Team Charlotte Swimming & Stingrays Aquatics Announce Club Merge

Courtesy of Shane Turley, TEAM Charlotte Swimming President

On behalf of the coaches and board members of Team Charlotte (“TEAM”) and Stingray Aquatics Team (“STAT”), we are very excited to announce today that we have signed a letter of intent to combine our two outstanding swim clubs.

This transaction will permit TEAM to acquire exclusive lane space in south Charlotte, build our roster of great swimmers and coaches and continue to secure the financial stability of the club.

The basic structure of the combined organization would be as follows:

• Single 501(c)(3) legal entity, still named Team Charlotte Swimming;
• 180+ swimmers;
• 10 coaches led by Scott Olson (3 anticipated at the Matthews site);
• Lane space at 4 aquatic facilities within the Charlotte region, including the Matthews site; and
• Expanded offerings at the Matthews site for all age groups.

Over time, TEAM families from the Matthews site would be eligible to join the Board and its committees in accordance with the same criteria that we apply today. STAT’s 501(c)3 will dissolve and STAT’s swim families, representing some 80 year-round swimmers, will transfer to TEAM.

The additional lane space that we will acquire, located at the Matthews Tennis Swim & Golf Club (MTSGC), is comprised of a 6-lane rectangle pool, with a modern tent structure along with pool heaters and related equipment. STAT will terminate its lease with MTSGC and TEAM will enter a new 5-year lease, securing our exclusive rights to this location. This location provides a great opportunity to build our club in South Charlotte.

All current TEAM families will continue to swim at one of our current facilities throughout the remainder of this season and, if you so choose, the 2017/2018 season. If you prefer, you could switch to a practice group at the Matthews site during open registration.

Coaching

The TEAM coaches at all sites will report to Coach Scott, our Executive Director, and Head Coach. Scott recently signed a new, 2-year employment agreement, and we are proud to have his technical skills, experience, and leadership at the top of this combined organization.

Coach Kristina, our newly appointed Senior Director of Operations and Head Age Group Coach, who also recently signed a new 2-year employment agreement, will include the Matthews site as part of her operational responsibilities and coaching duties.

We are also happy to announce that TEAM and Coach Rob Johnson are working through a new 2-year employment agreement that will make Coach Rob our first-ever Swim School Aquatics Director. The swim school would be headquartered at our new Matthews site, where Coach Rob will oversee all programming. Rob and TEAM expect to include swim instruction and training for mentally and physically challenged individuals as part of the programming. Rob will continue his duties as an Age Group Coach for TEAM as well.
TEAM also expects to retain the services of coaches Dan, Will, Gia, & Sydney for 2017/18. We could not be more proud of this coaching staff, which we believe is the best in the state.

Partnerships

The Board carefully considered the financial structure of this transaction and we are confident that the combination will generate additional returns for the club over time. To help secure our financial strength and to continue to build important partnerships in the community, TEAM has entered into discussions with several independent schools in the area that are interested in renting lane space from TEAM at the Matthews facility. These potential partnerships would deliver cash flow, increase utilization of the facility, and build the brand of TEAM for purposes of recruitment and future opportunities. We are excited about these partnerships and will provide more information during the coming months.

Additional Details

In our discussions with the TEAM Board and Coaches, and then through extensive interviews with the Board and Coaches of STAT, we believe that STAT shares our core beliefs about culture, family, commitment to hard work, and developing athletes both in and out of the water. In addition, the combined club will create advantages for our current and future swimmers:

• Sharing coaching philosophies and innovation among 10 coaches
• More coaches at meets to view and comment on race strategy and stroke technique
• Anticipated savings on team expenses, including team travel, swimwear, and swimming equipment
• Ability to run USA Swimming approved “intramural” meets within TEAM
• Larger group of volunteers to work our Western Open and Sunkissed Invitational plus any additional meets we
  decide to host
• Opportunity, initially just for senior level swimmers, to train at other sites if it is convenient
• We may implement our own Summer or Winter Swim Camp: The TEAM Swim Camp!
• Ability to fill relays across age group at any type of swim meet, regardless of levelOur goal is to create one, cohesive swim club: TEAM Charlotte Swimming. We would become one family, with a single mission and culture. There may be questions and challenges along the way, but we are confident in the long-term vision for this club.

Our goal is to create one, cohesive swim club: TEAM Charlotte Swimming. We would become one family, with a single mission and culture. There may be questions and challenges along the way, but we are confident in the long-term vision for this club.

Please find attached below for your reference the announcement issued by STAT. Best regards,

Best regards,
Shane

Dear Stingray Aquatics Team Families,

On behalf of the coaches and Board Members from both Stingray Aquatics Team and TEAM Charlotte, we are excited to announce that we have entered into a letter of intent to combine our two outstanding swim clubs!

On behalf of the coaches and Board Members from both Stingray Aquatics Team and TEAM Charlotte, we are excited to announce that we have entered into a letter of intent to combine our two outstanding swim clubs!

One of our responsibilities as a Board is to continuously monitor the health of our club and the trends in the swim community. We look at competing teams, lane space, technology, and other factors to assess the opportunities for improvement, growth and long-term stability for our team. With those goals in mind, the Stingray Aquatics Board conducted many hours of strategic discussions and research regarding the options for our team. After serious due diligence and review, including discussions with multiple clubs in the area, we concluded that a combination with TEAM Charlotte would be not only beneficial but a logical and comfortable fit.Many factors went

Many factors went in to the decision to pursue this combination. The critical financial matters were meticulously reviewed, and the Board remained focused on ensuring that any change in our structure would enhance our family-oriented culture and quality coaching for our swimmers. The similarities between STAT and TEAM are numerous; we are both parent-directed, non-profit clubs, who share core values along with a philosophy of developing each swimmer individually both in and out of the pool. Both clubs care deeply about building a cohesive team among the swimmers, coaches and parents, and creating a supportive, enthusiastic atmosphere. While we have much work before us and expect challenges along the way, combining swim clubs that have in common key goals, core values, and expectations of its members, should make for a much smoother transition.We are pleased that we have received unanimous support from critical partners with strong ties to the club, including our former coach and decorated alum,

We are pleased that we have received unanimous support from critical partners with strong ties to the club, including our former coach and decorated alum, Crina Canty. Crina, whom many of you know, grew up as a year- round swimmer for STAT, and later swam for and graduated from Clemson University. Upon a recommendation by our board president, Brian Schoeck, TEAM’s president personally reached out to Crina to discuss with her the proposed combination and to solicit her input. As a result, Crina has accepted a new role as a special board advisor and will serve as a key advocate on the transition team assigned to combining the clubs. A new board of directors will be established in support of the combined club and marketing will begin this summer under the Team Charlotte name. We will be recruiting swimmers for all facilities, to include the Matthews Swim and Tennis Club, MCAC, and JCC pool locations. We are committed to making the process as smooth as possible and will provide frequent updates.The Board would like to thank all of our families for your continued support throughout the year and we look forward to your excitement and energy in forging a formidable new Team for the Charlotte area.

The Board would like to thank all of our families for your continued support throughout the year and we look forward to your excitement and energy in forging a formidable new Team for the Charlotte area.