YMCA urges Portsmouth partnership to expand childcare, swim lessons and operate Sportsplex

Anthony Walters, president and CEO of the YMCA of South Hampton Roads, told the Portsmouth City Council at its Dec. 9 work session that the regional nonprofit wants to deepen partnerships with the city to expand childcare, teen programming and water-safety instruction.

Walters laid out the Y’s scale and local work, saying the association serves roughly 220,000 people regionally, operates 26 local locations and provided hands-on swim instruction to more than 1,200 Portsmouth second-graders this year under a partnership with Portsmouth Public Schools. “We want to make sure every second grader knows how to swim,” Walters said. He added that Portsmouth Public Schools contributed $10,000 to cover transportation so students could attend lessons.

The nut of the Y’s pitch was capacity and access: Walters said the Effingham YMCA is aging and constrained, limiting the Y’s ability to expand childcare and team-sport facilities. He proposed exploring partnership models used elsewhere—citing a Currituck example where a government built a facility and the Y operated it—and suggested the city-owned Sportsplex as a possible site for a joint project. “We operate facilities,” Walters said. “Maybe one of the gifts is we take on the operating expense so the city does not have to carry that burden in perpetuity.”

Walters presented program numbers to underscore demand and equity impacts: the Y reported serving about 10,000 children in licensed childcare programs across the region, that one in five families receives a Y scholarship, and that the association provided roughly $1.6 million in scholarship support last year. Walters also told councilors there were 219 children in Portsmouth Y care the week of the meeting (125 at Portsmouth Y, 94 at Effingham) and estimated that about 187 of those children were receiving financial assistance.

Council members asked practical questions about transportation barriers, whether the Y provides summer jobs and internships for teens, sliding-scale membership and how a municipal partnership would affect city recreation fees. Walters said the Y offers sliding-scale rates, is pursuing internship and paid-work pathways for teens in partnership with regional colleges and institutions, and that many of the Y’s local centers already coordinate with Portsmouth United and the school system.

Mayor Glover and council members signaled support for further talks. No formal agreement or funding was proposed at the meeting; council directed staff to continue discussions with the YMCA and invited the organization to provide additional feasibility information and cost estimates for possible Sportsplex collaboration.

What happens next: City staff and YMCA leaders will continue exploratory conversations; council members said they want detailed proposals and cost estimates before any financial commitments.