{"id":438420,"date":"2020-07-02T11:27:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T18:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=438420"},"modified":"2020-07-02T15:56:05","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T22:56:05","slug":"ymca-of-central-florida-to-disband-competitive-teams-indefinitely-due-to-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ymca-of-central-florida-to-disband-competitive-teams-indefinitely-due-to-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"YMCA of Central Florida to Disband Competitive Teams Indefinitely due to COVID-19, 22 Clubs Affected"},"content":{"rendered":"

The YMCA of Central Florida competitive aquatic sports have been disbanded indefinitely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Florida has been hit harder than most states during the pandemic and the YMCA made the decision to discontinue the competitive programs at the 22 YMCA of Central Florida locations. That includes swimming, diving, water polo and artistic swimming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision was just about the aquatic teams and has nothing to with the aquatic centers themselves. They will likely re-open as soon as it is safe to do so, but the teams will not be a part of it,\u201d YMCA of Central Florida District Executive Director Mike Brady<\/strong> told Swimming World<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Athletes will need to find new places to train, which is not an easy task with COVID-19 wreaking havoc on Florida.<\/p>\n

The YMCA of Central Florida sent out an email to all coaches and participants that discussed the details.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result of our assessment, it\u2019s with heavy hearts that we inform you today that we won\u2019t be able to bring back our YCF Aquatic Teams at any of our family centers for the foreseeable future until further notice,\u201d the email reads. \u201cWe\u2019re currently exploring the option of recreational level programs potentially being offered in the future, but we wanted to be as transparent and timely as possible with our competitive-level athletes so they can explore other program options outside of YCF.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know this news comes as a deep disappointment which we share together with you. Our hope is that these programs may return sometime in the future if we have the capacity to offer them in a financially sustainable and safe manner with the level of quality they require.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Brady said this is the decision for the foreseeable future, but is hoping it is not permanent.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely this was nothing that we wanted to do. The long and short of it is we are assessing what we can bring back in a safe way and fiscal way,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are not ruling out the chance of brining these programs back in the future. We are trying to be as transparent as we could be to give people the opportunity to find somewhere else to train. We aren\u2019t sure when and if we can re-open (the competitive programs).\u201d<\/p>\n

This decision does not affect the YMCA facilities themselves. Brady said those facilities will try to open when it is safe to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still working on a phased approach to bring the facilities back. But with everything going on, including staff furloughed since March, we don\u2019t have the answer to how to bring (competitive teams) back,\u201d he said. \u201cSome of the stand-alone programs are opening cautiously. We have had lap swim by reservation in some of those, but even that is presenting some challenges, so how do we think we can bring back 30-40 kids safely? Like any business, we are trying to be as transparent as we can and serve our population as much as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The YMCA of Central Florida clubs include:<\/p>\n