Piney Branch Elementary School
7510 Maple Ave
Takoma Park, MD 20912
Tuesday 1/9/2024 - 3/26/2024
7:00-9:00 PM
Event coordinator: Ron Ray 301-974-1004 text only, please.
Open pool sessions for paddlers to practice; participants are responsible for their own gear and safety. Instruction is NOT provided. $20 for pool entry, plus appropriate ACA insurance (details below).
Register for pool sessions on the CCA Events Calendar.
Sign-in starts about 6:45, inside the pool. Enter through steel service doors on the west corner of the building.
Insurance requirements through the American Canoe Association (ACA) have changed considerably, so please read carefully:
* All persons getting in the pool must have completed an ACA insurance waiver online. NO EXCEPTIONS! No exceptions. CCA membership doesn't count. ACA members are not charged for insurance. Non-ACA members must pay $10 for insurance.
* ACA full membership ($40) covers insurance cost for the full season, but participants must fill out an ACA insurance and waiver form online.
* "Event" insurance for ACA is $10 per individual session, for non-ACA members.
* Minors (under 18) need their own insurance, either full ACA membership or event insurance and waiver with adult signature.
ACA Insurance and Waiver:
ACA Insurance for Pool Rolling 2024
ACA membership: https://americancanoe.org/join/individuals/
Any changes or updates- such as unexpected cancellations due to weather or other problems- will be posted on Paddle Prattle as soon as they are known.
MORE DETAILES
This is an open pool session for paddlers. Gear and instruction is NOT provided. Participants are responsible for their own gear and safety.
Cost is $20 for the pool, plus $10 American Canoe Association insurance fee for non-ACA members. Everyone must sign a waiver on the ACA website. Registration and payment must be done on-line; no paper registrations or waivers or cash payments will be accepted at the pool. The CCA site accepts credit cards for payment. You can get to the CCA and ACA sites for registration, payment, and waivers from your phone on the pool deck, but doing all that beforehand will help avoid frustration. And please don't ask about Zelle, ApplePay, or whatever.
Detailed info:
Parking is in front of the school, off Maple Ave, or in the small lots off Grant Ave on the southeast side of the school. Note that Grant Ave is one-way in the "wrong" direction, so you have to go behind the police station / library / community center and approach from Philadelphia Ave / MD 410.
The pool entrance is the stainless steel service doors on the corner of the alcove about halfway back the building off Grant Ave, NOT the "normal" entrance into the school at the end of the alcove. We are not supposed to be in the main hallway. The service doors usually are propped ajar with a bucket or cone. Go through the stainless doors immediately to your right to get into the pool.
If you are an ACA member, make sure your dues are current and fill out a waiver. If you're not an ACA member and plan on attending 4 sessions, that's the break-even on joining ACA versus paying the event insurance fee each time. If you are a minor (under 18), absolutely make sure your parent / guardian completes the ACA MINOR waiver form before you show up. If they don't complete that, you can't get in the pool.
EVERYONE who gets in the pool needs to complete a waiver for that night, including ACA non-member insurance fee. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Even if it's just a young kid getting wet for a few minutes. EVERYONE needs to register on the CCA website. NO EXCEPTIONS!
- Buddies or a couple only bring one boat and swap out who is in the boat. Basically, if it's only one boat in the pool, you only pay pool cost once, even if the other person is standing in the water alongside you assisting
- Youngling who is occasionally sitting in parents boat. But if the kid is shredding it up in their own boat, they pay.
The idea is that everyone registers for reporting reasons, and everyone completes a waiver and pays ACA non-member insurance if applicable (liability and insurance), but "one boat in the pool, one pay".
There are locker rooms and showers adjacent to the pool. Elementary school gym lockers, and the locker rooms are accessible to the rest of the school, where there may be events, so don't count on the locker rooms being "secure". Protect your valuables.
We have to be out of the building by 9 PM sharp. If you want to shower and change, get out of the pool early enough to be done and out of the building by 9. The custodian who locks up usually is only paid until 9, and probably is anxious to go home.
The pool is in a Montgomery County elementary school. If the schools are closed, the pool is closed. And occasionally the pool has mechanical issues. If there is a closure, we will post on Paddle Prattle as soon as we know about it.
Event coordinator: Ron Ray 301 974 1004 text only, please.