Our aquatics program is designed to not only offer a recreation activity to the community we serve, but to provide an important life-saving skill. In ethnically-diverse communities, the youth drowning rate is 2-3 times higher than the national average.

Learning how to swim at the Club is not only a fun and healthy activity, but it helps reduce the incident of drowning amongst African American and Latino youth.

Studies indicate that parental influence is the major contributing factor to children’s ability or inability to swim. According to research, nearly 60% of African-American and Latino children are unable to swim. The key indicator in this study was not race, but family. Children from households where parents do not swim or are at-risk swimmers are 8 times as likely to be at-risk of drowning. For this reason, the Club encourages adult swim lessons and offers family swim sessions.

Swimming is one of the great joys of childhood. In Paterson and Passaic, however, there are far too few opportunities for safe, supervised water recreation. That’s why the Boys and Girls Club has continued its commitment to providing year-round aquatics programs – including swim lessons, competitive swim teams, and lifeguard training – at our two indoor pools.

The pools at the Paterson and Passaic facilities serve as training centers for lifeguard certification. This presents teenagers – including Club members – with the opportunity to qualify for being a lifeguard. Many of the teenagers that pass this rigorous written and practical tests then gain a real sense of achievement and move on to their first-ever job.