East Carolina Aquatics

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An Analysis of East Carolina Aquatics
East Carolina Aquatics is a non-profit swim club that is part of US Swimming. This paper will examine East Carolina Aquatics as an organization and examine the strengths and weaknesses of its organizational model. Recommendations of potential changes in the organizational model will be made based on this examination.
History and Organization
East Carolina Aquatics was founded in 1968 in Greenville, North Carolina as a year-round competitive swim team. (www.swimeca.org, 2017) Originally named the Greenville Swim Club, the club changed its name to East Carolina Aquatics in 2013 as it expanded to other sites in Eastern North Carolina. Today East Carolina Aquatics is one of the top year-round competitive …show more content…

The team is divided into groups based on both ability and location. This presents challenges to the team. Robbins and Judge state that “a team’s performance depends in part on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of individual members”. (Robbins and Judge, 2017) The abilities and goals of a 5-year-old just starting out vary greatly from the senior in high school that is trying to earn a college scholarship. The team must rely on coaches to help swimmers achieve their goals in the water no matter the level of the …show more content…

Robbins and Judge talk extensively about motivating staff through pay and other benefits. (Robbins and Judge, 2017). Since these board members do not receive monetary compensation, they must be motivated to serve by other factors. McClelland’s theory of needs explains the motivation of board members in the following way (Robbins and Judge, 2017):
• The need for achievement: Board members want to see their children succeed in the pool. Being on the board is a way to make that happen
• The need for power: Board members are driven to oversee any group they are involved with including the swim team
• Need for affiliation: Board member see being on the board as the best way to establish relationships with other parents
If the team can produce parents with these motivations to serve, the board should continue to thrive.
Communication Communication is a challenge for East Carolina Aquatics. With branches in six different locations, it is difficult to get messages to the entire team in a manner that is read by all. The team uses a mixture of emails, website postings, and social media updates to get information out to the