The Ozark Community Center (The OC) — Attraction in Ozark

This morning I went there with my kids very excited to have an amazing day, paid for a full membership to plan on having the kids rock climb, go to the pool and all. Everything was fine until lifeguard Sevena came into play. My little one was scared to go on the big slide but REALLY wanted to go so I went up there with him and explained to the other lifeguard that I'd go first and I'd be by the edge of the water below the slide to help him once he's down if he gets scared; is that ok sir? He said yes. ( he also checked his height and i told him that he was a bit short but he said thats ok, later on, the manager brought that up lol that i didnt respect the height rule ) So we proceeded along, I waited for my son by the edge of the water with only my feet in the water, sitting on the edge younknow... my kid cones down and wasn't all that scared so all I did was helping him coming back to the edge of the pool by handed my hand out and being in the water BY THE EDGE. That's when Sevena came to me and said " if you do that again I am kicking you out of thenpool " I was like " excuse me?? Thenlifeguard told me it was ok and I haven't done anything unsafe. So no you wont kick me out " she said she would call a manager and we would see! Then she walked to another lifeguard ND started to momick and mock my accent. I have a rather thick French accent. I knew then that we had. Problem. I kept on playing with the kids waiting until a manager came and called me out in front of everyone. People in the pool were confused. I told the manager what happened and that I didn't want to talk anymore becUse i was there to enjoy my afternoon and that was all,they had camera and could investigate. That I was there to spend time with my kids and didn't feel like talking. He came bCk 5 minutes later asking me to leave becUae we broke the slide rule!!! I said ok, I hope you are proud of yourself, as I was leaving the cops showed up lol even the cops were wondering why they kick me out for that. At first the manager refused to give me my money back but after the cops showed up, they did reimburse me. This incident was poorly handled and Sevena is a rather rude young girl who mocks foreigners. I've been living in this area for 10 years, I will never come back to this pool. Poorly handled! Very poorly! When I told the manager she was being racist, he told me he had a blck kid. What does him having a black kid has to do with her? Or with me being mocked? Truth is, she got her feelings hurt cause I told her to go ahead and call a manager. Manager was mad because after telling him what happened, I told him that I didn't want to keep talking to them.bEven their front desk ladies apologized and said they didn't understand why and when I told them about the Sevena girl, they were like " oh I see "....

We visited the OCC Aquatic Center to give our 4 and 2 year old a change of pace from the YMCA pool in Springfield.

PROS: Great pool areas - there is a separate kids and adult pool area and both are huge. Kids area includes a large wading area with a small slide (appropriate for little ones), a lazy river with a whirlpool, a large tube slide for bigger kids, and a large play set with squirters and fountains - adult pool had a long entry ramp and a jetted area with a bench (not a hot tub, more like a jetted tub). Nice deck area - a large deck area is accessible from the pools that overlooks a lovely nature scene New clean facility Snacks available on site for sale. EDIT 3/2018 - there are not many healthy options for snacks, I included pictures of the snack bar menu below.

CONS There was only ONE lifeguard on duty! I couldn't believe my eyes - this lifeguard was responsible for both pools, and with the setup of the large playground area in the kids wading pool it is impossible to see the entire pool area at once. EDIT 3/12/18 - We visited again this past week and there were at least 3 lifeguards on duty. NO TOWELS! Maybe I'm spoiled by the YMCA, but this is the first time I've been to a fitness center indoor pool that did not offer towels. Thankfully it was warm outside and we "drip dried" on the outdoor deck. NO LIFE JACKETS! Again, I'm used the YMCA where kids are required to life jackets, which are provided, but I was told they have life jackets but won't let people use them. We had fun without them, but I would have brought my own if I had known so the kids could have fun floating the lazy river without having to strangle me. Changing rooms lack amenities - there is only one family changing room easily accessible from the pool, which means long waits for families. Neither the adult or family changing rooms include amenities like blow dryers, swimsuit driers, etc. Again, I'm comparing to the YMCA, but good to know if you are visiting. The price - We paid $12 for our visit - $5 for my 4 year old and $7 for me. My 2 year old was free. I was told you either pay the day rate or have to get a $50+/month membership. I would love to see a monthly pass you can buy just for the pool. EDIT - As of March 2018 we paid $15 for a family pass for myself, my 6 year old, and my 8 year old.

Overall we had a great time, and most of the "cons" I noted were stresses to me and not to my kids, who had a super time. The cons are also all things that it would be easy for management to address if they wanted. This aquatic center is well worth a visit, but just remember to bring your own towels and life jackets and plan to stay for several hours at least to make the cost...

I have had my girls in the city of ozark sports for 5 years and overall they do a fair job of putting on community sports. But there is one exception, Phil Montgomery lets certain people bring hand picked teams in every year and has happened for decades. The first example is the softball team from oldfield. They are obviously a tight knit team with no “new to the game” girls on their team and constantly dominate other teams. Which isn’t fair to every team that has new girls on their team that are drafted.

The second sport I have witnessed is the girls basketball. K-2 and 3-4. There’s a red team this (3-4) year with a coach that has a team that plays at the field house. They also didn’t have to draft “new to the game” girls. They only dominate because of height and have no new to the game girls to teach the game to. The coach is also friends with the ref that stands beside him all game waiting to make the call the coach wants to make. The coach literally wines (like Lebron James) until the refs call something on the other team while his team literally walks or fouls as much or more.

In conclusion, if all teams don’t have to draft Or divide equally and play by the same rules, I and many others would rather just pay more in signup fees and have a level playing field ( I.e. all coaches draft). Like don’t let hand picked teams play. There are many other leagues for that social status. Not a community league where all teams but one have to go through a draft. If not what kind of example are you setting for these young people? It’s okay to have different rules for different people.

Btw. Why do I have to pay to watch my own kids play in a place that my tax money built? And my tax money continues to pay salaries? Just food for thought.

Be prepared to watch basket ball games where the old guys are reffing and don’t want to be there...