You Don't Have to Compete, Just Learn How to Swim
Confessions of a BSP: A Black Swim Parent
by Mark Anthony Neal
The Mecklenburg Aquatic Center, site of the North Carolina 14-and-under Swimming Championships is located on the east end of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd in Charlotte, NC. More than a mile away, on the west end of the boulevard, sits Johnson C. Smith College, a historically Black college.
The distance between the two institutions, both located on a thoroughfare named after a figure who personified the collapsing of racial boundaries in this country, is an apt metaphor for the lack of visibility of Blacks in the sport of swimming. With the exception of events like the National Black Heritage Championships Meet, the lack of a significant presence of black swimmers at competitive swim meets is a regular occurrence; a reality that is not surprising, given a recent report sponsored by USA Swimming that nearly 70 percent of Black teen and children surveyed possess little or no swimming skills—a number that was nearly twice the amount of their White peers.
Some of the reasons Black swimming rates are thought to be low are obvious. Finances and access to facilities remain primary concerns, though organizations like the Boys and Girls Clubs, The Y and Make A Splash, an organization funded by USA Swimming, have made herculean efforts to make swim lessons affordable (free in some cases). Even the issue of access was ultimately deemed less of an issue in the USA Swimming report as many of the respondents reported having access to local pools, including public ones.
What was far more of a concern as related to access was the issue of physical safety—some public facilities draw the presence of a criminal element, particularly in poor neighborhoods (the same element that one might find at a local basketball court, though that doesn’t keep folk from the courts). Many Black children and young teens are simply afraid to go to public facilities by themselves, preferring to be accompanied by a parent or another adult.
Not surprisingly parents hold the biggest key as to whether black youth will learn to swim or decide to take on the sport competitively. According to USA Swimming’s report parental fear of their children drowning outweighs even monetary concerns about swimming. As one parent surveyed states, “you’re already uncomfortable and scared. You’re like ‘I’m paying them so I can have heart palpitations on the side lines’…why should I have to pay money to be afraid.”
Read the Full Essay @ theloop21.com
Confessions of a BSP: A Black Swim Parent
by Mark Anthony Neal
The Mecklenburg Aquatic Center, site of the North Carolina 14-and-under Swimming Championships is located on the east end of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd in Charlotte, NC. More than a mile away, on the west end of the boulevard, sits Johnson C. Smith College, a historically Black college.
The distance between the two institutions, both located on a thoroughfare named after a figure who personified the collapsing of racial boundaries in this country, is an apt metaphor for the lack of visibility of Blacks in the sport of swimming. With the exception of events like the National Black Heritage Championships Meet, the lack of a significant presence of black swimmers at competitive swim meets is a regular occurrence; a reality that is not surprising, given a recent report sponsored by USA Swimming that nearly 70 percent of Black teen and children surveyed possess little or no swimming skills—a number that was nearly twice the amount of their White peers.
Some of the reasons Black swimming rates are thought to be low are obvious. Finances and access to facilities remain primary concerns, though organizations like the Boys and Girls Clubs, The Y and Make A Splash, an organization funded by USA Swimming, have made herculean efforts to make swim lessons affordable (free in some cases). Even the issue of access was ultimately deemed less of an issue in the USA Swimming report as many of the respondents reported having access to local pools, including public ones.
What was far more of a concern as related to access was the issue of physical safety—some public facilities draw the presence of a criminal element, particularly in poor neighborhoods (the same element that one might find at a local basketball court, though that doesn’t keep folk from the courts). Many Black children and young teens are simply afraid to go to public facilities by themselves, preferring to be accompanied by a parent or another adult.
Not surprisingly parents hold the biggest key as to whether black youth will learn to swim or decide to take on the sport competitively. According to USA Swimming’s report parental fear of their children drowning outweighs even monetary concerns about swimming. As one parent surveyed states, “you’re already uncomfortable and scared. You’re like ‘I’m paying them so I can have heart palpitations on the side lines’…why should I have to pay money to be afraid.”
Read the Full Essay @ theloop21.com
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