South Texas Swimming Outreach Memberships
USA Swimming Outreach Athlete memberships are available at a cost of $7.00 per year for athletes who meet the South Texas Swimming eligibility requirements and provide the required documentation, as described below. In addition, the South Texas Swimming LSC provides reimbursement of meet expenses to Outreach Athletes in good standing. You can submit reimbursement requests using this link.
Athletes should check with their South Texas Swimming member club to ask if the club offers Outreach Athlete memberships, and what additional form of financial assistance the club provides to Outreach Athlete members. After the club confirms your eligibility, the club will give you its Outreach Athlete membership link to use to purchase this membership type.
South Texas Swimming accepts the following documentation as verification of eligibility for Outreach Athlete memberships:
- School Breakfast Program (SBP) and/or National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
- Texas CHIP program (Children's Health Insurance Program or Children's Medicaid)
- Texas SNAP benefits program (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
- Texas TANF program (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)
- WIC (Women, Infants, and Children Program)
- Medicaid
Documentation of eligibility must be current at the time of your USA Swimming registration or renewal and must be valid for a minimum of 60 days. Clubs are required to verify your eligibility annually.
Please provide your eligibility document to your South Texas Swimming member club prior to registration or renewal, to receive the club’s OMR Outreach Athlete membership link. Within 21 days after registration or renewal with USA Swimming, your club (or you) should email your eligibility documentation to [email protected].
It is the responsibility of the club to make sure that all Outreach Athlete memberships have been properly verified and that the documentation has been submitted to the LSC. If the club (or athlete) fail to submit the required eligibility documentation, the athlete’s membership will need to be changed to the Premium Athlete membership type. In addition, the athlete will not be eligible for financial assistance from the South Texas Swimming Outreach Athlete fund until the required documentation has been provided.
Your Outreach Athlete membership fee is $7.00 per year. Please make sure you use the correct registration link for your South Texas Swimming club, and pay the correct fee.
Why is outreach important?
Each day families struggle to make ends meet due to the harsh economic time in which we currently live. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, in September the number of unemployed persons was 9.3 million. Many people do not have the discretionary income that they once had for extracurricular activities due to an unforeseen job loss that has adversely impacted income in a negative way. Outreach membership plays a vital role in bridging the gap. USA Swimming outreach membership offers qualified individuals the opportunity to become a USA Swimming year-round athlete member at a reduced fee.
USA Swimming’s Year-round Athlete Outreach Membership
USA Swimming is committed to providing outreach membership for families in need. In 2014-2015, there were 7,229 outreach members. The national fee for outreach membership is $5.00 and the Local Swimming Committee (LSC) has the option to set a local fee that may not exceed $2.00. The goal of offering outreach membership is to provide opportunities in swimming to economically disadvantaged youth in the United States. Each Local Swimming Committee determines how they will qualify athletes for outreach membership. They may use but are not limited to national guidelines based on Federal Food Stamps, Free School Lunch and/or Federal Poverty Guidelines.
Are LSCs required to offer Outreach Membership?
Yes. Each LSC is required by USA Swimming to offer outreach memberships to qualified candidates. It is up to your LSC to determine who is eligible for outreach membership and who is not.
