Swimming club needs coaches

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 532, 19 April 1994, Page 16

Swimming club needs coaches

By

Michele

Monaghan

The Waiouru swimming club will close from 1 4 April to 5 September. The club was due to finish in two week' s time, but club members decided to bring the date forward. 'The kids were there but the coaches weren't. We just haven't got the backup," said PJ Clarke, club treasurer. "We were going to close

in May any way because not many kids turn up once it starts getting cold," Mr Clarke said. ' The club is reliant on husbands and wives who don'twork. "You can't just knock off work any time," says Mr Glarke. Lessons had been starting at 3.30pm. The number of children the club can accept for lessons depends on the number of coaches. The club presently has about 200

children on its books. Too many children and not enough coaches is the problem. The club is holding an AGM 7 on May , and Mr Clarke wants to encourage as many parents as possible to attend the meeting to discuss the problem. Prospective swimming coaches would need to attend a coaching course for one day. After that, coaching would take only an hour or two a week.

Mr Unsworth said they need coaches continually and need to establish some sort of base. If someone can't turn up they need the back-up. This could take as little as half an hour to stand in for one class, says Mr Unsworth. Ideally the club would like about 14 coaches and six 'floaters'. Waiouru swimming club will be brought in to line with the swimming season which runs from 1 October to the end of April.