PRESERVING A PRECIOUS PAST
CLUBS are hugely important for young children starting out in sport and for older kids who as teens are working out who they are and the direction they want in life.
Clubs provide a means to build physical toughness and mental focus.
Friendships are forged and role models followed. Not everyone makes it to the top. Those who do deserve accolades, but just as it takes a village to raise a child, more often than not it takes a club and coaching to produce a champion. And if an entire city, a state and a nation cheer on that champion and share in the moments of glory, it is not unreasonable for a proud club to want to make a declaration of achievement and to preserve its history.
Miami Swimming Club says it is trying to do that as the contractors move in to tear down the old Pizzey Park pool and the clubhouse before building starts on a new aquatic centre, which the club agrees will be “awesome’’. From what the council says, the revamped complex will be an asset to be proud of – but in the process, the club that has possibly produced more champions than any other organisation in the city fears its heritage may be lost.
The council says there will be a place for the Miami club when the dust of revamp settles but as reported today, it is stressing the priority is the community.
The club acknowledges that yet craves certainty. As reported, its members are worried what sort of facilities will be there in the long term and whether they will have a say in who the coaches are – if the city decides to take over running the pool.
Nervous families are reported to be taking their children elsewhere, which threatens the future of the club that gave the Gold Coast the Grant Hacketts and Giaan Rooneys whom the city claimed as its own when they were at their peak.
Olympic coach Denis Cotterell, who looked after generations of Miami swimmers for the bulk of the club’s 43-year history, told the Bulletin yesterday there was no argument the aquatic centre was a community facility. But Cotterell, who will attend the farewell function for the clubhouse today before it is torn down, was surprised to learn his old club was struggling to convince the council it should allow Miami to display club memorabilia and have a say in its future.
The Bulletin has seen how other cities have preserved swimming heritage. In Townsville for example, the Tobruk Memorial Baths features a hall of fame for the greats who trained there before the Rome and Tokyo Olympics. But Cotterell on the other hand lamented what had happened at a Sydney club, which was confined to a room and its history buried. Miami does not deserve such a fate. The pool itself has always been for the community, from learn-to-swim through to recreational and competitive swimming or other sports. Cotterell said there was enormous pride for the club in how the “moment in time’’ swimmers and families had with Miami helped set them up for life.
A hall of fame is not just a declaration of pride. It also serves as motivation for the next generation of swimmers, lighting the spark that keeps the cycle of endeavour continuing. The council should keep that in mind as it builds a wonderful asset for all the community.