Swim Club Denies Racism Toward Kids

A suburban Philadelphia swim responds to allegations it banned kids from its pool because of their race.

In a statement issued late Thursday afternoon, the club said racism charges were "untrue."

“The Valley Club is deeply troubled by the recent allegations of racism which are completely untrue.

"We had originally agreed to invite the camps to use our facility, knowing full well that the children from the camps were from multi-ethnic backgrounds.

"Unfortunately, we quickly learned that we underestimated the capacity of our facilities and realized that we could not accommodate the number of children from these camps. “

The Valley Club in Huntington Valley, Pa., had shut down early on Thursday. A dozen protesters were at the facility later in the day.

Fox 29 first brought you this story two days ago, and the outrage has been growing ever since:

It should have been a summer of fun here at the Valley Club, just outside Philadelphia. But care-free days became controversial, when a big group of inner-city kids were turned away from the swim club.

"Most of the parents I spoke to, their issue was more of a safety issue than anything else, and not a racial issue,” says Jim Flynn, a Club Member.

But it did become all about race, when some of the new visitors allegedly overheard a white mother complaining.

"And I heard this lady, she was like, what are all these black kids doing here? She was like, I'm scared they might do something to my child,” said Bymir Baylor.

"She said she don't want any black kids there, and there's too many of them." And what did you think when you heard that? "It was just ignorant,” said Shuron Davis, an 11 year old.

The controversy began two Mondays ago, when 65 black and Hispanic kids from a Philadelphia daycare showed up here for what were supposed to be weekly visits.

The manager of the daycare made the arrangements by phone and internet, and had paid for the summer up front. But after only one visit, the arrangement was cancelled.

"I got a phone call from the board chair saying, you're no longer going to be able to swim here,” said Alethea Wright of Creative Steps Daycare

The president of the Valley Club told Fox 29 by phone the club "underestimated the impact the children would have."

He said they "fundamentally changed the atmosphere" at the pool.

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission will be taking a much closer look at that explanation.

Commission Chairman Stephen A. Glassman says his agency will launch an immediate probe Thursday into allegations that The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley discriminated against the Creative Steps day camp from northeast Philadelphia.

Jim Flynn insists though, the members here are not racist.

"No issue,” said Flynn. “It was strictly an overcrowding situation. "Strictly an overcrowding and a safety situation because I believe there were two lifeguards on, and that's just not enough."

Sen. Arlen Specter and the NAACP are also looking into the matter, as well.

Club President John Duesler also told Fox 29 news that several club members complained because the children "fundamentally changed the atmosphere" at the pool, but he says the complaints didn't involve race.

The club president said allowing day cares at the pool was an "experiment" that didn't work out. He said other programs were disinvited, as well.

Duesler didn't immediately respond to messages left for him Wednesday by The Associated Press at the club and at his home.