SWIM: Disaster at Kroc Center

The Coeur d'Alene Area Swim Team (CAST) hosted a swim meet last weekend at the Kroc Center. Usually it's a source of great pride when the local team gets to host a meet. It's a chance to invite other teams from across this state and others into your hometown and, for CAST, to showcase one of the top competitive swimming pools in the Northwest.

This last weekend hotels filled up, restaurants were busy and shops were full with the many teams and their families that came here to compete. What an absolute shame that some of these teams publicly stated that they will not be coming back.

This is not the fault of CAST. The CAST coaches are some of the most dedicated and impressive people you will ever come across. They work for peanuts but you would never know it watching them go about their jobs. For my money, if you have kids in CAST it's the best thing going.

It takes a lot of effort and time to host a swim meet. Months of planning, fundraising, hotel coordination and logistics for the visiting teams must take place. Every parent on the team is expected to help out in some way. The objective you ask? To ensure the meet is run efficiently and at the end is an enjoyable experience for the visiting teams.

Mission not accomplished. The heavy-handed policies of the Kroc Center bordered on abusive. Fans were told they were clapping and cheering too loud. Food was not allowed into the Kroc and bags were searched to ensure this. Sorry, no orange slices at halftime kids - unless you buy them from the Kroc! The Kroc was searching swim bags of 7-year-old girls on the off chance they were packing a power bar or a banana.

Coaches were denied coffee and swimmers were told not to get wet! OK, I lied on that last one but you get the picture. This does not happen anywhere else swim meets take place. This should come as no surprise to anybody who works out at the Kroc Center where there are more rules than the PGA handbook. It's basically a community center with sharia law.

Try taking your cell phone into the coed locker room or worse to your treadmill. You will be quickly reprimanded. Lose track of your 8-year-old for a few seconds? Your child will be found promptly and a letter will be placed in your file. I don't blame the hourly workers for this. They are just doing their jobs. This type of negative atmosphere disseminates from the top down.

Three hundred and fifty swimmers and their families descended on our beautiful town this past weekend. They competed at a state of the art world class facility and were hosted by the CAST parents, swimmers, administrators and coaches. It should have been perfect and would have if not for the draconian policies set by a few to the detriment of our great city.

JAY MATOUS

Coeur d'Alene