Board Governed Club

Non-Profit Status

The Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) extends tax exempt benefits to organizations formed for religious, charitable, literary, scientific or educational purposes (swim teams fall under this purpose). If a corporation is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3), not only is it free from paying taxes on income, but people and organizations who contribute to the nonprofit corporation can take a tax deduction for their contributions.

Swim teams organized as non-profit corporations must be governed by a board of directors. In some cases, this board consists of swim team parents, although other interested and willing volunteers could also serve on the board. Typically, the head coach serves as the chief executive with prime responsibility for managing day-to-day “dry-side” operations and total responsibility for developing and leading the swimming or “wet-side” of the program. In some small team situations, volunteer officers may manage the day-to-day business of the organization.

GETTING STARTED

If you are considering having a board owned club, there is much advance preparation and planning that needs to be done. Remember, you will be operating a business, not just coaching a swimming team.

The first step is to understand the advantages of a board governed club. Make sure the board can handle the task: emotionally, physically, socially and financially, before beginning. Be sure to consider family involvement and obligations.

Below is some information with step-by-step instructions to get you started.

Contracts, Business Plans, & Structure

This section contains information on four of the basic elements you need to understand to run a privately owned business.

Contracts
Writing a business plan
Choosing your corporate structure

Booster Clubs & Volunteerism

Running a club includes bringing in others around to help. This section explains some of your options.

Parent volunteers
Establishing a booster club

Disadvantages

Turnover of leadership often leads to lack of continuity in organizational vision and purpose.
Parent directors often do not understand the role of a Board and tend to micromanage the staff and organization.
Young and/or inexperienced head coaches sometimes struggle with successfully fulfilling the CEO responsibilities.
Tend to be somewhat reliant on fundraising revenue to meet resource needs.
Subject to more government regulation than proprietorship's or partnership's.
Property and assets transferred to corporation must stay there; if the corporation ends, assets must go to another nonprofit.

The applicant must send an email to the LSC Registrar to begin the process. The LSC will assist the applicant with membership requirements. To determine your zone/LSC/registrar, please view the  LSC Zone Map.
Work with the LSC Registrar on the club's name and code. Choose something fun! Both must be approved by the LSC to avoid conflicts with other clubs in the LSC. The code must be 1-5 alphanumerical characters. This will be validated by the LSC before moving forward in the process.

A Head Coach must have either:

A minimum of four years of head swimming coach experience at a USA Swimming club; or
Alternatively, in calculating the required four years of experience, USA Swimming may accept head swim coach experience coaching a YMCA team, a college/university program, or other comparable institution that owns a club team. At its sole discretion, USA Swimming may require additional education based on the coach’s experience*; or
*Note: High school and summer league coaching experience does not qualify as relevant experience for this section.
A minimum of two consecutive years of swim coaching experience with completion of the following within USA Swimming University:
- American Development Model – Age Group or Senior
- Head Coach Certification (Bronze Level)
- Two Legacy Coaching Courses – Jon Urbanchek and one of choice

A key component of the new club requirements is coach certification and education. All coach members of USA Swimming must meet the safety certification requirements and basic education requirements.

Full Name and USA Swimming Member ID Number
USA Swimming Background Check
USA Swimming Athlete Protection Training

Safety Requirements

The head coach must meet current safety requirements in CPR and Safety Training for Swim Coaches (or Lifeguard Training equivalency).

Education

Head Coaches of new clubs must meet additional education requirements. Head Coach members of new clubs must complete:

Welcome to USA Swimming;
Quality Coaching Framework; and
CORE*

*Coaches grandfathered out of Foundations of Coaching still need to complete all 5 modules of CORE as the Head Coach of a new club.

Additionally, the following two non-athlete members must take the Club Leadership and Business Management (CLBMS) 101 online course according to club type:

Board Owned: Head Coach and Board President (or Board President’s designee).

Secure a Federal Tax ID number, set up the club business. Items may include operations manuals, bylaws, articles of incorporation, and register your club(business) with the secretary of state. Etc. This can be done earlier in the process and consider hiring an attorney and accountant to guide you in the set-up of your legal and financial operations.

This is done separately from the LSC Registrar. Please consult a local attorney or CPA for advice on setting up your legal entity in compliance with federal, state, or local laws. The new club must have an EIN to complete the online portion of the application.

Once the applicant and all other members on the application are in good standing and have completed all the education requirements The LSC Registrar will request the application to be released to the applying club.

Please secure a facility for your club and address all relevant legal considerations in any pool contract before signing. Either this form or a formal facility contract is required and must be uploaded as part of your online application. The Form is less formal and non-binding and is used as information to verify that you have a location for your club. A separate Facility Use Confirmation Form must be completed for each facility your team plans to use.

This step can be done earlier in the process, and will be verified during the review.

Additionally Establish a safety action plan for each facility that is being used (including pools used for meets only). Familiarize yourself with risk management and insurance issues. (Safety/Loss Control Manual, Insurance Coverage FAQ.) A Safety Action Plan also includes what the coach’s role is in the emergency.

The applicant must complete all items below, then upload and submit each item in the online application. These items can be done prior to requesting application but must be loaded up in the online application.

Strategic Plan

Club Strategic Plans are like road maps: it’s possible to start without one, but that will only increase the odds of getting lost along the way. Great clubs have a plan, and as something they can guide them or go back to when needed. Here is information to get you started and a template to use.

Head Coach & Key Leader Information

In the online application, the Head Coach should upload their coaching résumé. Additionally, the club must identify another non-athlete adult—such as a board member or board president—who is a USA Swimming Non-Athlete Member, has completed the CLBMS 101 course, and works closely with the Head Coach in the operation or ownership of the club. Please use this template to provide information about this key leader who supports the club’s vision, strategy, and overall success.

First Year Budget

A first-year budget is essential to manage incoming revenue, set financial goals, and build fiscal confidence and responsibility from day one. Here is some more information on how to get started with your budget. New clubs will be able to upload documents, pdf’s an excel file as needed.

Team Handbook

Establish training schedules, group requirements, team policies, including information about MAAPP, Code of Conduct for Coaches, Athletes and Parents and other important policies. Please consider the values and characteristics of your club.

Once the application materials are submitted to USA Swimming, staff will review the documents. If any further steps or adjustments are required, the applicant will be notified along with the LSC Registrar. After all documentation is completed, a USA staff member will conduct an interview with the Head Coach and other key personnel as needed, and will approve the application if all requirements are met.

If approved, both the applicant and the LSC will be notified.

The applicant will need to access their SWIMS account (log in on the front page of the USA Swimming website) to pay the New Club Fee. (This includes both the USA Swimming Fee and LSC Fee and can be found in the “Shopping Cart”.) This step will complete the new club application process.

Once approved, your club will be eligible for insurance. USA Swimming offers its members two forms of insurance: liability and accident insurance. These insurance policies are aimed at providing USA Swimming members with peace of mind and protection. For more information email riskmanagement@usaswimming.org.

Register all athletes with USA Swimming and conduct Racing Start Certification for all swimmers. Work with your LSC Registrar to get your swimmers registered.

Additional Staffing + Safe Sport Best Practices:
- All board members of non-profit/board owned clubs need to become members of USA Swimming. As the board grows, please make sure to add them to club roster as NON-ATHLETE OTHER members.
- Hire, train, and be sure that all staff meet the requirements for coach membership in USA Swimming (coach safety, educational, and background screen requirements). Be sure to follow hiring practice guidelines established by USA Swimming. Check out the Club Toolkit to get started
- All USA Swimming member clubs are encouraged but not required to designate an adult member as the Safe Sport Coordinator. The purpose of this individual is to identify, plan, and execute efforts to raise awareness for Safe Sport within the club. It is recommended that this individual be someone other than the Head Coach or Club Owner.
- Become a Safe Sport Recognized! Recognized clubs earn a badge to display on their website, and these clubs will be designated as Safe Sport recognized in USA Swimming’s Find-a-Team online search tool. Become recognized and demonstrate your team’s commitment to safeguarding your athletes and all participants! Learn more by emailing SSRP@usaswimming.org.

It's time to advertise, publicize and conduct tryouts. Don’t forget to use the free marketing toolkit.

Take advantage of bulk pricing, once your club is approved, you can find bulk pricing in your SWIMS account, under education tab > club certification purchase.

Our club membership program gives you access to insurance protection, tools to manage your program, training resources for coaches, and much more. USA Swimming offers monthly coach education as well as our USA Swimming University, where coaches and staff can professionally develop into world-class coaches when it’s convenient for them. Additionally, USA Swimming is “athlete-first” centered offering coaches and athletes’ opportunities to grow and develop at a pace that works for each club, coach and athlete. Have fun! You are making a difference everyday!

Questions?

We recommend that you review all of the material in this section before submitting your application.  If you have any questions, please contact your Local Swim Committee (LSC) Registration Chair.

Non-Profit/Board Governed

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