“Like a fish out of water”
This year has been full of surprises! Let’s take coronavirus pandemic for starters. No matter how you might feel about staying home, masks and social distancing, saying that it’s dramatically affected everyone’s life would be an understatement. It probably impacted our youth —our future leaders and societal workers — probably more than any of us adults, according to a recent study published in the Elsevier Public Health Emergency Collection.
Here in Sedona, the pandemic took our swim team out of the water in mid-March with the Arizona stay at home order. Our swimmers had no access to the water for many weeks but our swim coaches did an awesome job of keeping team spirits — and heart rates —up with daily dry land training sessions during the many weeks when we had no pool access.
But the ability to get in the pool wasn’t the only thing that the COVID interrupted. The usual year round fundraising events requiring face-to-face contact — such as yard sales and car washes — had to be canceled.
As kids worked up to the big meets at the end of season, in-person competitions were also eliminated. To this end , SRPC purchased their own timing equipment, trained meet marshals and lane officials and conducted two time trials where athletes can try for their best times and compete in a virtual meet with others.
All this added up to a lot of out-go and not as much fundraising income. You see, the team’s access to the pool through the winter requires covering a big share of pool maintenance costs that add up to more than $1,000 monthly.
As we go into giving Tuesday, we’re relying heavily on the generosity of those who believe in supporting youth athletics on a local level.
More than just swimming laps
Getting in the pool and training is far from the only point of keeping our youth swimming year round. Sedona Race Pace Club uses ultra-short race pace training (USRPT) that engages the brain as well as the body. Check out some of the side benefits of USRPT in the graphic below.
Help provide safe social activity
As anyone who has grown up in Sedona will tell you, extracurricular opportunities for youth aren’t as bountiful as they are in a big city. Kids are highly social and this year’s enforced isolation has been difficult on them (as well as on parents, but that’s another story).
The swimming pool environment is one of the safest places for kids to participate in athletics according to the CDC and World Health Organization. It gives kids a good safe environment to find their inner athlete and connect with their peers as well. SRPC uses social distance, masks and sanitization protocols to ensure our athletes stay safe.
Your generous donation to our #GivingTuesday fundraising campaign will help to continue pool access for our Sedona athletes through paying for winter heating costs.
Help kids overcome life challenges
Being able to challenge oneself and overcome challenges in the pool definitely takes the mind off of above-water fears such as pandemics, changes in parental financial situations and stressful circumstances that are inevitable in even the most harmonious families as individuals strive to dwell together in the confines of their own immediate household.
Empower education
Race pace training helps kids learn skills they can use outside the pool including mathematics, geometry, physics and more. A daily workout involves calculating changing intervals, keeping track of best times and sets, tweaking physical technique angles, and figuring out percentages of times for pacing for starters.
Kids’ brains are engaged with having to figure out these answers themselves. Coaches and teammates help the new swimmer learn how to keep track of all of this, and helping the swimmer building confidence in their own abilities.
Not to mention, keeping our kids swimming provides them with an opportunity to qualify for athletic scholarships and further their education through their own efforts.
Click to Donate
We know you’re probably inundated with worthy causes but ask you to consider supporting our Sedona AZ athletes. You can donate on our Facebook #Giving Tuesday fundraiser —donate early in the morning and your donations will be matched until the max is reached — our head to our website at Sedona RacePace.com to make a tax-deductible donation at any time.
Finally, please share this fundraiser on your social media feeds to help get it in front of more people who want to support the cause of youth athletics in Sedona and the Verde Valley.
Off the Wall 