To Dan (Chief of Staff), Shelley (Director of Aquatics), Bill (Mayor), Ross (Acting Director of Citiparks), bcc: Susan (Administrative Assistant in Citiparks) & James (Mayor's staff)
Dear Mayor Peduto and others with City Hall and Aquatics:
It is official, we are asking for your help to facilitate the hosting of NCAA Water Polo games at a city pool on Saturday, September 1, 2018.
Can we meet to talk about the plans so that a contract can be signed for this special event?
I would love to get the administrations and Citiparks support for this endeavor as well.
The teams would include the NCAA Varsity programs of Mercyhurst, Gannon and Washington and Jefferson.
They would play 3 games, among themselves, perhaps at 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm.
Furthermore, before, in the middle of, and after the NCAA college men’s games we’d host water polo and aquatic games for our city youth and masters and local college club teams (CMU & Pitt).
We aim to make this day, with these college games, an annual event and a capstone celebration of aquatics, water safety, water polo, and SKWIM for the entire region to be hosted at an outdoor Citiparks facility, especially at Ammon Rec Center in Pittsburgh’s Hill District on Bedford Ave — but if not there, then at Citiparks Highland Park Pool.
The beauty of deploying Ammon for this Labor Day aquatic festival is that the pool is generally already closed by then. We would be extending the summer season with programming and a week or more of camp-like experiences for players to get ready for the competitions and showcase.
We have the officials, the teams, the equipment, the interest, the support from the community — and next — we need your help to make sure that ONE of the TWO pools is able to be made available.
Objections:
These efforts can pull their own weight in terms of finances. There is a modest budget for pool rental with the colleges and universities.
I understand that STAFFING and LIFEGUARDS are a bit of a problem and that is one reason why many of the outdoor pools close prior to Labor Day Weekend. My efforts in this regard over the years have been significant. Many of our PPS Varsity Swimmers are encouraged to be Citiparks Lifeguards.
Our efforts in the schools throughout the years help to insure that there are capable swimmers who can serve in these important roles. I’m working to do more and more aquatic programs so our kids have opportunities to learn to swim and become strong swimmers so they master their swimming skills and have the required fitness and willingness to do the job.
As we get kids excited about water polo, we’ll be motivating them to get to the pools and one-day be valued lifeguards.
Mr. Chapman, welcome to the new role, and I hope we can talk soon and meet so I can dive into more details on other ways that we can and should be working together for the benefits of the kids and the aquatic programs.
I’ll follow up with a more extensive vision document and operational plan for summer aquatic expansion with water polo and SKWIM.
—
Ta.
Mark Rauterkus Mark@Rauterkus.com
Executive Director of SKWIM USA, a 501(c)(3)
PPS Summer Dreamers’ Swim & Water Polo Camp Executive Coach
Middle School Swim Coach at The Ellis School
Former Varsity Boys Swim Coach, Pittsburgh Obama Academy
Recent Head Water Polo Coach, Carnegie Mellon University Women’s Club Team
Pittsburgh Combined Water Polo Team & Renegades Masters Water Polo
http://CLOH.org
412 298 3432 = cell
Reply from Chapman, Ross, (within minutes)
Good afternoon, Mark—-
It’s nice to “virtually” meet you… I’d/we’d be happy to meet with you at some point soon, and I will confer with Shelley regarding your proposal to engage and host a NCAA event at one of our pools later this year. Sounds like a pretty cool event…
We’ll be in touch to discuss what may be possible and how best to move forward.
Most appreciative,
Ross
Ross Chapman
Acting Director
Department of Parks and Recreation
City of Pittsburgh
414 Grant Street Room 459
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(O): 412-255-2372
(C): 412-xxx-xxxx
