The Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District was established in 1951.  The first District swim team was the Pleasant Hill Swim Club an A.A.U. (Amateur Athletic Union-now called U.S.S.) affiliated team. It is unclear as to when the recreational Pleasant Hill Dolphin Swim Team began, but likely in the early 60’s.  While the Pleasant Hill Swim Club was a co-sponsored group, the Dolphin/Dolfins swim team has always been a District program, with fees being paid directly to the District. 

Coaches

Records show that Ron Quick was the Dolphins’ head coach from 1964 to 1973.  Jennifer McGarry and Steve Cattolica became co-head coaches in 1973.  This was the first year with the Dolphins for Steve but Jennifer had worked as an assistant coach since 1970. Steve left the Dolphin program in 1977.  Jennifer stayed as head coach through 1995.  Rob Kern took over the head coaching position in 1996 and coached through the 2007 season. Rob began as an assistant coach of the Dolfins in 1992. Rob was President of the Dolfins Parents club from 1992-1993. Kevin Taylor became head coach for the 2008 season. Kevin was a Forever A Dolfins swimmer (1991-2003) and became an assistant Dolfins coach in 2003. Alexis Irion became head coach for the 2011 season. Alexis swam for the Dolfins for 9 years being awarded the Forever a Dolfins in 2005.(1995-2005). She was a Dolfins junior coach for 2 years and an age group coach for 6 years. Devon (Flaskerud) Knight was the head coach in 2012-2014. Devon swam for the Dolfins and received the Forever A Dolfins award in 2000 (1988-2000). Devon coached in 2001, 2002, 2004 and was the Dolfins Assistant Head Coach in 2011.  Starting in 2015, Talli Pitcher is the Dolfins head coach. Talli has coached for the Dolfins since 2003.

Parent Club

A parent club was loosely formed the year Jennifer took over as head coach in 1973.  It consisted of an active group of parents that wanted the team to succeed.  The Parent Club status and District support changed when Proposition 13 was enacted in June of 1978.  The team took on more financial responsibilities due to the possible lack of program funding.  Before 1978 the District had paid for all equipment, awards, salaries and other needs of the swim team.  The Dolphin Parent Club elected it’s first President and began planning major fundraisers to help cover these additional expenses.  Parents had always been an integral part of the success of the swim team but now they became more organized.  The team continued as a program of the District.  Articles of Incorporation were written for the Pleasant Hill Dolphin Parent Club on January 23, 1981.  In 1985 the team was officially incorporated as the Pleasant Hill Dolfins Parent Club and was granted a state Tax Exempt status but it took until 1986 to receive our Federal Tax Exempt status. The long time period was not due to a lack of effort, just red tape. Thanks to Tom Reed, Kitty Hellmann, Doc Hyatt, Erland Persson for their “Herculean” effort. The incorporation and tax exempt status took 3 Dolphin/Dolfins boards and 5 years.

The first Dolphin Board members were President Arnold Carvajal, Secretary Claudia Evers, Treasurer Donna Goff and board members Hugh Wang, MD, Sally Young, Joan Knapp, and Jennifer McGarry.

Dolphin/Dolfin Parent Club Presidents

• Earl Ormsbee 1982-1983
• Sherry Paskey 1984-1985
• Tom Reed 1986-1987
• Doc Hyatt 1988-1989
• Kitty Hellmann 1990-1991
• Rob Kern 1992-1993
• Patti Fitzgerald 1994-1995
• Denise Hanson 1996-1997
• Nancy Bursch 1998-2001
• Charlie Hadsell 2001-2003
• Kerri Brumbaugh 2003-2005
• Chip Eskildsen 2005-2007
• Owen Linderholm 2007-2009
• Mike Brackins 2009-2011
• Brad Morris 2011-2013
• Robert Allen 2014-2015
• Peter Hutcheson 2016-2017
• Amy Ross 2017-2021
• Jim Libby 2021-2023
• Staci Thomas 2023-current

The Pleasant Hill Dolfins Parents Club Federal Tax ID Number is 94-2637130.  The Dolfins Parent Club is exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Funds/Awards

The NORSKOG ENDOWMENT FUND was established in 1988 with a donation from Anne Norskog in memory of her husband Jim Norskog. This money is used to pay Dolfin registration fees for a swimmer that might otherwise not be able to participate with the Dolfins because of financial reasons. This is available to all current Dolfin families by a recommendation from a current board member.  This fee may be paid only once per swimmer.

The SUPER PARENT AWARD was established before 1985. Parents were recognized that did more than their required share of hours in various capacities in helping the team. They usually received a special Dolfin Parent Pin. This award ended in 2003. Note: The award ended but not the help from so many wonderful Dolfin Parents.

This Dolphin/Dolfin History is incomplete.  It is my hope that additional information will be found as to the exact beginning of the swim team.  Questions: Are there any Dolfin families that have participated with the team for more than 10 years? Are there any other Dolfin Parents that also participated as a Dolfin swimmer? If anyone finds a discrepancy or has additional information please contact Jennifer McGarry 925 689-3705 or [email protected].

Revised by Jennifer A. McGarry 7/14/2014

Updated 2-22-2024