NEW – STATEMENT AND BLOG UPDATE - Warley WASPS Heritage Club

7th February 2023

MARC SOULSBY/TEACHER/COACH – STATEMENT

In light of an email which has been circulated to all members, I wish to make the following statement:

It is/has been very rare for me to make a personal and open statement on social media, but in light of current events, is a necessity. As many of you know, I’ve been involved in Sandwell swimming/polo since roughly 1979 when I was 5, learning to swim and lifesave at Langley Swimming Centre, with Mrs Kendrick and Bernard Pressdee, moving to Oldbury Swimming Club in around 1980/81, started water polo with Warley WASPS in 1988, swimming for Haden Hill mid 1990’s (for some 10 years), became coach at WW in 1999, all in all, 44 years, give or take. Those years have been unbroken, I spent 4 years coaching Stourbridge Swimming Club (plus a further 2 years coaching their junior and womens water polo teams), but continued to train at Warley WASPS during the whole period.

I have taken the decision to resign my position of coach, a ‘Sandwell Aquatics’ coach, for a number of varying reasons, many of which I do not wish to air publicly on social media. My decision has no bearing on the swimmers, nor the parents, who have shown great support over the years to myself, WW and now SA. It also has no bearing upon Raj, Neil and Dave, all of whom I have great respect for and more importantly, have a very good working relationship with. The swimmers are in good hands and I hope they all continue to thrive and develop under their leadership and I would hope that they continue to press and push in a direction which they believe in, as its coaching values that drive clubs forward.

My coaching values and beliefs over the past 18 months or more have been pushed to the very limit. I have ‘red lines’, strong principles and ideologies which I will not detract from nor compromise, these have been laid out and all of the ex-WW staff share, it is what binds us and has created very successful partnerships and taken a club from nothing, a blank sheet of paper, to a large infra-structure and National qualifiers in some 12 years.

A number of these red lines and principles have been crossed and bridges burnt to a point of non-return, I have very little, if no faith in current proceedings and find integrity and openness two words missing from vocabulary and actions. When stalwart members are offered sanctuary at other clubs, there must be an underlying problem, but that is for the current members to question and decide. This has had a negative effect on my own personal health, this has impacted upon my place of work, this is now going to stop.

So, on behalf of the teachers and coaches who have decided to leave, we can only apologise for the impact our decisions have had/will have on the swimmers and families, whom over the years we have all enjoyed teaching, coaching and watching achieve, but our close and well respected team will not tolerate very poor ‘closed’ management decisions anymore.

Our team will still be around, we are all still contactable through here, Facebook, WhatsApp etc…we will always give advice and help to those that need it or want it. This site will be moving into Historical Heritage mode shortly, where we’ll be promoting wider sports not just in Sandwell, but the Black Country and Birmingham and hopefully helping sporting charities!

I, personally, after Wednesday evening, will be taking a break from the sport, completing a lifeguarding course and ensuring that my mental stability is regained before a possible return to the pool, maybe a return to the poolside and competitive training!

Again, many thanks for all support over the years, these decisions have not been easy! Keep up the hard work and I wish you all the success for the future…Swim Well, Swim Fast!

Marc Soulsby/Teaching/Coaching Staff

Sandwell Aquatics Club

Signing off 🙁

THE REPORT AND SOME HISTORY BEHIND THE REPORT

With regards to the Statement issued recently by SE, we very much welcome the report regarding the unfortunate losses made, 12 months previous and post Covid (we have nothing to hide and sure SE will come to the same conclusion), and look forward to it’s findings, hopefully highlighting some of the issues we’ve faced, endured, and overcome, over this period of the clubs running. During this time many businesses and clubs closed their doors for good. Looking at Companies House and the Charities Commission, you’ll clearly see that this period hit local business and local clubs hard, some accruing debt, others also making large losses, having to take the hit, like ourselves, just to survive. SE have a very difficult task in looking at all clubs that did go through hardship as we did, after being booted from our home pool (fairness is the key), we wish them luck. Some of the issues we had to contend with, which, after a productive meeting with SE, have been informed about:

Bather numbers restricted in squad pools – could only have a certain number in the pool, lane size doubled, capacity halved, same hire cost.
LTS restricted to numbers in the pool and no staff in water i.e. 15/16.
Loss of further 2/3 staff from LTS post Covid (pre-Covid we were reduced from 20 to 8 LTS staff).
We literally had to start from scratch with our LTS in Langley.
Loss of Smethwick – going from 4 lane 20m pool to 2 lane 17m pool meant only 55% capacity from Pre-Covid.
Loss of Smethwick Part II – going from 6 lane large pool to a 5 lane large pool at Langley. Capacity, again, effected.
SLT informed us we had to pay for all pool time for LTS, even though the pool lay empty due to above reasons. If we didn’t, they would sell the time to other clubs, who were ‘chomping at the bit’ for the time.
Most LTS swimmers did not travel from Smethwick to Langley when we did return, they either went to SLT Smethwick or we lost them from the sport altogether.
Use of squad large pool time for LTS lengths due to small pool being inadequate, which severely hampered our Wednesday and Friday junior squad sessions, hence the current cramped setup.
Schools not accepting marketing material or visitors to schools, due to Covid restrictions, so recruiting was severely hampered.
There were a number of bereavements staff and committee members had to deal with, but we carried on.
A number of key staff and committee suffered serious illness, had to shield and stay away for up to a year, due to Covid, but we carried on.
We were left high and dry by SLT, to boot, no one else came to see what we provided (from SA), how we operated or showed a general interest in what we did. Registers were readily available, as well as registers on Swim Manager (all coaches and some teachers had access), on Wed, Fri and Sat sessions. This rang true until the 15th February, when SA decided to make an appearance. We did our best to ensure memberships were transferred and distributed necessary forms. Everyone was encouraged to join, there were always going to be a few who slipped through the net. It would have been nice and helpful if more interest was shown to our side of the operation.
We worked like Trojans to put the club back on level terms, recruitment drives, course for teachers and sponsored swims, the committee knew that if we didn’t act, by Jan 2023, the account would be dry…it was with great testament, we did turn things round (as we have done 15 years previous) and we did have substantial funds remaining by Dec 2022. Unfortunately, during this period, we were all informed there would be no LTS for the club. All that hard work, stress, sleepless nights, seemed very pointless, leaving most thinking, ‘why did we bother?’.
The only discussions about Swim Manager was on poolside at an open meet. The offer to explain how to use the software and its advantages was put forward, but nothing ever materialised, so Swim Manager lapsed, along with all the registers and membership information it contained. Communication could have been vastly better from both sides and a quality App been utilised to its full potential. But it was evident, there was only one way that was wanted to prevail.
All members ‘were’ directed towards the webpage with regards to SA membership, as well as paper copies made readily available at Wed, Fri and Sat sessions. In particular, Ruth chased as many members as possible to ensure all members were transferred across before and after Christmas 2022. We made every effort to ensure everyone was registered with SA. It was disappointing to be accused of holding back information causing volunteers additional work. Again, a presence on those particular days would have gone a long way to help, but again, until the 15th February, no interest in how we operated was shown.
An online meeting with SE took place on 4th Jan, where it was stated that with everything we had done, by encouraging all members to transfer DD etc…over to the Oldbury STC account (SA account hadn’t been finalised), so WW had no members left, SE were satisfied the merger had gone ahead. All WW had to do was resign our position from within SE and that would resolve the dissolution problem (something which was suggested in an informal meeting just before Christmas 2022, but it was put forward, a further vote should be undertaken, to keep voting until the desired outcome is achieved is not very democratic. It was also at this meeting that it came to light, the committee structure had not even been decided, the lateness of the AGM was not due to the dissolution meeting, it was due to poor planning and time management).
At the same meeting on 4th Jan, it was put to SE that staffing had not even been discussed with any of the WW committee nor with the WW staff. The ISG representative/acting chair of WW informed us that due to ‘learn to swim problems’, staffing had not even been discussed with ISG. There after, SE West Mids were supplied with full staffing details which they were to pass onto SA.
31st January, two meetings took place with SE West Mids, the first with retired Chair and Treasurer to answer questions on club accounts and governance of the club. Following on from this meeting, the remaining WW committee (inlcuding secretary, out-going treasurer and water polo rep) met to give greater detail to the above said issues, where the pre and post Covid problems were discussed and to the reasons why the club made such losses. We were totally transparent with what had ensued and gave detailed recounts of what we experienced over a 2-3 year period. This period, as can be seen from above, was not a pleasant nor an easy period. But for the sake of the membership, we tried to keep operations as normal as possible.

Further issues contributing to teachers and coaches leaving or taking steps back (all now left):

The dissolution notice posted some 28 days before the vote, both on our pop up board in Langley (as we had no club frontage for 2 years) and social media, clearly stated that regardless of the dissolution vote, the merging process would continue. All members had access to this and thus, were aware of this. After all, we were asked, what’s in a name? Just 135 years of history!
After the dissolution vote WW exec took the decision to make advanced staffing payments to cover staffing costs until end of February, this was after being told by the SA Chair, via email (on 14th Dec), SA would take no responsibility for pool hire costs nor staffing costs after 1st Jan 2023, this was all above board and done in good faith and received in good faith and as we hadn’t merged, thus, was still WW business. This was done as the uncertainty with the merger after 1st Jan 2023, included no prior discussions about staffing, with anyone from the WW committee, nor finance. Staff were in complete and total limbo. As our treasurer was retiring on the 31st December, finances needed tying up. Payments were made on 19th Dec, after receiving and email from SA Chair clearly stating SA were not going to be responsibe for any staffing nor pool payments after 1st January. All remaining WW finance were sent across to SA (as a gift, and into Oldbury STC bank account, by this time the new SA account SHOULD have been up and running, and, being a gift, should have been grateful for every penny of WW cash received…evidently not!), who questioned why it was so little (see above detail about pre and post Covid) and reported it to SE, leading to the investigation into financial losses incurred over the past 2-3 years (not due to advanced payments made to staff). All of our accounts have been audited every year and over a 15 year period, the out-going treasurer along with out-going chair have never misplaced a penny (hence the resultant findings, there was nothing to answer for). Finance and staffing infrastructure should have been the first things discussed, agreed upon and put into place, not the last! Yes or no vote for dissolution, the issues would have been exactly the same. Advanced payments were of no concern of SA as the merger had not taken place, they had no business to interfer nor to run/report to governing body, this was a ploy just to discredit hard working people after a democratic vote did not go in the way they wanted…welcome to democracy!
‘The 10’ was a derogatory name (after a democratic vote), given to the 10 members who voted against dissolution and were blamed for the halting of the merger by the Chair of SA. Emailed letter was sent to all members, without our permission and a number of members were excluded from receiving the letter. Approaching the then current WW members in such a way as to create division was very much below the belt and very under-handed. It also clearly asked which swimmers woud be chosing SA as the first claim club, totally out of order and wrong. After recent outbursts accusing other clubs of poaching, this could also be deemed in the same light, totally uncalled for!
SE suggested, at the above mentioned meeting (4th Jan), that all payments should be returned to WW account, so that SA could take on the responsibility of making staffing payments. This was agreed and all staff returned payments, again, in good faith, with the assumption contracts were honoured, at least until after the AGM supposedly in late February 2023. As of 21st May 2023, monies are still owed for services given to SA i.e. planning time, as clearly stated on the supplied time sheets.
Key information regarding LTS was sent to various people no less than 4 times previous, inc. for the Business Plan, the info asked for the last time lay firmly with one of the Head Coaches, not WW, as by then we were all SA (communication breakdown and nothing to do with the investigation). The spreadsheet provided previously just needed updating removing the numbers who hadn’t returned after Christmas. The delay was mainly due to Marc being infected with Covid from 1st Feb through to 7th Feb, only being able to get out of bed on Sunday 5th Feb. SE knew this, the WW committee knew this, including the acting Chair (polo rep), as Marc informed everyone that was in the room, of his illness. Spreadsheets and sending other information were of little concern during this period! If SA had any interest in our day to day running, they’d have been present to see how we operated, but the silence was deafening and lack of presence pretty obvious they had no intention of seeing how we run. We kept to task and set about re-building, under-staffed, struggling for volunteers, ignored, forgotten,…but still we carried on.
There were severe staffing issues i.e. none of us were consulted, none of us were sat around a table to discuss our terms, we were told by email what the interim terms were, even though contracts were asked for and were provided (along with, for some reason, our job descriptions, which is the employers responsibility to provide, not the employee). We worked from the 1st January until the 9th February, not knowing any of these decisions, that is unacceptable in any workplace, thus, it is unacceptable in a swimming club, very poor communication at best, total incompetence at the least. As far as we were concerned, our contracts were at least going to be honoured until the AGM where a new committee was to be formed (hand picked). There were absolutely no discussions with us from 1st Jan through to 9th Feb to say otherwise, would we have worked differently, yes, very much so, we were doing usual tasks on a false pretense, but it seems it’s perfectly ok, as it’s was only WW staff. The HC should have been on parity with the other HC, whether it be the higher or lower amount, instead one coach was placed on teacher rates, with no explanation (and this is no attack on teachers, the WW teachers are some of the best around, if not the best staff in Sandwell pro-rata!) and expected to continue with same duties…a cut of nearly 50% (imagine the uproar if this was done in education). The key to success is infrastructure, without it, a club is useless, this includes finance and staffing, the basis of a business…look after it, nurture it, grow and thrive, do not take it for granted, do not screw it over, staff are a very valuable asset, they’ll walk if pushed to the brink, regardless of the ‘Promised Land!’. Mental health and stability far out-weighs bricks and mortar, anyone disagreeing should steer clear of the public.
It was also reported that during the meeting, where staff payments (on 9th Feb) were being discussed, a member of the ISG/SA committee made a comment to effect that stealing must have been involved. Not only a truly diabolical and untrue statement, it is/was libellous, underhanded and pretty much disgraceful, those within the room all knew their part in the conversation! To add, the acting chair of WW was present and having attended the meeting on 31st Jan with SE (as well as 4th Jan), plus knowing our financial situation from regular committee meetings, did not instantly refute the suggestion immediatley. But, this does depend upon the narrative being created, to allow others to be seen as the villains, suits, especially when the so-called villains are not allowed an opinion, narratives are very easy to produce.
Planning time was included on time sheets (clearly including a slot for planning time), this was excluded from January payment in one particular instance, Feb payment, again, only part paid. All should have been discussed face to face, in the open and negociated, but we were closed out of discussion. Closed shop environments are doomed to failure. Planning is the key to success in all walks of life, if it wasn’t important, teachers wouldn’t be given time out of the classroom each week to do so. Without planning and preparation the club programme is pointless, it has no direction and the improvements amongst athletes minimal, staff will have no direction and leadership and moral suffers. Working with the likes of the late, great, Fred Furniss for a good number of years, during time as County, Midland Talent and England Talent Coach, this was instilled in all who had the fortune to work with him. It is not just a case of picking a previous session from a previous cycle, it is looking at previous sessions, previous week, month, what athletes require, it is about the ability to adapt and develop plans, cycles, entire programmes if need be, it’s about knowing your athletes, team and staff…it is about evolution! For anyone not understanding these concepts, simply ask, or leave well alone and don’t interfer, or better still, become a ‘drop off’ parent or stay at home…permanently. Our successes were based on maticulous planning, again, if interest was shown, this could have been explained! Fail to Prepare, prepare to fail…prepare maticulously and prepare to succeed! The ‘Fag Packet’ coaching style of the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s have long gone!
Equity across the board was supposed to be promoted, after the dissolution meeting, our two representatives on the SA committee were removed from the WhatsApp group and the committee, this was refuted at a meeting on 31st Jan with SE. Neither member were asked to attend any subsequent meetings. A further email sent (which was leaked to us), stated that both members, who were both fully named, would not be asked to attend a particular meeting on 14th Feb, thus, in their view, and ours, were removed/excluded from the committee. The two in question would gladly confirm this, if asked. The committee should have been 50/50 or 33/33/33 and the ISG and SE should have pushed and ensured this was the case. Instead, it was a one sided whitewash, no parity, no equity.
All through the process, ISG members told our committee most of us were not allowed to sit on ISG due to conflicts of interest (nothing in the constitution states this). We were pushed aside and away, by the end, we were running on empty and quite frankly, not interested in the merger, which by then looked very much like a takeover. To add insult to injury, most of the current committee were not allowed to sit as representatives on the SA committee, we were told by one of our ISG representatives, we needed new people. Exclusion is not the key to a successful merger, it turns into a takeover. So SA Statement stating ‘more has come from the polo side than the lane swimming club’, is mainly due to none of us being ‘allowed’ to be part of any decision making, we were willing to help, but quite frankly, screwed over, kept away, as our knowledge was a threat!
We were told stronger united, louder united…in reality, we were silenced and what felt like, pushed aside and out. Not allowed to defend ourselves, we had to sit back and watch the whole show unfold with NO voice. We were told no petitions to fight for LTS, no press to fight for LTS. It was a total capitulation, we at WW wanted to fight for every one of our members. WW do not and did not capitulate, we do not/did not agree with the loss of LTS in any shape or form, we do/did not agree with SMBC decision, nor anyone else, including SE, who agreed to this!
Shoulder to shoulder we were told…ankles weren’t even reached. If you believe in something, you fight for it! It’s a pity the amount of effort to screw us over wasn’t put into fighting for the LTS membership, we’ve all let you down!
After the meeting with Ash Rai in 2018, he hinted at our staff working for SLT in teaching, as well as the competitive side coming under SLT, we said no then, we said no late in 2022, we did not change our mind, nor were we going to, the way they treated their staff was not an environment we wanted to part of and still don’t. Our representatives knew our stance from the start. Council now have LTS, Diving, it won’t be long before they also have competitive swimming…watch this space, and just like LTS, it will be a steal, another capitulation.
We were also very aware of the way our chair was treated at specific ISG meetings (early in 2021 after one meeting we withdrew our support for the ISG/merger/takeover in protest, asking for all signatures to be removed from paperwork signed), we all stand together through thick and thin, what one knows, we all know, there are/were no secrets in WW, there is no ‘I’ in team. If you want the best out of people, what could be deemed as harrassing and bullying is not the way forward, to make excuses for this behaviour (as was the case in Mid December 2022) makes you part of the problem, those that are diplomatic and look at both sides and are willing to compromise are far better people than those willing to railroad and trample good people into the ground…think about your actions, they matter, people tend not to forget, especially if the experience is a bad one, this is then relayed wherever that person/people may go or may have contact/contacts with…this is how bad reputations are created…a bad reputation takes years to shake, regardless of the ‘Promised Land!’.

Would the ’10’ have been blamed if the expected amount of funds were transfered over?
Would they have pursued the route towards SE which in turn caused an investigation?
Was all this just money driven?
Merger or takeover?
Were the 2 head coaches considered equal by SA? Judging by staffing payments, very much not, the word parity and equity were never going to be adhered too, this is now very clear!
Regardless of the ’10’s’ actions, a ‘Yes’ for dissolution (WW would still exist regardless due to triathlon, this was confirmed by an accountant, the only action to take was to resign from SE, which we did, job done), all of the above issues would still be a problem. Staffing, finance, basic infrastructure for any business, if it’s not in place, there’s going to be trouble. Lack of communication, there’s going to be trouble. Staff are valuable, keep them informed, look after them, or lose them, before it’s too late! ‘Do not screw them over’, as was the case.

If it wasn’t for the hard work and commitment, of a number of individuals (in some cases working 7 days per week), and the few volunteers who went above and beyond, (you all know who you are, we all salute you and are/were very grateful for your phenomenal commitment; we justifiably condemn the doubters and those who pass judgement on what they do not know, do not understand or have made any attempt to understand), WW would have been one of those closed businesses…but we persevered, put members first, defied the odds, why…because all members are the be all and end all of a club, from LTS to National swimmer, each and everyone as important…so we carried on…we did our best, we give it our all…until we could carry on no more!

Over a 15 year period WW rose from the ashes, 100 members, on the verge of insolvency, a team which could only muster 13 swimmers at league galas, to one of the biggest, most prosperous clubs in the Midlands, 600+ members, with a superb infrastructure of 35+, helpers, teachers and coaches. The team assembled had decades of experience developing swimmers from Learn To Swim to National Level, from club swimming to County and Midland Champions, from financial ruin to a turn over of over £140k per year. We travelled the length and breadth of the country, sometimes for one or two swimmers, but we were there as and where we could be. Our reputation grew, our performances improved and for a Borough like Sandwell we achieved what seemed like the impossible. From Division 4 to 1 in consecutive seasons 2000 to 2002 in the Nuneaton Junior League, promotion to Division 2 Arena League in 2015 (and retaining Div 2 status) after only joining 2 years previous. In 2022, 44 Worcester County medals and 18 Regional swimmers qualified, gaining 14 medals, 1 England National Qualifier and 1 British National Qualifier (more than a combined 2023 team).

We were unorthodox, we did things differently, we changed when we had to, decisions made quickly, sometimes on a daily or weekly basis, we did what we had to do to succeed in one of the most deprived Boroughs in the UK, but…we did succeed and created a large family orientated, friendly club, cost effective, affordable to all, help for those that needed help, a club that cared, a club that knew how to win, one who was gracious in defeat, a club that had no airs and graces, a club that knew its place, and this is what earnt us great respect across the Midlands for our achievements. A local coach and ex-Olympian quoted ‘If you wish to see how a Learn to Swim programme has been built, go and see Warley WASPS’. The club programme was developed over a period of 13 years, with input from GB coaches, including Russ Barber and the late Fred Furniss, we knew how to develop and produce. We look at our past, Club, County, Midland/Regional, National champions, and Olympians, teachers and coaches, coaching County, England and GB, this is a club we can all be proud to be/been a part of, no matter how big or how small. WW were certainly not perfect, and have never claimed to be, one of our mottos was open and honest, we hope that SE have found that this rings true. We catered for all…we did it OUR way, because we were/are…Warley WASPS!

The report has been completed, and gladly received, we are not able to publicise the document in full, but we will publicise the ‘Action’ part: No further action needs to be taken in relation to this investigation and I would like to thank the committee for their openness and honesty.

There was no pulling of wool over anyone’s eyes, there was certainly no lies told and certainly no evidence, regarding the finances, we have been exonerated, as well as what could be considered, misjudged and underestimated. Maybe now, after all this time, the statement first published, makes some sense. To those it has affected most and to whom the ‘investigation’ was mainly directed, those bringing these actions should at the very least, ‘apologise‘ for emailed messages regarding wool pulling and lies being told, which could be misconstrued for being accused of stealing (as was previously stated above at a particular meeting)!

Openness and honesty…two wonderful words! The whole business has been stressful, we are all devastated about leaving some 13+ years of building behind, but positions were untenable. We all made the correct decisions, either leaving or stepping back, and we all firmly stand by those decisions, we all stand by the initial statement! Unfortunately, due to actions all round, there are no real winners.

The Statement put out by SE regarding the WW workforce supporting fully the Council, SA and SE, cannot be a true representation when all WW workforce have now left the club, this was due to treatment of specific individuals from WW and accusations of ‘wool pulling’ and ‘lies’ being told regarding finance, the upset and anxiety created during this period was totally unnecessary and positions were made untenable, justification for our decisions were cemented after we received the report, there was no way we were going to be able to work with those bringing the accusations and investigation. It is also an untrue statement as we were/and still are, opposed to the removal of Learn to Swim from any club environment, whether it be in Sandwell or any other part of the country, so we do not support SMBC’s decision to so, thus we do not support SMBC nor do we support the SA upper management. There are those that owe pretty comprehensive apologies to specific individuals, three in particular i.e. the Exec.

At what point did tanks of water become more important than people? When did tanks of water warrant the silencing of opinions, especially when in favour of the larger membership (LTS)? Grassroot development is the most important part of any sport and should be supported, especially by any governing body, it is the basis in which the sport develops and grows, without it the sport fails and Sandwell swimming will become diminished as a competitive entity and will only be able to provide substandard teaching, as it currently the case.

We understand there are rumours flying around, but they are going to when you are not allowed to publicly defend yourself. We understand and know, where these rumours have come from, rumours are what they are, believe them or not, we all know what went on over the 2-3 year period, we know the hardships endured, to us, there was certainly no ‘criminal activity’, that’s pretty much laughable, as serious as the rumour is. Exonerated is all they and you need to know!

Any accusation/rumour of stealing, is quite frankly…libellous and very a very low accusation to make! Please feel free to inform us who has pushed this forward and we will pursue it further. There are rumours that a specific member from SA, early last year, told their members that the chair, would remain the same as would the head coach regardless, but again these are rumours and pretty sure that words to that effect would never be spoken, as parity and equity had always been promised.

The rumour HH were £15,000 in debt, folded, joined Oldbury STC, then within a week or so, the £15,000 debt had been paid off via a grant, we must also take with a pinch of salt, this is just hear-say, but still a rumour which is being floating around.

Telling members at AGM’s they shouldn’t be looking at our website…why? It’s a personal choice, dictating what you look at or read is another of quashing opinion, fact, choice and is a ridiculous form of sensorship…grow up! We provide valuable information from across the swimming world, something we’ve always done, we will be promoting Millennium and SwimGainz more regularly than others, but…we’ve got nothing to hide!?!

At the end of the day, we all walked away with integrity and pride intact, knowing, we did the right thing for the right reasons! When an entire workforce walks/resigns, serious questions should be asked! The old saying, you reap what you sow, and to treat people the way you want to be treated, is very apt.

All emails regarding the perfectly legal advanced payments, all letters sent to members of WW from SA after the WW dissolution meeting, every emailed thread (including exclusion email of WW members to SA meetings) sent to WW chair, treasurer, secretary and Head Coach have been forwarded to those of higher position/authority for their perusal on the matter of the merger/takeover between HH, Old and WW. It is important that no more mergers/takeovers take place when exclusion is rife and serious lessons be learnt and taken from the plight of Warley WASPS Swimming Club. No one should ever be treated the we way we have been and the way specific members have been, especially the Chair, Treasurer and our Secretary, totally unacceptable and certainly won’t be forgotten.

As we were told once in a meeting, early in 2022…members will vote with their feet! Very true and wise words spoken…! We do believe this is already the case, staff and swimmers, LTS and competitive have found new homes.

Our story has now been told…this chapter is over, the next chapter is about to be written – we need to consider that: ‘You never start from scratch, when you start with experience!’. Welcome to the new Millennium!!!!

We wish the swimmers, coaches and parents of SA good fortune for the future.

‘Swim Well, Swim Fast!’ – WASPS Workforce/Retired Chair/Retired Treasurer/Secretary/Additional Committee members

‘Surrounded by Narcissists’ by Thomas Erikson, may help you all to understand what we’ve been through!