May 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 25

not widely viewed or paid as
first responders, yet they do the
job of first responders. We do
not view aquatics supervisors,
directors and coordinators as first
responders, yet they are expected
to respond as such.
I realized
the
disconnect is
that many decision-makers
and/or supervisors of aquatics
professionals within our field
(park, recreation and aquatics)
have a lopsided idea about what
goes
into
running an aquatics
facility or site. There's no
palpable feeling for the day-to-day
challenges, the evening stress or
the 3 a.m. thoughts about " what
if? " They might have experience
running recreation programs,
organizing senior center activities
or maybe even performing park
maintenance,
all of which can
apply, to some degree, to aquatics.
They likely have experience
dealing with an upset customer or
the juggling of staff to be able to
open on time. However, have they
ever had to weigh the likelihood
whether a late-night phone call
from work is a time clock issue
versus staff notifying you that
they have pulled someone from
the bottom of the pool? I venture
a suggestion: unless an individual
has managed an aquatics facility
or site, they do not know the risk.
The Risk
Park, recreation and aquatics professionals
know there is a level of
risk involved - from the risk of losing
personal time to someone not
liking your program to your budget
not being approved to not being able
to hire enough staff for the season.
When weighing the three - parks,
recreation and aquatics - only in
aquatics is there a constant and seMEAN
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devastation for you and the employees
you are responsible for. The daily
risk in aquatics is unmatched; the
demand is high and yet our coordinators,
supervisors and directors are
viewed the same way as their park
and recreation counterparts.
Equity
To say,
match the level of risk
" Increased salaries to
will
fix
our problems " would be naive. I
do, however, believe a few things
would make a huge difference:
* Emphasize " aquatics " in the
overall conversation of parks
and recreation. Change the narrative
to reflect " parks, recreation
and aquatics. "
* Eliminate the disconnect. Everyone
overseeing an aquatics
professional should participate
in a lifeguard in-service, a staff
training or simply " a day in the
life. "
* Repair the deficit. Recognize
that
lifeguards
and aquatics
professionals are first responders
and the demand of the job
is high, and then adjust salaries
and benefits to reflect that.
Unfortunately, deficit and disconnect
go hand in hand. Until the
disconnect is repaired and there is
a full, well-rounded understanding
of what aquatics professionals do,
the deficit will continue to grow and
good aquatics professionals will
leave the industry all together.
Kathryn Hosey is Aquatics Coordinator
for the DeForest Area School District
(khosey@deforestschools.org).
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