In a climate of reduced resources, aquatic sport clubs, municipalities and other aquatic service providers need to work better together. There should be one vision to advance aquatic activities and sport in a given community or region with each group playing their part to realize this vision. Better use of resources, reduced duplication, and alignment with the community needs are all results of strengthened community relationships. This section will discuss ways of creating and strengthening community relationships.

The focus of most aquatic sport clubs has traditionally been to manage (mostly on a volunteer basis) the operations and governance of a non profit group including; hiring coaches, fund development, communications, marketing, registration, managing the competitions schedule and logistics, hosting meets, etc., leaving little time for government relations and working collectively with other groups to address prevalent social issues in the community. While the focus should be on the leadership of sport development, some time could be wisely spent in understanding government and administrative structures and communication flow.