As the final guests leave and the sounds of splashing gently fade away, it’s a perfect moment to pause, reflect, and prepare for the upcoming season. Let’s get everything ready to help get the next season off to a great start!
We understand how busy the summer can be with early mornings, the days that feel like they can’t get any hotter and humid, and never-ending text messages about scheduling. Before you get into off-season mode, here’s a helpful checklist of end-of-season tasks to help you stay organized!
Check (and Protect) Your Equipment
Before unplugging things for the season, take a day to walk through your pump rooms and equipment areas. Clean out filters, inspect pumps and heaters, and note anything that needs repair or replacement. If something appears to need maintenance, work on getting that scheduled and budgeted now to ensure a smooth start-up in the spring.
Pro Tip: Preventive maintenance can go a long way in keeping slides and pump systems running smoothly. Check out your manufacturer's operating and maintenance for more information on their recommended services. This can help support your case if you need to justify the repair/replacement.
Inventory Everything
Yes, it’s tedious. But taking inventory of chemicals, concessions, uniforms, stock items, and maintenance supplies now saves time and energy later. Toss anything expired, store the rest properly, and label boxes to help organize those items (especially if you have multiple facilities).
Pro Tip: Great task for staff who are looking for hours! Keep these notes in a shared drive file, or somewhere you can easily find them when reordering supplies or looking up your favorite whistle’s item number.
Wrap Up with Your Staff
Your seasonal crew is a huge part of what makes the place run, so give them a strong finish. A quick team meeting or even an online survey is great for getting feedback while it’s still fresh. What worked? What didn’t? Who should definitely be asked back next year? Bonus points for sending out thank-you notes or end-of-season shout-outs.
Pro Tip: Start planning (roughly) for next season’s training now! Identifying potential supervisors and instructors can help minimize stress as IDC season started…Labor Day Weekend!
Documentation Review
Make sure all documentation is organized and retained according to your organization’s retention policy. Key items to keep would include rotations, zone charts, schedules, chemical logs, and audit records; any item that may come up in litigation or inspections. This is also a good time to review any processes or wording that may need updating.
Pro Tip: Most of these items can likely be digitized, making it much easier to track and save space in your office! Check with your legal/risk management team to determine if this is an option! Also, check with your Client Partner to see if your facility can benefit from expanding their use of the SGE Portal (hint: it’s constantly evolving, and we plan with you in mind)!
Look at the Numbers
You’ve been tracking daily attendance and revenue, but now’s the time to take a high-level look and identify areas for improvement. Pull reports, look at trends, and see where you crushed it (and where you didn’t). Maybe you had staffing issues on certain weekends or had more guests than anticipated. Use it all to guide more innovative and efficient planning next season.
Pro Tip: If you need a report pulled for specific data and trend identification, reach out to your software company (e.g., RecTrac, Civic Rec) or your IT department, as they may be able to set that up for you.
Stay on the Radar for Guests and Staff
Just because your gates are closed doesn’t mean you have to go silent. Use social media or email updates to share behind-the-scenes content, announce upcoming changes, or tease season passes. Stay in the mix; it keeps people excited for next year.
Pro Tip: Keep staff engaged to help with retention and development. The off-season can be an excellent time for customer service training, keeping up on skills, using staff as community outreach, and helping front-line staff develop their leadership skills.
Be proactive in maintaining the facility, engaging staff and guests, and use this season’s experience to help plan for next year.
Thank you to all our clients and staff teams who helped ensure a safer swim for swimmers around the world. Aquatics teams have a challenging yet essential role in community recreation and public health. As always, the SGE Team is here to assist and provide guidance, so please feel free to reach out!
Train like what you do matters, because it does.
- Dr. Justin Sempsrott, M.D
