Meeting regarding creation of Shelley High School swim team, tomorrow

SHELLEY — Parents and students who support creating a Shelley High School swim team are invited to voice their interest tomorrow, March 31.

Some parents and students have begun working on creating a Shelley High School swim team. To do that, they need to show the school board that there is enough interest in the community to warrant creating a swim team. Anyone who would like to see a Russet swim team should go to the March 31 meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Shelley High School library and voice their support.

“Right now, we are the only 4A school in our entire regional area that does not have a swim team. But we want to fill that void,” Melissa Hersley told Community Pioneer.

Hersley is the College and Career Advisor at Shelley High School who is spearheading the movement to create a swim team.

“I’ve had students come to me and other parents come to me and teachers and coaches and people who have all approached me,” Hersley said. “My daughter swims. And has swum since she was five. As soon as she was finished with the junior high program that the (Idaho Falls) Aquatic Center puts on — it only goes up to eighth grade — she wanted to be part of a swim team, but there isn’t one.”

Hersley explained that at tomorrows meeting, she will do her best to answer questions about the potential swim team, but the main purpose of the meeting is to see if there is enough support from the community for the school board to justify creating it.

“There’s a lot of really talented athletes in our area that are swimmers,” She said.

She also said there are two people who have said they would be willing to coach a Shelley High School swim team. Tia Rickabaugh and John Johnson.

“(Tia) as a former coach, is willing to coach for us. She said, ‘we will not cut any swimmers.’ She is willing to teach every kid from the ground up,” Hersley said.

Johnson is the head coach for the Spartans, a junior high level swim team at the Idaho Falls Aquatic Center.

“He also has a lot of experience and knowledge,” Hersley said. “He is highly loved and adored by anyone who has been on the Spartans.”

Hersley explained that because they are in the preliminary stages of creating the swim team, they don’t know exactly how much it will cost. She said they also still need to work out scheduling with the 10 other swim teams that utilize the Aquatic Center for swim practice. That will all be figured out after tomorrow’s meeting if there is enough support.

“We hare hopeful, and I am excited at the potential because I would like to see these kids swim,” Hersley said.