Photo by Whitehorse Star
LEGAL WRANGLE CONCLUDES – Swimmer Adrian Robinson is seen at a swim meet in April 2015.
Swim club, family resolve their differences
A suit by a local swim club against a family has been settled out of court.
A suit by a local swim club against a family has been settled out of court.
The $4,897 claim was filed in small claims court by the Whitehorse Glacier Bears on Dec. 29, 2016 against the family of Adrian and Riana Robinson.
Both parties settled for a confidential amount, and the suit was formerly withdrawn Monday.
“The parties came up with an amicable solution that worked for both parties,” Graham Lang, the lawyer for the Robinson family, said in an interview Monday.
“It’s common for these types of claims where you get talking and a solution presents itself.”
“We’re happy that that part is over,” George Harvey, president of the Glacier Bears, said today.
“It’s really about the kids in the pool, so this is kind of a distraction.”
The claim alleged that the family had failed to pay their full fees and fulfill volunteer commitments.
These obligations include helping with the 52 bingos the club hosts every year, which Harvey says help to lower fees for club members.
“There’s lots of volunteers that are doing well beyond what would be the minimum,” said Harvey.
“Some of them are doing 30 to 40 hours a month of work to keep their family and their swimmers in the pool.”
On Jan. 13, the Robinsons responded, denying the claim.
The Robinsons’ son Adrian is an elite swimmer, which meant he had higher fees and greater volunteer commitments. He was one of five swimmers in this group out of a total 145 club swimmers.
According to the claim, he was also given greater access to the club’s head coach and granted more pool time.
Harvey said this could amount to 600 to 700 hours yearly in the pool, and even more during game seasons.
The claim stressed that the family was aware of these fee and volunteer requirements because Adrian had been swimming with them for the past six years.
The Robinsons now live in Botswana and were in the process of moving when the claim was filed. Adrian is still a successful swimmer.
“I understand he’s an elite swimmer, and it looks like he’s tapped for the Botswana national team,” said Lang.
Harvey said he is glad the claim has been settled.
“It’s all about the community,” he said.
“The biggest thing is getting back to running the club.”
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Comments (2)
Up 11 Down 0
SwimParent on Feb 8, 2017 at 5:43 pm
The swim club did not make public any information from this case.....it was picked up by a news reporter surfing through the Yukon court case files. The paper published the swimmers name and all other details to hook in the reader and sell papers like they're trained to do, so no-one is to blame here for exposing this to the public .......but the lessons learned here should be that people (swim parents) should take responsibility for their themselves and what's expected of them and such things wouldn't get raked through the mud and media.
Up 13 Down 11
Lisa on Feb 7, 2017 at 5:26 pm
I'm glad to hear it was resolved. However, it's very sad that the athlete's name had to be DRAGGED though the mud in all of this. As a minor, I feel the club should not have used his name as they did. The board and management should be ashamed of that action. I understand the bill needed to be paid, but it could have been done without publicly demeaning a minor athlete. If it's truly about "the kids in the pool" then keep it as such.