Summit Seals-A Quiet Victory for the Perseverance of Rationality

By Timothy Myers SR. — Tim Myers

Remember the big topic one year ago in the SCV? Would a handful of crazed, yet relentless cranks finally end the Summit Seals youth competitive swim program by effectively denying team access to the Summit’s large community pool? We ran many posts on the issue on SCVTalk and found it necessary to take the rare step of actually turning off comments on several posts when the number exceeded 200.

Readers will recall that an incredibly courageous group of parents and volunteers stood up to a handful of cranks and actually had their season in 2010. I did not want to post on the topic before now in 2011 fearing that it might stir the Summit forces of swim darkness to action but the Summit Seals are now fully into their 2011 competition season so I feel confident in declaring victory for those wonderful people.

Why does it seem the cranks so often win? Rational people cannot match their zeal for the negative, and too often collapse solely for the chance to never interact with them in their soul crushing way again. Some of the key people in the Seals struggle last year told me they felt that way more than once, but were heartened to fight on by the support of the team family, and more than just a little by the well wishers who posted in this blog and on their Facebook page.

Swim on, Seals!

Comments (7)

ToddJune 20, 2011 at 3:05 pm

Duh, Winning!

CCJune 20, 2011 at 3:12 pm

Wow, this report isn’t bias at all…. (that’s sarcasm Tim)

Timothy Myers SR.June 20, 2011 at 3:14 pm

CC: Note that this was flagged as “Opinion.” But just because it is an opinion does not mean it isn’t right.

CCJune 20, 2011 at 3:50 pm

The difference in your style of “editorial” is particularly mean spirited and pedestrian. You could have just as easily made the case without name calling and irrational bias. At least Petz is imaginative and funny in his rantings.

Gang FangJune 20, 2011 at 10:22 pm

The Petz act gets old quicker than buttermilk in hell, as a friend once said.

Coastal SageJune 21, 2011 at 10:10 pm

As always, the real issue is insurance coverage and insurance premiums. In our HOA, no professional trainers are allowed to train clients in the exercise/gym room, no tennis pros can teach on the tennis courts, and though as far as I know we’ve never had it as an issue no one can be a swimming teacher/coach and use our HOA’s pools, or the HOAs insurance coverage is invalidated according to our insurance policy. So as to these Seals, the real issue is whether they are providing separate insurance coverage to the HOA in case the HOA’s policy doesn’t cover use of the common area by non-HOA members, in case some non-resident of the community sues the HOA when their little darling cracks their skull on the pool deck. If the Seals provide a separate insurance policy covering the HOA no one should care. If the HOA is charged an extra insurance premium because non-residents of the community are allowed to use the pool, then the Seals parents should pay the extra premium. Our HOA’s pools are way too small to have a swim team, but that’s how it would work in our HOA if we had a tennis club for the kids in our neighborhood and they were holding tournaments on our HOA’s 3 tennis courts, bring in kids from outside the HOA membership to compete.

mjsJune 22, 2011 at 1:47 pm

Hi, Thanks for the post Tim. As a Summit Seals parent, I can say that kerfuffle was pretty stressful and the thought of not having the swim league was very sad for all of us who participated in such a great program over the last few years. I am certainly glad it’s now resolved. Although I wouldn’t call my neighbors “cranks,” any concerns from opposition appear to have been mollified and it seems that is all behind the community now. I do believe a couple of passionate individuals did make it their mission to effectively cancel the Seals which was surprising; I think the community was able to work out any issues, real or imagined, that had polarized the residents. I think the title of your post was apt, it appeared to take much rational dialog between the parties in the face of a lot of misinformation and emotion. Onward and upward.

ToddJune 20, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Duh, Winning!
CCJune 20, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Wow, this report isn’t bias at all…. (that’s sarcasm Tim)
Timothy Myers SR.June 20, 2011 at 3:14 pm
CC: Note that this was flagged as “Opinion.” But just because it is an opinion does not mean it isn’t right.
CCJune 20, 2011 at 3:50 pm
The difference in your style of “editorial” is particularly mean spirited and pedestrian. You could have just as easily made the case without name calling and irrational bias. At least Petz is imaginative and funny in his rantings.
Gang FangJune 20, 2011 at 10:22 pm
The Petz act gets old quicker than buttermilk in hell, as a friend once said.
Coastal SageJune 21, 2011 at 10:10 pm
As always, the real issue is insurance coverage and insurance premiums. In our HOA, no professional trainers are allowed to train clients in the exercise/gym room, no tennis pros can teach on the tennis courts, and though as far as I know we’ve never had it as an issue no one can be a swimming teacher/coach and use our HOA’s pools, or the HOAs insurance coverage is invalidated according to our insurance policy. So as to these Seals, the real issue is whether they are providing separate insurance coverage to the HOA in case the HOA’s policy doesn’t cover use of the common area by non-HOA members, in case some non-resident of the community sues the HOA when their little darling cracks their skull on the pool deck. If the Seals provide a separate insurance policy covering the HOA no one should care. If the HOA is charged an extra insurance premium because non-residents of the community are allowed to use the pool, then the Seals parents should pay the extra premium. Our HOA’s pools are way too small to have a swim team, but that’s how it would work in our HOA if we had a tennis club for the kids in our neighborhood and they were holding tournaments on our HOA’s 3 tennis courts, bring in kids from outside the HOA membership to compete.
mjsJune 22, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Hi, Thanks for the post Tim. As a Summit Seals parent, I can say that kerfuffle was pretty stressful and the thought of not having the swim league was very sad for all of us who participated in such a great program over the last few years. I am certainly glad it’s now resolved. Although I wouldn’t call my neighbors “cranks,” any concerns from opposition appear to have been mollified and it seems that is all behind the community now. I do believe a couple of passionate individuals did make it their mission to effectively cancel the Seals which was surprising; I think the community was able to work out any issues, real or imagined, that had polarized the residents. I think the title of your post was apt, it appeared to take much rational dialog between the parties in the face of a lot of misinformation and emotion. Onward and upward.