Pool allocations: 'Something must change and it will take the members of Council and the Mayor to do so'

By Pam Pitz

July 3rd, 2025

BURLINGTON, ON

Pam Pitz

PamPitz is a 73-year-old grandmother who has raised two children, has six grandchildren with three in BAD.

She has a clear understanding of the issue related to swimming pool allocation and sets out those views:

I have witnessed my oldest granddaughter in BAD during practices, meets and championships for over 8 years.  I am quite a swimming enthusiast and while far from an expert, I have a great sense of what makes BAD and its swimmers unique.   I understand kids and how “stability” impacts their sense of well-being, particularly as they approach their teen years and grow to young adults.  Of course, there are emotions and feelings of distrust in this scenario.

“No rules, policies or guidelines will ever replace good judgement and common sense.”

However, I have been in the business world for over 50 years and remain an active director of a couple of significant organizations.   I am pragmatic and like to make my arguments based on fact and a high degree of respect for all parties.   I also pride myself as being someone who understands that common sense must prevail.  One of the organizations I represent has a code of conduct that includes the statement: ” no rules, policies or guidelines will ever replace good judgement and common sense.”   After all, if that wasn’t the case, we wouldn’t need people to make decisions. Whether decisions are being made in courts, businesses, or in one’s personal life, common sense and an understanding as to what a reasonable person would do in a particular set of circumstances is the underlying discipline.  I trust this is an approach that city representatives embrace as well.

Here are some additional arguments in support of my view that this has been an unfair and unwarranted decision that must be revisited.

1)  If there was a technical issue with documents that were created 40 years ago and have somehow been misplaced, with a simple investigation I found that BAD is a not-for-profit organization in good standing and aligned with respectful institutions like Swim Ontario and Swim Canada.   You would think that an organization that operated within Burlington for 40 years, and is recognized as a strong member of the Canadian swim community, would have been given the benefit of the doubt and this technical matter brought to a satisfactory conclusion.  Instead, a club that does not meet the City’s minimum requirements was given flexibility to prove 85% or more Burlington swimmers by September.  This seems very much like a double standard.

2) Keeping the kids in mind, please understand they have: enormous pride in Burlington and BAD; love and respect their coaches; enjoy a real feeling of “family”;  have grown up with each other; and, generally consider the experience precious.  The intensity of their relationships with one another increases as they progress through the program.  They don’t want to break from this kind of comfort and familiarity.  Why should they?  The BAD team has enjoyed a lot of competitive success and goodwill.

The quality of the organization and its coaches produces winners

3) While GHAC will probably argue otherwise, from my observations and discussions with many members of competing clubs, GHAC has not achieved the respect and success that BAD enjoys.  The quality of the organization and its coaches may be acceptable but that presents no advantage for BAD swimmers.  Again, BAD can outline the backgrounds of their coaches, but suffice to say we have people that have reached National and Olympic levels and many have years of coaching experience.  I might add that I have nothing against the kids who swim for GHAC – I wish them well.  Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, Milton and most cities have their own competitive clubs.  I assume GHAC came about as there are several smaller communities in the Golden Horseshoe who cannot support their own club and/or may not have the necessary pools.   Of course, more pool time is what GHAC wants.  Unfortunately, their parents chose to live in Golden Horseshoe communities that may offer certain benefits  but also less amenities.  In our case, we chose Burlington which has some disadvantages including higher taxes but, in turn, amenities such pools.

4) How can any club work hard to develop competitive swimmers and fine young adults who are active in their community only to “have the rug swept out from under them” when the next contract falls due.  That is what is happening here.  No organization can proceed to the best of their ability and build the kind of reputation and success that BAD enjoys in the face of that kind of uncertainty.  It takes time to build a successful swim club with years of dedication and hard work (from 6 or 7 years of age to young adults).

5) The application from GHAC should not have been entertained in the first place as they have a low number of Burlington swimmers.  Even if they get to the the required number by September — what good is that?  There is no benefit to BAD swimmers.  How will you police it?  Those numbers may be artificially increased given the feeling of helplessness our kids are currently experiencing, i.e. they may sign with GHAC in a panic.  Most clubs ensure various age groups, or swimmers who have reached certain achievement levels, practice together.  There are many reasons for this.  The program is tailored to their ages and accomplishments.  GHAC may say that they will leave their current swimmers in current pools and only have BAD swimmers in Burlington pools.  That is simply not practical if one understands coaching limitations, the importance of learning from each other at various ages/levels, a sense of team, etc.   It’s clear GHAC is looking for more pool time and our kids should not have to go anywhere outside of Burlington or have new recruits avoided simply because kids from out of town are displacing their opportunity.  There is only so much space and pools like Centennial are particularly important for “long invested” senior swimmers.

6) The stress placed on our kids has weakened their sense of security and fairness.  They have worked hard and believe in their organization.   In this past week, I have witnessed tears, anger, confusion and capitulation.  The older swimmers, in particular, have had their belief in fairness and trust in those who represent them at the City extremely damaged – as is the case for the parents and many BAD volunteers and supporters.  We have had swimmers leave the club over this mess.  While there may be a few considering GHAC out of fear or a belief that there is no alternative, most have gone to Milton or Oakville as they have no desire to endure this uncertainty or be forced into a club they don’t want to be part of.

 I heard from one City representative that the Mayor and Counsellors don’t get involved with procurement due to potential conflicts of interest.  This is different than normal procurement.  This is a club that has operated for 40 years as a not-for-profit and on top of this they have been active in the community.

7)  I heard from one City representative that the Mayor and Counsellors don’t get involved with procurement due to potential conflicts of interest.  This is different than normal procurement.  This is a club that has operated for 40 years as a not-for-profit and on top of this they have been active in the community.   I am sure the BAD representatives can outline their good work.    Common sense tells me GHAC received preferential treatment (they didn’t quality in the first place) and whether there is a degree of culpability on both sides (City or BAD) doesn’t matter.   The correct approach is to not seek blame.  Rather, all parties should simply learn from it and the City should make the correction immediately.  GHAC took a risk and it appears they tried to push themselves into Burlington to the detriment of our kids.  Quite frankly, I think that is shameful.  In their scramble to raise the number of Burlington kids, they are trying to solicit ours which is not consistent with the swim community’s normal protocol.  We don’t poach from other clubs.   In my mind, if city policies bring us to this kind of scenario, something must change and it will take the members of Council and the Mayor to do so.  There has to be common sense and a better system of escalation before it gets to this stage and/or preference given to renewals of long time reliable organizations.  We know that other clubs/cities understand this is a terrible precedent and have expressed their position in support of BAD.  I can understand why they may feel threatened — if this can happen to BAD, it can happen to them?   This has been a colossal waste of time and money for BAD and the City.

8) With regard to community involvement and representation:  a)  BAD carries a Burlington Aquatic Devilray’s banner wherever they go – not Golden Horseshoe Aquatic Club which provides little direct recognition  b) our community efforts are within Burlington – not thinly spread across a range of communities knowing there is always limited time to devote to these kinds of activities, and c) meets are held in Burlington which brings families and supporters from across the country for the benefit of Burlington businesses as they seek accommodation, food and activities.  Will this be the case with GHAC who is obviously conducting meets in places outside of Burlington today — one would think they must provide at least some degree of loyalty to other communities?  It is quite clear that any pool time allotted to GHAC will be at the expense of lesser focus on Burlington.

I want to give you a greater understanding as to the sense of team and family that these kids enjoy and want to preserve.  They feel a real sense of loyalty.   As a grandparent, we usually aren’t involved in the day-to-day scheduling that my daughter and son-in-law manage with the administrative notices, payments, travel and time commitments, etc.  I try to enjoy the kids and the sport from a distance although “it takes a village to raise a child”.  With three of their four kids in BAD my husband and I often assist with the effort to get them to practices and meets.    A couple of years ago, some members went to a swim camp n Spain and my husband and I joined the group.   The kids got to meet International swimmers and observe how they trained.  They were able to take in some tourist attractions as well.  It was a valuable educational experience while building an even greater sense of team and family.  During that time, we got a chance to chat with the Head Coach in a casual manner.  He is usually a somewhat reserved and focused individual, but he told us about his greatest source of pride during his BAD leadership.  I believe he said, four of his BAD swimmers went on to become doctors and others engineers and professional in various disciplines —and on and on.  That is the essence of what is being taken away as you need that sense of family and long term involvement to achieve that kind of pride.

I respectfully ask that you consider these points.  I am sure there are many more that will be made by BAD.  Just look at the video that Halton News created about a BAD hosted meet at Nelson Pool the weekend before this controversy surfaced.  My granddaughter was featured in the video — not planned but simply a swimmer who happened to be available for comment.  Her and her friends remarks said it all.  Unfortunately, the smile on her face has been wiped away.

Please help our Burlington kids!