Dear Parents and Swimmers of Mighty Marlins,

We are asking for a vote of no confidence from everyone against the current board for lack of transparency and communication as well as unprofessional and unethical business practices. The actions the board have taken recently are not in the best interests of the Mighty Marlins. Most importantly, the current actions of the board will have long-lasting negative effects on the Mighty Marlins from team growth, future meets, and the overall outside perspective of the Mighty Marlins. It is important to remind everyone of the goals of the Mighty Marlins as outlined on the website:

•  Have a Quality Year-Round Program that:
  •  Provides a fun and rewarding experience for swimmers at all levels and ages.
  • Provides a wholesome atmosphere for development of good health and fitness, commitment towards excellence, and self-confidence.
  • Provides encouragement for swimmers to strive to improve and achieve as much as possible in swimming.
  • Provides guidance for setting goals geared towards the swimmer's personal success, and helping the swimmer to understand that it takes a commitment of time and energy to be your best at swimming.
  • Provides an environment for the swimmers to form friendships and have an enjoyable competitive swimming experience.
  • Provides opportunities for the swimmers to participate with other MMSC swimmers in community service projects and other recreational activities.  
• Keep the Cost as Low as Possible through:
  • Fundraising
  • Parent Involvement  
• Maintain Flexibility in/for:
  • Practice Schedule
  • Multi-sport Athletes

As we all knew, Kirby was retiring and has now retired. We all expected and we were preparing for a new coaching staff. We were NOT expecting the board to completely ignore the in-house experience that we had in Coach Josh and not renew his contract, effectively firing him. Coach Josh has been with the Mighty Marlins for 15+ years and has over 25 years of experience coaching. Instead of maintaining the culture that Kirby and Josh built, the board decided to bring in a team of coaches that combined do not have 15 years of coaching experience between three different coaches. With that coaching staff how are we going to “Have a Quality Year-Round Program” if we do not have the quality of coaches that have become the standard?

The board chose a coaching team with a new head coach that has been blindsided and catfished into a head coaching position that was not what he anticipated at all. The board acted in a way that would nullify any contract in a court of law. The board did not act in Good Faith, one of the most important standards to a legally binding contract. This is unprofessional, unethical, and the exact opposite on how to run a business. The new head coach, Andrew, while qualified and knowledgeable, was looking forward to having the 25+ years that Coach Josh was going to bring to support him. Now Coach Andrew has a very inexperienced coaching staff and an unprofessional and unethical board. One Coach decided to not renew their contract and stand up against the Board because of their recent decisions. They stood up for what was right, that is integrity and honor. Coach Andrew acted with integrity and composure reaching out to Coach Josh and Kirby and being transparent about what he was told by the board upon signing the contract and how he felt upon finding out what actually happened. Due to the lack of communication and transparency of the board, the board will not tell us what the coaching staff looks like next year. Here is the breakdown. 

We have Coach Andrew as Head Coach who has the experience and qualifications to be a Head Coach but is still young in his career. We have an Assistant Coach, name not to be mentioned out of respect for privacy because they were also not fully aware of what they were walking into, with very little experience, maybe 2-3 years, and per the coaching standards is not qualified to be an Assistant Coach. The new Assistant Coach is still taking classes and was planning on only six hours a week of their time spent coaching the “littles”. We have all seen how much time Coach Kirby and Coach Josh spends on the pool deck at practices and meets, it is way more than six hours. We have another Coach, name not to be mentioned out of respect for privacy because they were also not fully aware of what they were walking into, that is coming on for six hours a week to also coach the “littles” that has no qualifications and no experience whatsoever. This leaves the "middles" and the "bigs" to be coached alone by Coach Andrew. This is NOT a full coaching staff! This is NOT an experienced coaching staff! The board has gutted the Mighty Marlins chances for continued success by choosing this path!

As Mighty Marlins, we have always considered ourselves to be a family. Since the new president and vice president have come onto the board that mentality has shifted. Swimmers, parents, and coaches have noticed. The shift from a family mentality to a more cut-throat is not conducive to a “wholesome atmosphere” or providing “an environment for the swimmers to form friendship and have an enjoyable competitive swimming experience” both are part of our goals. Coach Josh was hoping to work on that in tandem with whoever became part of the coaching staff and looking forward to it! Creating more team building activities and continuing to promote older swimmers to help the younger swimmers and be team leaders and role models.

I keep saying “the board” but who made this decision? It was NOT the whole board. The email stated, “The Board has spent a tremendous amount of time thinking through these decisions, always coming back to one question: What is best for our swimmers?” This implies all members of the board. This is NOT true! Two of the board members were not present during this, and at this point it is unclear who is on the board! We have an “acting” secretary, when did this happen? When was that voted on? We have asked and are waiting for minutes from the meetings regarding coaching and other major decisions. The President does not have access to them. How is this possible? A professional and ethical board would have the minutes uploaded and/or created in a shared drive. This is unprofessional, unethical, and concerning. This is not the way a board should be running a non-profit. The fault lies with the President and the Vice President. They should be allowing all the board members to be present and accountable in their duties during all board meetings. The minutes should be public to ALL members of the Mighty Marlins. The board meetings should be accessible to attend, video or in-person, to ALL members of the Mighty Marlins. This would continue to build a culture of family and team. This would create transparency and communication. Currently, we have no transparency and zero communication from the board. Parents have reached out privately to board members and have been met with silence. We have had to resort to social media to get an underwhelming answer from the president. “The secretary is out of town”, “I don't have immediate access to them [the minutes].” That is unacceptable!

When Kirby was informed about the direction he board took he was “completely surprised”. The board’s decision went against what Kirby understood to be happening. The board went back on their word. If they are willing to do that to Kirby and Kirby’s legacy, it is hard to trust the board with anything they say or do. Given the board’s ability to go back on their word, to gaslight the future coaching staff, the lack of communication and transparency it is acceptable to ask and raise the question of finances. We as members put a lot of money, time and resources into the Mighty Marlins Swim Club. One of the goals is to “Keep the Cost as Low as Possible.” The Mighty Marlins have been very successful with that goal through mandatory volunteer hours, reducing the number of extra fees, and offering scholarships for those who need it. Without this there are members of this team that would not be able to let their kids be a part of the Mighty Marlins. Due to a lack of transparency and communication from the board, we have no idea how the money is being used or how much is coming from where and whom. We have no idea where it is going and how the money is being allocated. Is it to equipment? Salaries? Ribbons and prizes? Incoming donations? While specifics are not necessary an overview should be provided. The board has proven they will say one thing and do the exact opposite. So, what if we get a donation and it is understood by the donor that it is to be used for something in particular? Is that donation really being used that way? For example, the Tulalip Tribe gave us a donation, and we do not know how or even if the money was used. This does not engender trust in the board at all. If the participants of the Mighty Marlins were told “x-percentage went to A and y-percentage went to B” that would create trust, transparency, and accountability for our donors as well. The lack of transparency and communication about financial decisions and other major decisions calls into question the integrity, honor, reliability, professionalism, and ethics of this current board. It shows a lack of understanding of how businesses should be run. This is grounds for dismissal on its own. The board has already upended the coaching and the culture of the Mighty Marlins in one fell swoop. Taking something that has clearly been successful in producing swimmers to be life-long athletes at all levels from recreational to the Olympic trials.

The Mighty Marlins have in the past continued a culture of happy swimmers who want to work, do their best, and motivate other swimmers to do the same. If the current board stays as it is what does the future of the Mighty Marlins look like? Not so great. Head Coaches from other teams have reached out to Coach Josh expressing their concern over the recent decisions. It has been said frequently that a portion of the Mighty Marlins’ ability to stay financially afloat is through hosted meets and having other teams in the area attend our hosted meets. Other teams will be questioning whether they want to spend their money to promote a team that is willing to catfish coaches into coaching for them and not put the needs of their swimmers first. The MPHS pool has heard about the recent decisions of the board and are now questioning and reconsidering whether to promote and advertise the Mighty Marlins as a reputable swimming club! That is a major pipeline of incoming swimmers, and it is at stake! The reputation of the Mighty Marlins is at stake! The very future of the Mighty Marlins is at stake! The unethical and unprofessional actions of the board will cause new swimmers to go elsewhere. It will cause other swimming teams not to invite us to meets, reducing opportunities for the swimmers on the Mighty Marlins. It will cause other teams to not come to our hosted meets. It will cause current swimmers to leave. Effectively, with the current board the Mighty Marlins have knee capped the team. 

These past few days we have had parents of swimmers, past and present, we have had officials, we have had Coaches from this team and others, we have had swimmers all speak up against the actions of the board. We have been lied to. We have been betrayed. We have been told that many parents were consulted. This is NOT true. We have been told that the whole board was part of the decisions recently made. This is NOT true.

              It is time for this to stop. It is time for transparency and communication. It is time to be MIGHTY again! If anything in this letter concerns you from the lack of transparency and communication to the coaching changes, to the impending future of the Mighty Marlins, we encourage you to sign the petition for a vote of no confidence against the board. We would encourage everyone to ask their swimmers as well to sign. The Mighty Marlins are a Team and Family, and we should be heard as a Team and a Family. Do not let the fate of the Mighty Marlins be made behind closed doors and by only select members of an unprofessional and unethical board.

Thank you for reading and taking this into consideration and most importantly CHOOSE TO STAY MIGHTY!!