Coalition to bring a Swimming Pool to Amarillo
Amarillo currently lags far behind other cities in our region for a competition quality swimming pool for local school-children and athletes. There are no available public facilities for hosting swim meets or large practices. We are making an effort to bring together public and private interests to build a modest swimming pool which will fit the needs of a growing city.

The local high school swim teams currently practice in the Maverick Club. The Maverick Club does not have sufficient facilities to host swim meets, which are an annual fundraiser for local teams and clubs. In addition, the facilities are in poor shape. We have documented some of the more obvious problems with the Maverick Club here.

However, the main issue is not cleaning up the existing facilities. Even if they were well taken care of (which they are not), the do not meet the needs such that local high schools can both practice and compete. The minimum requirements for a well-organized swim team are eight 50 meter lanes. The Maverick club provides five 25 yard lanes.

Childhood obesity is epidemic in our society. We should encourage healthy lifestyle choices, which regular exercise is essential for, rather than devoting all public funds to spectator sports. It is unreasonable that certain entertainment sports which relatively few students can participate in receive a widely disproportionate amount of financial support.

We are confident in our ability to take full advantage of any facilities we can build. Lubbock has a modest public swim center, and they regularly host swim meets and field a large swim team that is competitive statewide. We are sure that both the interests and the coaching talent for competitive teams are available in Amarillo, however they are going to waste as the facilities are not adequate. AISD schools have fielded a team in the Austin state championships every year for forty years, and they are at a competitive disadvantage every year.