clean sport we claim it is.

JudgeNot
7 years ago

Lol. Good luck. They’re moving to Africa. Moral of the story seems to be solve the problem before they owe $4,900.

This is odd phrasing. Do people in African or European countries say “we’re moving to North America”? I think they say “we’re moving to Canada (the US, or Mexico)”.

Swimfan
Reply to  JudgeNot
7 years ago

The fact that they “owe $4,900” is a problem in itself…sounds like the club charges exhorbitant fees for something! Or exhorbitant penalties!

Marley09
7 years ago

This club likely has a whole set of unique issues to deal with being that far up north in Canada’s arctic isolated from other teams. Travel costs would be exorbitant even for ‘local’ meets in B.C. and more so for national level competitions in the east. Having a child who swims fast can be a huge financial burden to parents even in places like Sydney, L.A. or Toronto. That said, in addition to the officiating at meets/TTs there’s 10 (TEN!) bingo shifts as a banker or caller from 11a to 5pm on Sundays at an Elks hall for the kodiak group AND another 45 hours of volunteer time. It seems punitive especially when compared to what the other parents from… Read more »

Swimfan
Reply to  Marley09
7 years ago

Interesting how Swim Teams are now Bingo Teams too!

Also the $40/hr fee is probably very high compared to salaries in the Yukon.

Methinks part of the issue is that this team has a monopoly, and I hope the judge considers that factor.

CanadianSwimParent
Reply to  Swimfan
7 years ago

Has nothing to do with a monopoly but everything to do with expenses. Parents have a choice — many have said they don’t want to pay the high fees it would take to cover pool fees, coaching fees, insurance, administrative expenses and the myriad of other operational expenses. So the choice is — fundraise and follow through on volunteer commitments or pay up. Working bingo shifts is a super easy way for a club to earn money and in many communities you can pay someone to work your shift. If you’re not aware of how all this works, please take some time to learn about it. Charity gaming revenue in some provinces requires that the club produce workers otherwise they… Read more »

Swimfan
Reply to  CanadianSwimParent
7 years ago

Sigh…I grew up swimming in school pools that didn’t have to be built and funded by club teams. Nonetheless, we had a great club team that sent a handful of kids to Jr Nationals, Sr Nationals, and even OT; and many, many that swam college. There was nothing fancy about the pools and the club only drew from the town. Everything was in town, so kids went after school or rode bikes in the summer.
These days, everything has to be perfect and so competitive and so “all-in” for our kids that it becomes impossible to keep up with for some families.

Coach mary
7 years ago

My parents volunteered years after their kids stopped racing. Whats the big sacrifice to time while your child is competing at a meet? We run one meet a year and people can help or pay the fee.

Swimfan
Reply to  Coach mary
7 years ago

At some clubs, to make the volunteer hours, parents have to work meets their kids aren’t swimming. Your team runs ONE meet a year, some teams run many meets. It does become a burden to some families.

Good for your awesome parents, but my guess is they didn’t have a special needs kid at home or a stressful job or health issues.

SwimmerFoxjet
7 years ago

Ridiculous

Joel Lin
Reply to  SwimmerFoxjet
7 years ago

Yes. Pathetic.

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Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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