Statements
Mission
Mission Statement
It is the Nashville Dolphins' mission to improve the health and quality of life for children and adults with special needs and combat the alarmingly high statistic of drowning deaths. The Nashville Dolphins provide adaptive aquatic lessons ranging from water safety and survival through competitive swim team programming for participants at no cost. In addition, we empower our swimmers to experience the joy and pride of being a lifetime member of the Nashville Dolphins family. Our programs aim to enhance the quality, health, and safety of the daily lives of both our participants and their family members, within a safe and socially supportive community environment.
Background
The Nashville Dolphins started in 2003 when a swimmer with Down syndrome wanted to improve her swimming skills in order to compete in Special Olympics and our founder, Beth Scruggs, was willing to help. More swimmers heard about what she was doing and wanted to join, so more volunteers were recruited, and a little team was born. Today we provide year-round swimming opportunities to over 330 children and adults with disabilities, ranging from beginners to accomplished swim team competitors. There is no cost to any participant to join any of our programs and because we have no 'age out' policy, we will only continue to grow. The health benefits our programs provide to all of our participants are irreplaceable. The Nashville Dolphin Swim Team now has 110 members and we offer practices twice a week, year-round. The team competes in Special Olympics meets locally and regionally. Our Junior Dolphin team of 18 members practice once a week. These swimmers know how to swim but are learning the basic strokes and how to follow directions from a coach with the goal of one day joining the swim team. Our Future Dolphin swim lesson program offers individual swim lessons to over 220 children and adults with special needs. We employ experienced swim instructors to work in the pool with the students alongside our volunteers. All instruction is individualized to the student's abilities and needs. Our volunteers agree they get more out of volunteering than they give and learn as much or more from our swimmers as our swimmers learn from them. Our volunteers love what they do and return year after year. The social life we provide for our participants is equally as important as the swim training and health benefits. Opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities diminish greatly after the age of 21. Our parties, trips, outings, practices, and meets provide a social life and lots and lots of friends for all. Our goal is to continue to improve our services and accommodate all participants who wish to join in the fun.
Impact
The Nashville Dolphins first began in 2003 with just a handful of participants who wanted to improve their swimming skills. We have grown steadily through the years and now have over 330 participants from one-year-old beginners to accomplished swim team competitors in our programs. For the first ten years, our swim team's practices were limited to the space and time donated by the Gordon Jewish Community Center. We have added weekly practices at Ensworth High School, The Centennial Sportsplex, and the Brentwood Swim and Tennis Club. More swimmers are now practicing with more consistency. We have well over 200 volunteers throughout the year who help with coaching, swim instruction, social activities, and swim meet competitions. The Dolphin Swim Team Members not only improve their swimming skills and build their endurance at practices, but they also enjoy enormous health benefits from exercising. Typically, opportunities for adults with intellectual disabilities diminish greatly after they reach the age of 21. Many stay home alone during the day while their parents work and become sedentary and often overweight. Swimming has the ability to work the body without the harsh impact on joints or muscles, increases muscle tone and strength, improves flexibility, and strengthens the heart. There is no reason for children and adults with intellectual disabilities to be overweight, unhealthy, or lonely. We are changing all of that in our swimmers! Our Junior Dolphin classes are for intermediate swimmers. We work on improving their swimming skills as well as teach them to take direction from a coach on deck so one day they can join the swim team. The Future Dolphins Program was created in order to give beginner swimmers with disabilities the opportunity to learn to swim at no cost to their parents. Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death in children with special needs and learning to swim is the only way to prevent drowning. Children with disabilities require one on one attention in a pool for many reasons, the most important being safety. Private swim lessons are expensive (typically $50 for one 30 minute lesson) and not an option for many families. The classes are held at the Centennial Sportsplex, The Gordon Jewish Community Center, and Ensworth High School. These classes are a win, win because with each session, not only are over 220 children receiving free swim lessons, but our volunteers are learning how to work with children who have special needs. In July of 2012, we applied for non-profit status. In June 2013 we were approved! We now have a Board of Directors with the direction and passion to build a self-sustaining foundation that can continue to serve the community of people with disabilities for many years to come. Our major goal for the current year is to ensure adequate funding for pool space rental and to provide leadership and staffing to guarantee this program's future sustainability. Specifically, we seek funding to continue to allow swimmers to participate at no cost to them, increase pool space to be able to serve more athletes at different times, and in additional locations.
Needs
The greatest need of the Nashville Dolphins is for funding that will sustain the program so we can continue to provide our services at no cost to the participants and give individuals the opportunity to learn the life skill of swimming. Our major goal for the current year is to ensure adequate funding and provide leadership and staffing to guarantee sustainability. An overview of funding needs includes support to: continue to allow swimmers to participate at no cost, increase pool space to be able to serve more athletes, work on curriculum, assessments, and training for volunteers and staff. Presently some facilities donate space, but we now rent most of our pool space. Indoor pool space is limited. Currently, all of our classes are full and we have a 350+ waiting list.
CEO Statement
I first learned about the Nashville Dolphins in 2009 while coaching The Brentwood Swim and Tennis Club summer league swim team. We had several Nashville Dolphins who were on our team. I helped raise funds for the Dolphins by hosting a swim-a-thon each year at our pool. Soon after, I became a lead instructor and have not looked back! I joined the Dolphins Staff full-time in October of 2020 and am honored to be the head swim coach and Executive Director for this amazing organization. I am extremely proud of where the Dolphins are today.
We now have over 110 active participants on our swim team who have the opportunity to practice two times a week, travel to away swim meets as well as participate in 4 local meets per year and participate in Special Olympics. They enjoy attending several team events each year that we host including the Dolphins Prom, pool party, movie outings, etc. They are all life-long friends who regularly enjoy each other's company outside of Dolphin events.
We now have a learn to swim program with over 220 students which are dedicated to not only teaching the skills of swimming but affords the participants lifesaving drown proofing skills. Our Swim School staff has a wide range of experience, including occupational therapists, schoolteachers, nurses, musicians, entrepreneurs, and swim team coaches, and we are truly fortunate to have these talented and dedicated professionals. All our lead instructors are certified in Swim Angelfish, which is a nationally recognized adaptive aquatic certification program.
We have built strong relationships with many local facilities that allow us to utilize their pools, and we remain grateful for their generosity and kindness.
We continue to have extremely valuable and loyal support from our board of directors, many of whom have been around since the beginning of the organization. We also have a strong young professional board of directors who are invaluable in their contributions to our fundraising events.
Being a part of this extraordinary program has been one of the most rewarding parts of my life. I am happy to be a Nashville Dolphin!
Board Chair Statement
It has been a truly rewarding experience to have served on the board of Dolphin Aquatics along with so many talented and insightful board members. The enthusiasm of the volunteers, coaches, instructors, and staff is infectious and the support of the very generous Nashville community has been humbling. The success of the program is due in no small part to Beth Scruggs. Beth's dedication and vision for the team have brought it to where it is today. From the team's inception, her creativity, hard work, and perseverance have produced a solid program that we know will be around for years to come.I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with such a wonderful program which offers the opportunity to the thousands of people, young and old, in the greater Middle Tennessee area to enjoy the benefits of participating in a program that builds self-esteem, encourages a healthy lifestyle and offers life-long friendships to participants and their families. Wes Williams
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Human Services - Developmentally Disabled Services/Centers |
| Secondary Category: | Recreation & Sports - Special Olympics |
| Tertiary Category: | Health Care - Health (General and Financing) |
Areas Served
Dolphins swimmers come from 12 different counties in Tennessee and even one from Kentucky. Many parents drive long distances to bring their children to our classes because there are no other opportunities for these children to learn how to swim.
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Hickman |
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Wilson |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Humphreys |
| TN - Bedford |
| KY - Christian |
