Nonprofit group promotes water sports in MH
Published in the August 6 – 19, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo by Marty Cheek
A water enthusiast comes down the Aquatics Center water slide.
On hot summer days, the Morgan Hill Aquatics Center is the most popular place in town Children splash in the pools or course down the water slides. Swimmers do laps in sparkling water of the Olympic-sized pool as people read paperbacks as they sunbathe on the deck. The center recently celebrated its 10th-year anniversary, and contributing to its overwhelming success as a city and regional attraction is the Morgan Hill Aquatic Foundation.
The nonprofit organization has over the last decade been key in building the quality of the Aquatics Center by supplementing funds for general maintenance and upkeep as well as special projects, said Nick Calubaquib, recreation manager at the center.
“What they’ve really helped with is the funding of projects that we would not normally be able to fund,” he said. “They’ve worked over the years getting volunteer to help out with maintenance projects. They’re a good group of people. They’re all users of the facilities, which is nice because they know what the needs are from a user’s perspective.”
The foundation members not only raise funds but also help maintain the appearance of the Aquatics Center by scrubbing tiles and handrails and other clean-up chores, he said.
Santa Clara Valley Water District Board Member Dennis Kennedy is one of the founding members of the Aquatic Foundation. He recalls the concerns Morgan Hill citizens had about maintaining the Aquatic Center after it was opened in 2004.
“We recognized that to have a full-fledged competition or Olympic pool would require a subsidy,” he said. “There are very few of them that break even operating year round, and that was our goal. We formed the Morgan Hill Aquatic Foundation with the goal of raising money to help subsidize the year-round operation of the center.”
Photo by Marty Cheek
Water polo players practice at the Aquatics Center.
The foundation put on fundraising events such as the Cool Brews for Cool Pools social gala, the first of which raised about $30,000, he said. That money was put in a fund to help defray the cost of operation so it could be opened year round.
Adding to the sports attraction of Morgan Hill as a swim destination, the foundation gave the city $3,000 in matching funding for the installation of a scoreboard donated years ago to the Aquatics Center, Kennedy said.
The board encourages more swim meets to be held in Morgan Hill because in past years sports organizations had to rent the specialized scoreboards with touch systems.
“Morgan Hill is so fortunate to have volunteer groups and nonprofits like the Aquatic Foundation that step in when they see a need,” Kennedy said. “ We live in an amazing community where people really want to help.”
When several years ago the city included entry to the Aquatics Center as part of its membership to the Centennial Recreation Center, that decision helped build membership levels and provide money for operation costs for both centers, he said.
The popularity of the Aquatics Center also increased with more people regularly using it for synchronized swimming, adult aquatic-exercise programs, and the Makos Swim Club. The financial stability from frequent use made the Aquatic Foundation organizers decide that their role would be less about providing money and more about encouraging aquatic recreation throughout the city.
“The Aquatics Center has done very well so the need for subsidies has been less and less,” Kennedy said. “So now the Aquatic Foundation has evolved into a group to help mediate other groups that are competing for swim time at the competition pool. It has now grown not into programs just at the Aquatics Center but also throughout the city. We’re trying to work with the school district to share their pools. There’s such a demand for water lanes, that not only do we need the competition pools but the other swim facilities at Live Oak and Sobrato (high schools) to help meet the demand.”
Photo by Marty Cheek
Water enthusiasts cool off Morgan Hill’s popular Aquatics Center on a hot July day.
The foundation has also evolved to encourage more family use of the Aquatics Center with fun programs such as the very successful Family Night as part of Morgan Hill’s Fourth of July celebration adjacent to the fireworks show at the Outdoor Sports Center next door, said Brian Kennedy, president of the foundation’s board of directors.
A masters swimmer, Brian uses the competition pool several times during the week for doing laps. He sees the Aquatics Center as a revenue-generator for Morgan Hill, bringing people from other cities for water recreation and sports such as swimming, competitive diving and water polo who stay at local hotels and eat at local restaurants.
“In my perspective as a swimmer, I think it’s great to have a facility where I can exercise,” he said. “There’s also the ancillary dollars that are spent when they have their big events.”
At the July 4 Family Night event, Brian learned that many people attending were not from Morgan Hill. “It was a surprising number of people who were from south of here, from Monterey and Salinas, because they don’t have a facility like this,” he said. “They thought that it was a great place to come. It gets so cold over there (in Monterey County) that they come here and get some sun at our pool… It’s just such a regional draw. You talk to people about Morgan Hill and they say, ‘Oh, I know where that is. That’s where they have the pool or that’s where they have the soccer facility.’ It’s really given us some name recognition.”
