Economics appears behind decision to eliminate the position of head coach
Less than a year after his controversial hiring, Alex Reisfield is out as head coach of the Malibu Seawolves, the swim club contracted through the City of Malibu. It was the hiring of Reisfield and abrupt firing of former Seawolves coach Erik Ran that led to the split of Malibu’s swimming community and formation of a new club, the Malibu Marlins.
After Ran’s firing in June by the Malibu Aquatics Foundation (MAF), which runs the Seawolves, he was hired by the newly formed Marlins to continue as head coach.
There was rancor between the two swim clubs as only one could be awarded community pool time as the city’s official contractor to provide a swim program. The Seawolves, with a history of providing service to the city, was awarded all available time slots at the community pool located at Malibu High School, leaving the Marlins the only option available: to rent lanes from the school district at the only time left, 6:30 a.m., which was inconvenient for many swimmers.
MAF Co-President Joe Sichta sent the following statement to the Malibu Times: “Over the past few months, the MAF has held many advisory discussions with successful local-area swim teams and the takeaway was a program built around one key person was not the best approach, both fiscally and strategically, given the smaller-sized, geographically unique market we have in Malibu. Instead, we are redirecting our resources to staff a diverse, talented coaching roster of current and former Pepperdine swimmers who have taken the career initiative to become USA Swimming-certified swim coaches. We also have one of our former Seawolves team members who is now swimming at the collegiate level for Cal Lutheran and we love the idea of continuing to source talent from within our own program.
“All of these coaches have been with our program since at least August of last year and we are excited at the prospect of empowering them to bring their full energy and expertise to the pool deck for the benefit of our wider community. Already the board has been impressed by their willingness to step up and demonstrate real leadership and we feel confident we have made the right choice for the long-term viability and strength of our club. Beyond our current roster, the MAF will be looking to expand our coaching staff and bring on even more talent in the weeks and months ahead. With the spring session starting in just a few weeks, making this change now positions us for growth while ensuring we continue to deliver a quality program.”
Marlins Treasurer Robert Brinkmann commented on the dramatic coaching change.
“I find it ironic that the Seawolves are doing the exact same thing in the exact same manner that started this whole issue,” he said. “They fired the coach without telling their own community and are doing the same mistake all over again. We’ve heard they reached out to a swim school, which is an out-of-the-community, for-profit business, to take over their program, which in my opinion is basically an admission they can’t run it themselves.”
A Seawolves memo was emailed this week: “As some of you may have heard by now, on Friday night the Board of Directors of the Malibu Aquatics Foundation notified Coach Alex Reisfield we had made the difficult decision to eliminate the position of Head Coach due to financial conditions. Our decision was not based on Coach Alex’s performance nor was it a disciplinary action of any kind, but instead the result of the board exercising our fiduciary duty to ensure the long-term solvency of the organization.”
Asked if Brinkmann would like to see a restructuring of the Malibu-based swim clubs, he answered, “Absolutely. The Marlins swim community has always been open to compromise and cooperation. Our one non-negotiable demand is we that have democratic and transparent governance. We don’t want to be dictated to by a small board of appointed members. The board has to be accountable to the membership. That’s why we formed this club. The community should have a voice. We should be able to express our concerns. If they’re willing to talk, that’s great.”
Sichta responded, “We also want the Malibu aquatics community to know that the leadership of the Seawolves and the Marlins have been in ongoing conversations for many weeks now as both sides seek common ground to heal this rift in our community. In this moment of new beginnings lies perhaps the best opportunity we have seen in nine months to change the tone and set a new course together. We are hopeful talks can continue and that a workable compromise can be found to accomplish what matters most — getting all the kids back in the pool together and loving swimming.”