SWIM TEAM TRIGGERS POOL CONTROVERSY.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS

Staff Writer

VALENCIA -- The community swimming pool looks peaceful enough with its white chaise lounge chairs and pergolas amid neatly trimmed grass.

But the junior Olympic-size pool in this Valencia neighborhood has become the center of a pitched battle over whether the Northpark Sharks, a children's swim team, can use the facility.

Swim team parents and supporters say the team builds self-esteem, helps children fight off obesity through exercise and creates community spirit.

But detractors say that in its first summer last year, the team had crowded swim meets with loud music. One resident asked the team's supporters to produce a legal opinion on whether the team should use the private community pool.

It's a conflict other parts of the Santa Clarita Valley have experienced over the years as homeowners have used community pools for children's swim teams. But in this Northpark neighborhood, residents say the conflict over the swim team has gotten fierce.

"We're trying to come up with a resolution. Both sides are very passionate," said Leonard Yee, a member of the five-person homeowners association board.

"When you have two sets of passionate people, it's tough to get them to come down and come into the middle," he said.

Last summer, the team had 187 kids participate as parents timed races with stopwatches, barbecued and worked a concession stand.

This year, team supporters said they are ready to limit themselves to one swim meet for the season, start it later in the morning and make other concessions.

But time is running out to reach a compromise: Team registration is set for next month and the season starts in late May.

Paula Trujillo said her 12-year-old daughter never participated in team sports before joining the Sharks.

"This gives her an opportunity to do that, and she does that with her neighbors, the kids across the street," Trujillo said.

The Sharks have their own red T-shirts emblazoned with their mascot, and parents raised money for the team with a pancake breakfast. The team's expenses include swim suits, coaches and swimming lanes.

The homeowners association has given the team at least $8,700 that was questioned by some residents but justified by board members as good for the community.

The team, which also has private sponsors, is working on repaying the money.

Delio Jaramillo, 41, lives near the pool and said he is not against the swim team. But he said last year the team had a disc jockey and announcer at its swim meets playing house and techno music -- and that he can do without it.

"The first time, my wife woke up and she thought it was like a police raid," he said. "And I was like, that can't be -- this is Valencia."

The homeowners association had a community meeting on the issue last August. A handful of residents with complaints about the swim team were met by dozens of supporters. Participants said the meeting got heated.

Recently, a resident who also is an attorney asked the team to get a legal opinion letter about the team's use of the pool, said Jerry Paschall, a former homeowners association board member who resigned last week over the controversy.

"Something that would be good for the community, we have some angry homeowners who felt slighted and they want to kill it," Paschall said.

"And I don't know if there's going to be any solution to this."

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dylan Rhodes, 10, Courtney Agnes, 12, and her brother Nick, 5, are affected by the pool conflict.

(2) This group of children is caught in the middle of a pitched battle over whether the Northpark Sharks, a children's swim team, can continue to use this community pool in Valencia.

Alex Collins/Special to the Daily News