Swim Team News

Hello Swim Families,

We're coming into the home stretch before the first meet. Here's your important
info for the week--sorry there's so much-we've tried to put it all in one
place--but please read carefully so we're all ready to go:

1) You must register your child by 12 noon on June 5th in order for him to swim
in the first meet- Sunday, June 7th-- no exceptions--this is the JRAC league rule.

2)Sunday's meet is against Three Chopt and is at Southampton.  The meet starts at 4:00
pm, but please be on deck by 3:05 pm for stretches followed by our warm-ups at 3:15 pm.

3) Mini Meet, Saturday June 6th at 11:00 am. Meet participants should arrive by 10:45 am. This is suggested for mites and midgets (but not required.)  There will NOT be mite or midget practice on June 7th.  The mini meet will be their practice.
 
Juniors, Intermediates and Seniors will all practice together at 10:00 am-- this day only, and will be asked to stay after to work at the mini meet if possible. We strongly suggest that all New swimmers participate in the mini meet so that they can experience what a real meet will be like with less excitement and a smaller crowd.

4)New Families- general info:  Seating for SRA is on the long side of the pool in
the grassy tiers. (Our opponents sit on the short side near the tennis courts.)
Bring chairs and blankets.  Only swimmers and meet workers should be by the upper
pool.  Once a child is called to clerk of course, it is suggested that you accompany him/her to that
point.
 
We need mite parents to be available to help organize the mites at the Clerk of Course and help walk the children in each heat to their seats adjacent to the upper pool. After the children are on their way to the blocks, parents are asked to return to their seats. Parents may not accompany their children to the blocks.  There is no room for spectators on the pool deck.
 
We will also need a couple of loud voices to help call each children to their heat once at the clerk of course.
 
Please let me know if you are interested in helping with mites (running or calling).

5) The snack bar will be open during the meet-- please support them!  You may want
to feed your swimmers something before you come as well, but make sure that they
continue to drink throughout the meet-- especially if it's hot. We will also have popcorn, cotton candy, and homemade ice cream for sale during each of the meets.

6) Do an equipment check before leaving home: caps, goggles, lots of towels, and
a sweatshirt if it's chilly.
 
CAPS ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN THE CLUBHOUSE. THEY ARE BRIGHT YELLOW WITH THE SUPERMAN LOGO.
IT HELPS THE COACHES AND SPECTATORS IF YOUR CHILD IS WEARING THE SWIM TEAM CAP

7)Parking:  There will be some parking in our lot.  Please do not park in reserved
spaces or anywhere that has a "no parking" sign. Please note that you may park on only one side of Prairie and Marilea and please be considerate
of our neighbors and their driveways.  Please obey "NO PARKING" signs. There is additional parking up the street at the baseball field and at Southampton Elementary School (the school is not liable for any damages to your car that may occur while on their grounds). Note that towing is enforced in the neighborhood. You may certainly drive through our lot to drop off your children and your things and then go to park.

8) SAFETY: Please make sure your swimmers know these rules, and if you see  rules
being broken, please help us by serving as a team monitor- correcting the situation to help us avoid injury, missed events or damage to the club:

Team swimmers are absolutely not allowed in the lower pool or on the slide during
meets.

Team swimmers are not allowed on the playground during the meet-There is a chance
of injury and they may miss their event. We also strongly suggest that younger siblings not be on the playground without a parent supervising-- there will be hundreds of people here.

No children are allowed on the tennis courts during a swim meet. Tennis play by
adults is allowed.

During meets, our ice rink will be open as a walk through only.  Playing in the
rink is not allowed.

Thanks your for your cooperation.


9) You can find out what your child is swimming by checking the meet entry post e d
on the bulletin board on Saturday morning.  Be sure to recheck on Sunday at the meet in case there are any last minute changes. You may want to write the entries with a sharpie on your child's hand (or your hand!) If you think that your child is swimming and do not see their name on the entry sheets please contact a coach right away. There are a lot of new names and faces and it is possible that the coaches missed someone.

Remember that the Mite relays are first at every meet.

Please call Mike Peter's cell: 363-3733 with any last minute absences.


10)In case of bad weather, please check your e-mail for announcements. We WILL swim
in rain, but of course not in thunder & lightening.  Note: per JRAC rules, a
meet can only be canceled after a minimum of a one hour delay. (In other words,
if it's thundering at 4:00, we at least have to wait until 5:00 before the me e t
can be postponed -or if it thunders during a meet, we all go and wait in our cars
or in the clubhouse for an hour before a decision can be made.) Please do not leave a meet without letting a coach know that your swimmer is going.  We have learned the hard way that it is always better to wait out a storm if at all possible, rather than rescheduling for another night--

11)SRA has won the league's Sportsmanship Award for 3 of the last 4 years. Please
do your part to be friendly and welcome our guests and please remind your swimmers
to be on their best behavior and to always shake hands at the end of their races!

12) The first Mite party will be at Mite practice on Monday, June 8th at 4:45 pm--Mites should come to the upper pool first for a game or two then back out under our tree for the party. All Mites are welcome to attend, and any mite who swam in the June 7th meet will be recognize d with a participation ribbon.  Those Mites who came in 1st-6th will also be recognized with their place ribbons.  This is a great way for our youngest swimmers to celebrate- they'll love the snacks and drinks. Parents and siblings are encouraged to come and cheer.

I hope this helps!  If you have questions, please feel free to contact me;
Let the summer begin,
 

Jenny Hatch
897-5774