Families, unfortunately, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the season for Norfolk Silver Dolphins. If you paid by credit/debit card, I will be issuing refunds back to your card this weekend. If you do not see a credit back after Friday, 9/23/22, please email me at [email protected].

Why? 

There are several reasons we could not continue, but here are the main deciding factors:

• It costs approximately $25,000 to run a complete season from September to March each year. This covers pool fees, coach’s pay, insurance, etc. In order to break-even, we would need approximately 75 swimmers registered. We only received 40 this year. We did extra outreach by sharing the flyer on Facebook groups, every elementary, middle, and high school principal and their respective PTA, and posted flyers all over. Still, we could not get the numbers we need to have a season.
  • Before the pandemic, the total cost was closer to $15,000 because we were leveraging the Norfolk Rec Center pools for free. During the pandemic (2021-22 season), we were provided no pool time due to staffing and pool repair issues at all rec centers. This year, we were offered worse practice schedules not feasible to most families.
• Many parents find competition important for their swimmers as part of the sport and we have been unable to secure reliable competition this season. In July, we reached out to Hampton Sharks, Virginia Beach Rec Center teams, Old Dominion Aquatic Club (ODAC), and others without success.
  • Before the pandemic, we competed with swim teams in Hampton, Poquoson, and other neighboring cities; however, all have been unable to restart their respective swim teams. We were also part of the Virginia Commonwealth Swim League (VCSL) which also shut down.

What’s next?

We’re not giving up! There is still a great opportunity for swim team(s) in Norfolk for our youth, especially considering we have dedicated high school swim teams through the public schools. We are looking at reconfiguring our approach and seeing what opportunities we can leverage to reduce costs and find competition. If you want to help by volunteering on our board, please email us at [email protected] to let us know. 

Thank you very much for registering this year and providing your support. We are disappointed we can’t see you at the pool but are hopeful we can be successful in the near future.

Respectfully, 

Matt Leech, President

434-841-9000