YMCA gearing up for pool season

by Brandon Mayer

       An agreement between the YMCA of Eastern Ontario and the Township of North Dundas was approved in principle in February, allowing the YMCA to manage the Township’s two municipal pools. The Township will continue to own the pools, but the programming – such as public swimming, rentals, and swimming lessons – will be managed by the YMCA this year. 
       At the May 7 council meeting, the agreement became official. Since the details of the agreement were not available when the motion was first introduced in February, the agreement was “approved in principle” at that time, giving the YMCA the confidence to move ahead with staffing and other logistical considerations for the two pools before receiving an official go-ahead. 
       Programs offered at the community’s two pools this season will include AquaZumba, swimming lessons under the YMCA program (the levels may differ from the Lifesaving Society programming previously offered, but the YMCA will work with families on understanding the convsersion), and bronze stream certifications. Schedules for various programs, including public swimming, will be posted to https://eo.ymca.ca/what-we-offer once available. 
       Last year, North Grenville – the Township’s neighbour to the west – made the same move of contracting out the running of it’s aquatics programming to the YMCA. The move may become more common in municipalities throughout the region, as the struggle grows to find certified lifeguards who are in need of a summer job.
       In recent years, North Dundas has faced staffing issues for its two pools, having occasional unexpected closures, and needing to condense the hours of the pools to share lifeguard resources. The process of becoming a lifeguard in Ontario can be lengthy and onerous. Lifeguard applicants must be a minimum of 15 years of age and have an existing bronze cross certification (approximately 20 hours of training) and standard first aid training with level C CPR certification (approximately 16 hours of training). The lifeguard training itself is typically about 40 hours. Despite the significant time and money required for training, as well as the responsibility of the job itself, lifeguard wages at municipal public pools have not kept up with inflation in last few years. This, combined with the niche of lifeguard applicants typically having to be high school or post-secondary students seeking temporary employment, inevitably led to the staffing issues at local pools in previous years. 
       As a large organization, the YMCA has greater resources at its disposal, including staff resources. North Dundas residents are undoubtedly eager to see the impact of this organizational change. To register online for local aquatics programming, visit eo.ymca.ca/onlineregistration. Questions or other inquiries can be directed to rachel.scott@eo.ymca.ca.