How joining Wedgewood works

Every spring, families around West Chester ask the same question about Wedgewood Swim Club: how do we get in? The honest answer starts with a wait list, and it helps to understand how that list works before you apply.

How the wait list works

Wedgewood is member-owned and member-run, and it's popular enough that new applications go on a wait list in the order they're received. There's no jumping the line. How fast the list moves depends on one thing: how many current families decide to return. Turnover changes from year to year, so nobody can promise you a start date, and the club says plainly that there is no guarantee of acceptance in any given year.

That makes the practical advice simple. Apply early, keep your contact details current, and treat the list as a long game. Questions about membership go to the Board at wedgewoodbod@gmail.com. The club phone is answered only during summer hours and the club asks you not to leave a voice mail, so email is the better route from fall through spring.

What membership means for your whole family

Wedgewood is a family membership. The club's bylaws, and what members call the Family Tradition, require that every family member be registered under the dues structure, whether or not they plan to swim. A parent who mostly reads in the shade and a teenager who spends the afternoon on the basketball court both count.

The club doesn't publish its annual dues as text, so we won't quote a number here. Ask the Board for the current figures when you apply, because dues and fees are subject to change and there are no partial year refunds. A few other costs are published, and they're worth knowing about before you commit.

• Membership is bond-based, and members who leave before their second year have any unpaid new member capital assessment withheld from their bond.
• A one-time $200 assessment applies to members in their third year and beyond.
• After the second year, a $75 Annual Capital Improvement Fee is billed to the membership.
• Every family member is registered, whether or not they swim.

Sort out the photos before opening day

The paperwork that trips up new families isn't the application. It's the photo. Every member, children included, needs a current picture uploaded to the online member account, and anyone without one can't come in until it's done. Take care of it before the season opens instead of at the gate with a line behind you. The same account is where members make payments and update their details.

Check-in works the same way for everyone. Members and guests all enter at the Front Desk through the breezeway. The gate by the picnic grove is not an entrance, and the club treats repeat problems seriously enough that they can lead to suspension. Children under 12 need to come with a member over 16, or with a nanny or babysitter registered to the account for an additional fee, with a photo on file.

Three pools and a swim test

Wedgewood has three pools: the original L-shaped main pool with its diving well and water slide, a six-lane lower pool, and a baby pool beside the pavilion. A new swimmer under 12 doesn't get the run of all three on day one. Before a child can be in water over their head without an adult, they take the deep water test, which the club's swim lessons page calls the Green Tag Test. It's given on request by the pool manager or a lifeguard, as their schedule allows, so ask early in the season instead of waiting for July. We cover the test and the pools in more detail in another article.

Bringing guests

A member who is 18 or older can invite guests, as long as the member stays for the visit. Guest passes cost $8 in season and $6 in the offseason, there's no fee for grandparents, and passes never expire, so a few bought in winter will carry into the next summer. They can't be transferred or refunded. The inviting member registers each guest at the Front Desk, and guests wear a wristband during the visit.

A member can bring up to six guests a day, and each guest is limited to ten visits per season. More than six guests in a day counts as a party, which has its own policy: $10 per guest, Monday through Saturday, a request by email at least two days ahead, and a cap of 25 people.

What a first summer looks like

The club is open seasonally, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, from noon into the evening, with daily hours on the club calendar. Special events may run later. If thunder or lightning is seen or heard, the pools and deck clear until 30 minutes after the last instance, and weather closures are posted to the club's Facebook group and the bulletin board. Outside the pools there's a covered pavilion, a big deck, charcoal grills and picnic tables, plus a basketball court, wiffle ball, gaga ball, shuffleboard and horseshoe pits for the hours between swims.

A short checklist for your first week:

• Upload a current photo for every family member, and for any registered nanny or babysitter.
• Ask a lifeguard or the pool manager about the deep water test for any child under 12.
• Plan snacks for the picnic grove, since food, gum and glass stay out of the pool areas.
• Check the calendar for the day's hours before you pack the car.
• Watch the Facebook group on stormy days for closures.