Fees and Billing
Clear, Transparent Fees & Billing
Everything you need to know about the costs associated with joining and participating in Columbus Aquatic Club programs.
Members should review this page to understand the team's fees and billing policies. As a 501c3, we strive to keep our fees low to cover our cost and to implement policies that are both fair to our members and ensure we maintain good business practices.
For questions regarding billing, members should log into their team dashboard and view their invoices in the "My Account" screen. All invoices and billing details are available in your member account.
MemberSHIP
What does it mean to be a member of the Columbus Aquatic Club?
Joining the Columbus Aquatic Club means you are part of the largest swimming community in the area. We are member-owed and led by a volunteer Board of Directors who seek to promote the sport of competitive swimming in the greater Columbus area - whether it is through building water safety skills for our newest swimmers in our learn to swim program, teaching them to race in Tiger Sharks, training them to the top levels of competition in Hurricanes or supporting lifetime fitness and competition as Masters athletes.
You'll also find Hurricane volunteers at nearly every swim meet in the area - lending our experience to local school meets, college meets, water safety days, and more.
If it's swimming, we are here for it!
What do my fees cover?
Each of our Columbus Aquatic Club programs is priced individually to ensure we are charging to cover our basic operational costs and provide the best value to our members. As a non-profit, we pride ourselves on keeping our adminsitrative costs low and focusing our resources to providing the best coaching and best opportunities to our swimmers.
We currently run four distinct programs to serve the community:
- our year round USA Swimming team, nicknamed the Hurricanes;
- our summer introdutory swim team called Tiger Sharks;
- a year round Masters Swimming training group;
- a year round Learn to Swim program.
For details on each program's specific costs and available family discounts, please see the specific Program page linked at the top.
What is a USA Swimming or US Masters Membership?
All of our competitive program members (Hurricanes and Tiger Sharks) are registered with USA Swimming. As a Member Club, we are part of a greater community of swimmers that spans not just our local area, but the entire United States. Our swimmers begin here and can qualify to attend USA Swimming sanctioned competitions - hosted locally and all the way up to national level meets.
All USA Swimming memberships will be automatically processed by our team and billed to your team account on September 1.For those joining later in the season, this fee will be paid during your inital registration and we will process your USA Swimming membership will be processed within 30 days.
Our Masters Athletes register directly with US Masters Swimming and are part of an amazing community of adult and lifelong swimmers that love the sport and love to compete.
BILLING POLICIES
FAMILY DISCOUNTS:
We believe that swimming is a great family sport! Families with multiple swimmers enrolled in the year-round Hurricanes team will receive a 10% discount on the family's monthly dues for two swimmers, 25% discount on dues for three swmimers, and 50% discount on the family dues for four or more swimmers. This discount does not apply to Registration or Meet fees.
Tiger Shark families recieve a family discount for multiple children enrolled in that program and are also eligible for early bird registratisn discounts.
Our Master's program and Learn to Swim Programs are not eligble for family discounts due to the focused services those programs offer.
BILLING AND PAYMENTS:
All invoicing and billing is handled through the Team's website upon enrollment or on the 1st of the month for recurring enrollments.
All members are required to have at least one payment method saved to their account for the monthly AutoPay.
Families may process an OnDemand payment as needed throughout the month through their Account Payment function. Families are encouraged to review their billing activity each month by logging into their team account to see their invoice.
LATE PAYMENTS:
A Late Payment Fee of $30 will be applied to accounts that have not been paid in full before the 15th of each month. Members are expected to pay attention to system generated emails notifying them of expired cards and failed payments.
BILLING/MEMBERSHIP CHANGES:
Changes to your membership or billing require 30 days notice. Requests to change your Swimmer's registrations must be submitted via your team account.
Year Round Swimmers who are registered for the year and pause their membership are welcome to return to the team anytime before July by re-registering online. Swimmers returning to the team after an extended break in membership or time away from practice may be asked to complete an evaluation again to ensure an accurate practice group placement.
Learn to Swim, Tiger Shark and Masters Swimmers may cancel with two weeks notice. Fees for the program are not prorated or refundable due to cancellation requestes.
REFUNDS:
Memberships, Dues, Program fees and Meet Fees are non-refundable. Our annual schedule includes breaks for various holidays and training breaks. We do not adjust dues based on these breaks or on routine cancellations due to occasional pool maintenance, weather cancellations or facility closures. Dues are not prorated or refunded due to lack of attendance or failure to provide timely notice. Meet fees are non-refundable after the commitment deadline. Exceptions to the stated billing policies will be reviewed by the Board of Directors when extraordinary circumstances are present.
FINANCIAL HARDSHIP:
We are committed to the success of our dedicated swimmers and want to see them continue to do what they love. Families facing financial hardships should contact the Head Coach, Treasurer, Business Manager, or President to discuss solutions.
