Financial Assistance Program

*Submit your application before November 1st to be considered for the Winter sessions of the SJAC Swim School and Team*

At SJAC and NL Aquatic Center, we believe swimming is a life skill and that all individuals should be given the ability to achieve skills in the water.  Sadly, those most at risk for drowning come from the communities and ethnicities with lower socioeconomic demographics.  Diversity improves every aspect of our team, our staff, and our community.  To give more people access to the lifesaving skill of swimming, and to further diversity in the sport of swimming, we have created our SJAC Financial Assistance Program.

Financial Assistance for the SJAC Swim School and the SJAC Swim Team is available to individuals and families who meet the eligibility requirements.  To apply, please fill out the application below.  If deemed eligible, assistance will be provided with 25% to 50% discounts on session fees.  Payment plans for the remaining fees are available upon request.

All swimmers must attend a free evaluation or tryout to determine proper group placement.  To schedule an evaluation, please contact lessons@sjacswimming.com.  For more information about scholarships or to check on an application, email scholarships@nlaquatics.com.

*****Please note that funds received from financial assistance are only applied to basic team fees or the swim lessons. Financial assistance cannot be applied to an NL Aquatics membership, registration fees and/or meet fees, etc. 

Click the links below for additional information regarding our Swim Lesson and Swim Team programs including important dates, schedules and registration…

SJAC Swim School Program

SJAC Swim School Important Dates

SJAC Swim Team

SJAC Swim Team – Session Dates and Practice Schedule

Here are some sobering statistics:

  • One in five American’s who die from drowning are children 14 and younger.
  • Children ages 1 – 4 have the highest drowning rates.
  • Nearly 80% of Americans who die from drowning are male.
  • Black children 5 – 19 drown at rates 5.5 times higher than white children in pools.
  • Black children 11-12 drown in pools at rates 10 times those of whites.
  • As stated in research by Irwin, Irwin, Ryan and Drayer (2009) in testing swimming aptitude, they found that 64% of African American, 45% Hispanic/Latinx children and 40% for Caucasian children have no/low swimming ability (Irwin et al., 2009).
  • If parents have no/low swimming ability, there is also a high likelihood their children will not have swimming skills (Irwin et. al, 2009). Within this research, 78% of African American families reported significantly higher numbers than (62%) Hispanic/Latinx and (67%) Caucasian children
  • Research by Ito (2014) found that African American and Hispanic/Latinx participants reported that they were significantly less skilled or comfortable in the pool and are less likely to come from a home that regularly exercises, can swim, or encourages swimming as compared to White and Asian participants.
  • Similarly, multiple researchers have recently reported that African American and Hispanic/Latino children are six times more likely to come from a family in which neither parent can swim (American Red Cross, 2018; Irwin et al., 2009).
  • Young children ages 1-5 years old and African American males ages 5-19 years old were significantly higher than any other population to drown (Gilchrist & Parker, 2014)
  • African American youth are more likely to drown in public pools, (47%) when compared with White non-Hispanic (33%) and Hispanic/Latinx populations (12%) (Saluja, Brenner, Trumble, Smith, Schroeder & Cox, 2006).
  • Although, the Hispanic/ Latinx populations drown in public pools at a lower rate as indicated above, the drowning rates for Hispanic males aged 15 to 24 years were 2 to 5 times greater than among White males, but had lower rates compared with Black non-Hispanic males of comparable age (Gilchrist & Parker, 2014; Saluja, et. al, 2006).
  • Drowning rates in public pools are highest among African American males ages 11-12 years old at 10 times the rate of white children in the same age range (CDC, 2014).

Apply Here!