PARC wins two Aquatics & Recreation Victoria Awards for the third consecutive year.
Frankston City’s own Peninsula Leisure who operates the Peninsula Aquatic Recreation Centre (PARC) has been honoured again by Aquatics & Recreation Victoria (ARV) receiving two awards for the third consecutive year since it opened in 2014, this year bestowed with the sought-after Swim Teacher of the Year Award and the state’s best Innovative Program Award for Splashy McSplash Town. Peninsula Leisure’s Swim Teacher of the Year Alyssa Danger who teaches at PARC was nominated by Swim Manager Julia Wood in recognition of her extensive preparation, positive attitude and commitment to her work. “Alyssa has been teaching for over two years now at PARC, averaging over 20 hours per week. She has an incredibly positive attitude and provides great customer service. Always offering great ideas to improve lessons and teaching standards, Alyssa prepares thoroughly prior to each swim lesson she takes and knows all of the children in her classes. She is flexible in her teaching strategies and always provides positive feedback, even in the most difficult of circumstances,” Julia said. Alyssa completed her Teacher of Infant and Preschool Aquatics last year and is currently completing her Assessor qualification. She is committed to enhancing her personal and professional development and is always keen to share her passion with others. “We are so impressed with Alyssa and her knowledge that we know we can ‘throw her in at the deep end’ and she will always thrive!” Julia said. Peninsula Leisure CEO Tim Gledhill said the industry recognition is great reward for the hard-working PARC staff, Board members and the local community who have warmly embraced the facility. “We are thrilled to be recognised again this year by ARV. At PARC we are focused on delivering exceptional experiences to our members and visitors, and pride ourselves on being experts in aquatics and recreation. Our focus is to connect individuals and communities through aquatic and physical activity in a safe, welcoming, innovative and memorable environment.” “Peninsula Leisure’s vision is to ensure that every child in Frankston City can swim by the time they reach high school. I congratulate our very own Victorian Swim Teacher of the Year Alyssa Danger on her state honour and for her tireless work towards assisting PARC achieve this important goal,” Tim said. PARC was recognised by the ARV as the state’s best managed facility last year, and Centre Manager Simon Beqir said the team is always looking for ways to innovate and develop more community engagement activities for its patrons. “Receiving the ARV’s best Innovative Program Award is a wonderful achievement for our team. Splashy McSplash Town was the first of its kind to be introduced in Victoria and has developed quickly into a much-loved school holiday program at PARC. Bookings are secured weeks in advance so it’s clear that the concept has excited our community,” Simon said. Splashy McSplash Town is a 19m x 19m giant inflatable obstacle course specially designed to fit into the deep end of PARC’s 50m pool. The name of the course Splashy McSplash Town was chosen by the PARC community via a successful Facebook competition. January 2017 saw over 10,000 people use Splashy McSplash Town. Total centre casual entries also exceeded visitations from the year before due to the new program, with over 33,000 people coming in to enjoy a casual swim at PARC. “Innovative programming is essential for PARC to ensure our visitors are always entertained with something new each year. We like bringing concepts to PARC that have never been seen in the community before,” Simon said. Special features of Splashy McSplash Town include the ability to host up to 60 people at one time; lifejackets are worn by all participants; there are no start or finish points so when you fall off you simply get back on and keep going; two giant waterslides send users into the middle of the course; a giant hamster wheel ensures there is variety for all ages; no upper age limit applies so parents can enjoy the inflatable obstacle course with their children, making the experience very family-friendly. “Not only have we exceeded our expectations with our innovative Splashy McSplash Town program bookings, but we found the centre is less congested during the traditional ‘peak’ periods now. Rather than having over 1,000 people in the centre at one time with crowded pools, we have created an environment where everyone is able to enjoy the facility and our users are spread out across the entire day during peak periods,” Simon said. PARC attracts 850,000 visitations annually and has 10,000 members, annually exceeding business targets while building a brand and facility that is admired throughout the state’s sports and leisure industry. In the last year the following outstanding results were achieved by PARC, leading the way in comparison to other aquatic and recreational facilities state-wide:- health club membership increased by 24%
- aquatic membership increased by 20%
- PARC Swim (swim school) enrolments increased by 15%
- visitation increased by 29%.
