With so many swim school choices out there, how do you know where to take your child? Is there a difference between HSC and other swim schools?
Oh, yes, there IS a difference…actually several differences. Maybe most of us teach freestyle and backstroke, and we all probably have warm water. But that is likely where the similarities end.
Swim schools are as different from each other as children are. Even the kiddos that look alike and go to the same school wearing the same uniform are quite different when you get to the nitty gritty. So, what is the nitty gritty on Houston Swim Club?
Let me start by telling you that the biggest thing that no one can imitate is definitely the biggest difference between HSC and other swim schools…our PASSION!
You see, back in 1994, when my mom bought Houston Swim Club from Phill Hansel, we weren’t searching for a family business. My sister, Tracy, and I had been working for Phill since 1985 as “phone girls”, lifeguards, and eventually swim instructors. My mom began in 1986 as a receptionist and quickly became Phill’s office manager. It didn’t take us long to figure out that our family had a real passion for teaching children to swim.
In 1994, Phill’s health started declining and he decided to sell the school. My mom scraped the money together, asked my sisters and me for a ten year commitment to help grow the business, and bought a swim school! Tracy was a high school teacher and teaching swim lessons during the summers; Kara was in college and teaching swim lessons; I had two babies under two years old and was going to nursing school while teaching swimming to pay the bills.
We had never owned a swim school and we had never worked together as a family, but we knew how to teach darn good lessons and we LOVED doing it! We had PASSION!
Children are our PASSION! Our family has always worked closely with children. My father was the youth minister at our church for 30 years. My mom kept children in our home for other working parents when we were young—lots of them! I grew up alongside Rebecca, Robyn, Lauren, Joanna, Kelly, Meredith, and Lisa and others that weren’t “blood related”, but they were part of our family.
My sisters and I all babysat for kids in our neighborhood as soon as we turned 11 years old (seems a little crazy now!) We had a house full of children…ALL THE TIME! And we LOVED it! Both of my sisters followed in our mother’s footsteps and studied and worked in education because of their passion for children. I worked in labor and delivery because of my passion for babies. To this day, my sisters and I fight over babies whenever they’re around!
You may come across a new swim school and it may be bright and shiny…but fancy, new buildings can’t outshine our PASSION!
We LOVE children. We LOVE swimming. We LOVE saving lives! And we love that we have the ability to teach a skill that can reduce the drowning rate! We love building relationships with other families…from the children we teach and their parents who trust us, to the people we employ who share our passion—we feel so blessed to be able to create lasting memories with others!
PASSION…That’s the HSC difference! And the best part is…even after being in the swim school business for almost 34 years, we STILL have that passion!
Our family would love to share our passion with your family! Let us show you the HSC difference!
Written by Tammy Schoen, Owner of HSC Pearland and Cypress, Director of HSC Sugar Land
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