BSAC Celebrates 50-Year Mark

It's a 50-year milestone for the Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center, as
both the past and the present will be celebrated at a public ceremony today, April 20, followd by a public swim and summer-camp registration.

Sports demonstrations and complementary sliders, provided by Square 1 Burgers & Bar, are on today's agenda as well. (See program below.)

Charter members will be recognized, including Beverly Knox, Ted Pitts, Marie Wood and the Noriega family. Also noted as charter members are Harry Vildibill and Janet and Sue Moucha, according to BSAC officials.

Reached in an interview yesterday, Knox, 82, talked about her long-time association with BSAC, which started as a club founded by Dr. Robert G. Greenwell a half-century ago.

"I really think he was ahead of his time, pushing things like the benefits of exercise," Knox said. "He was way ahead of his time."

Knox swims three times a week at the center to which her now-deceased husband, Bill, signed up his wife and three sons before moving them to Brandon decades ago.

"It's a very important part of my life," Knox said about her continuing BSAC association. "It is extremely important at my age that I keep doing something like this. I'm just getting over a fractured pelvic bone, so water exercise is just about the only thing I can do."

Knox gives high marks to the center today, and its expanding mission, made possible with a 12-acre facility that offers a 50-meter competition pool, teaching pool, a 17.5-foot deep diving well, six clay tennis courts, four hard-surface tennis courts, a fitness room, playground, pro shop, cafe and a Tennis Shack of Florida retail store.

Coming soon are baseball and softball fields, which Chuck Burgess, the center's executive director, said will accommodate the Saladino Baseball Academy, which is expected to kick off at BSAC on June 10.

"Venturing into more of a team concept, it's a little bit different than what we're doing now," Burgess said.

The center opened as the Brandon Swim and Tennis Club, but its name changed to the current Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center to both better reflect its expanded mission and its re-establishment as a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization.

The center's aim is to enhance the life of the community by providing fitness, character and athletic programs for persons of all ages and abilities. Scholarships for children in need are provided for through gifts from members and from fundraising activities.

That 50 years has passed, with the center still in business, is a milestone well worth celebrating, BSAC officials said.

"We want to celebrate the impact the Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center has had on Brandon for 50 years and, in turn, Brandon's impact on us," said Lori Bukaweski, the center's associate executive director.

The impact has been great, Burgess said.

"It's worthy to celebrate the stories of three generations that have been at this center," he added "How many businesses do people trust this many years when it comes to working with children? That's what's cool about it."

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Visit the Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center online to review the range of programs available to adults, children and families in the Greater Brandon area.

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BSAC At 50: APRIL 20 PROGRAM DETAILS 

9am - 2pm Summer Camp Open House and Registration 10-11am Commemoration Ceremony Sports Demonstrations 11am Tean Colwill Diving 11:15am 10-and-Under Tennis 11:45am Strikers Pride Soccer 12:15pm Golden City Elite Cheerleaders 12:30pm Lee Jacobs Christian Karate 1pm Pat Thomas's New Focus Living Sport Fitness Boot Camp 2-5pm Public Open Swim