Virgil Chancy, Disability Coordinator at
Southern California Swimming, shared his advice and takeaways from his experience in the sport.
How did you get into your role as Disability Coordinator?“Disabled swimmers are diverse athletes. I think a voice needs to be there that isn’t of the lemming mindset. And by saying that, it’s not to be an agitator but to be a thought provoker. People are not comfortable with change agents. We need to look at this in another way. We’ve been doing things this way forever and still have problems. We need to step back and look at it. And while people are still uncomfortable with that, they don’t want to do that, label you as a malcontent, an agitator – or you’re just a troublemaker. We need explanation on this.”
Why is this work important to you?“I officiate high school, too, so I see quite a few communities throughout several different counties here and as such, you see the haves and the have nots. I’ve been an advocate for having the haves do a big brother/sister and little brother/sister program with the high schools where the kids are just getting by.”
What are some important ways to grow opportunities for diverse athletes in this area?“It’s a matter of letting swimmers in different communities know resources are available if they’re interested. It’s a slow process but it’s there. For some it’s slow because there’s not a support system in their area and it’s one of the things as an LSC (Local Swimming Committees), trying to make it as mandatory as possible. In some areas you need to encourage those more well-funded teams to do outreach in the areas that surround them. There’s some pushback from teams but it’s slowly coming around because they’re finding these diamonds in the rough. Being an advocate, spreading the word to connect them with teams that are supportive. It’s change. A lot of people don’t like it but the same old hasn’t changed things and there’s a larger gap occurring.”