By Gazette Staff
August 6th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Aquatic Devilrays (BAD) announced a bold new chapter in the club’s history: a partnership with the Ron Edwards Family YMCA in Burlington that will expand access to aquatic training, support local athletes, and deepen our impact in the community.
As part of the City of Burlington’s recent pool allocation process, BAD has secured 18 hours of pool time per week at City facilities for a four-year term beginning in the 2025 season.
More on the whole story is needed
That’s nice news: what the Gazette would like to know is how much time they were given in each of the four indoor swimming pools in the city and how much time in those outdoor pools that are suitable for training.
Statement from the Burlington Aquatic Devilrays (BAD):
“The Burlington Aquatic Devilrays can confirm it has secured 18 hours of pool time per week at City of Burlington facilities for a four-year term, beginning with the 2025 season.
This agreement enables BAD to continue delivering a comprehensive range of swim programs—supporting athletes from the grassroots level through to high-performance training. It reflects our ongoing commitment to providing safe, structured, and competitive swimming opportunities for youth in Burlington.
We remain steadfast in our focus on athlete development, community engagement, and maintaining the highest standards in aquatic sport. As we move forward, BAD will continue to lead with integrity, collaboration, and a deep passion for growing the sport of swimming locally.
Devilrayes in training
The Burlington Aquatic Devilrays are proud to continue our legacy of excellence and service, and we thank our families, coaches, and supporters for being an essential part of this journey.”
To complement and extend its programming, BAD has launched a new partnership with the Ron Edwards Family YMCA in Burlington, providing access to both pool space and dryland training facilities. This collaboration enhances BAD’s ability to deliver high-quality technical instruction and age-appropriate strength and conditioning, supporting athlete development across all levels. This partnership reflects a shared commitment to youth wellness, accessibility, and long-term athlete growth.
Statement from Manny Figueiredo, President & CEO, YMCA Hamilton|Burlington|Brantford:
“YMCA Hamilton|Burlington|Brantford is proud to partner with the Burlington Aquatic Devilrays to support local athletes and families through expanded access to aquatic training and wellness opportunities.
This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to advancing health, youth development, and community inclusion. By providing additional pool time and dryland training at the Ron Edwards Family YMCA, we’re helping more young people stay active, build lifelong skills, and thrive through sport.
Together, we’re helping to strengthen aquatics in Burlington and create more opportunities for youth to stay active and thrive.”
As we embark on this new chapter, we are proud to welcome back our returning athletes and grateful for their continued commitment to the club. We also look forward to welcoming new families into our community. We are grateful to the Ron Edwards Family YMCA for joining us as a new community partner, helping enhance our athlete development programming through access to additional technical training and wellness resources. Together, we are continuing to build a vibrant, inclusive, and high-performing swim culture in Burlington.
About the Burlington Aquatic Devilrays (BAD)
The Burlington Aquatic Devilrays (BAD) is a not-for-profit, community-based swim club that has served Burlington youth for over 40 years. With a focus on development, leadership, and inclusion, BAD supports swimmers from learn-to-swim to national-level competition. We are proud to build not just strong athletes, but strong citizens.
The truth of the matter is that BAD had to cut swimmers off squads because they were not allotted enough pool time, even with the YMCA hours, every squad is smaller and swimming fewer hours than they were last season. This fact alone will have more serious swimmers leaving for clubs with more pool time. bAD will also have no room for growth because they cannot sustain the swimmers they already had. Meanwhile, GHAC, a regional club with access to pools in several different neighborhoods, will not only absorb BAD swimmers looking for more hours in the pool, but have plenty of opportunities for growth as an organization. I am appalled at how this entire process went. Why swimmers have to complete an RFP proposal that is more appropriate for builders, when no other youth sports organization is required to do this, makes no sense. I can assure council and the mayor that I will NOT be voting for any of them in the next election.
Hey Gazette!
How about a little coverage on Victoria Mboko our Burlington phenom!
Toronto media keeps claiming she is from Toronto.
Did GHAC meet the requirements of the RFP? Wasn’t there a requirement for a residential number? I assume this small portion of hours was contingent upon BAD not pushing the fact that GHAC didn’t meet the minimum residency for the RFP.
The RFPs are posted on the Focus Burlington site
https://www.focusburlington.ca/opinion-murky-waters-surround-burlington-pools/
If the city sticks to the RFP, the hours that GHAC has been awarded are 2,000 hours a year or 38.5 hours a week.
It looks like BAD has 18 hours a week of pool time at the YMCA, and GHAC has 38.5 hours a week at the other city pools.
Maybe the city could share this information.
No, I believe that you misunderstand the numbers. BAD has been given 18 hours of pool time/week at the City pools. These hours do not include those that have been separately negotiated with the YMCA. When BAD put forth it’s “amended needs” these were 40 hours/week and would require that BAD made cuts to its existing programs. So, my guess is that they, with the assistance/coercion of the City, have acquired at least 22 hours per week from the YMCA. I hope more. But the City has only given them 18 hours. That, in itself, is not enough to sustain any sort of viable program.
I would like to know – does the City get to keep the ~ $100 of infrastructure improvements that BAD made to City pools? How do the members of the YMCA feel about having their pool time limited because now BAD has access? How does KC feel about the leadership shown over the past 2 years and the virtual destruction of BAD that will be the direct result.
Looking forward to your posts on the budget –
I would assume, and it is an assumption, just like with tenant’s improvements where the tenant does not get to take out the improvements at the end of a tenancy, any infrastructure improvements become City property.
I’m sure that you’re correct. The “k” seemed to fall off my keyboard. $100,000 is quite a bit of investment to lose. Of course, this is entirely on BAD – they signed the deal in 2020 and they spent the $$ with, obviously, no guarantee of security or return. Lack of real business acumen is one of the problems of an entirely volunteer board.