Important Information for Parents to know...

Transcription

1 Important Information for Parents to know... About Me Bio: Mike Bonitatibus is in his third year with the PAC Gators. He was the head coach of the Lenape Valley Whales in Chalfont, PA. Before that, he coached for Maple Manor Swim Club in Maple Glen, PA for 8 years under coach Stu Kukla. While at MM as a swimmer and coach he collected 14 consecutive championships. He was the head coach of SWAC girls (South/West Aquatic Club) in the Suburban Aquatic League for 6 years. He has also had a few stints as an assistant coach for the Central Bucks West High School Swim Team. He grew up in Ambler, PA and attended Upper Dublin High School. Mike swam there, as well as for Maple Manor Swim Club, UDAC, and one year at Towson University. He was a district qualifier in almost every high school event. Mike is currently a Physical Education teacher at The Philadelphia School in Philadelphia, PA. Mike is very focused on improving technique while also working hard in every practice. Mike has a firm philosophy that summer swimming is not just about improving as a swimmer, but also having fun! 1. Practice/Attendance a. Practice times are as follows i. Evening Practices During School: May 31st June 17th ii. 8 and Under: 5:00 pm 5:45 pm iii. 10 and Under: 5:45 pm 6:45 pm iv. 12, 14u, & Opens: 6:30 pm 7:45 pm (new time) v. Morning Practices After School is Over: June 20th July 29th vi. 14u & Opens: 6:30 am 8:00 am (new time) vii. 12 and Under: 7:45 am 9:00 am viii. 10 and Under: 8:45 am 10:00 am ix. 8 and Under: 9:45 am 10:45 am

2 b. Practice times are made for the benefit of the whole team. We want to overlap practices as little as possible. c. Please be on time! d. The first couple practices for afternoons will be like beginning of the school year. It will include getting to know kids, setting expectations, rules, etc. We will not be in the pool right away, we will slowly be in more and more as the afternoon practices go on. e. No swimmer is allowed to swim outside of their age group practice without my permission. This permission must be given BEFORE the day of the practice. Swimmers swimming up for the season will only be allowed for the benefit of the swimmer, not for convenience. If there are occasional practices where conflicts make it difficult for you, please talk to me and we may be able to make something work, but no guarantees. f. Parents who are at the pool for practices should not distract coaches while they are coaching. g. There are no requirements on practice attendance, but it directly correlates with how much your child will improve. I recommend at least 3 times a week or more h. Please try to save vacations till August and after season! It hurts our chances as a team. It also is a detriment for the swimmer when they don t practice for a week or two. i. Practice cancelations will be sent out as soon as possible. They will be a case by case basis. This means sometimes we may only cancel one practice at a time to wait it out or we may cancel them all based on the forecast. We will get information out as soon as possible, check and facebook. We will do the best we can in determining this. 2. Suits/Goggles a. Appropriate suit and goggles at every practice

3 b. Make sure any suits your child wears to practice are the appropriate sizes, they should be TIGHT. There should be no air in between the suit and the swimmers body. No board shorts, rash guards (shirts), or frilly suits. All of these cause drag and make it harder for your child to swim and have proper technique. 3. Time Trials a. Please attend and be on time i. Important for getting a starting time to improve from ii. Important for me to see where your swimmer is in order to make the line ups for meets. 4. Meets a. Please be at as many as possible b. Sign in/out as early as possible using Google Docs. If you have to leave early or are going to be there late please write that in the comments. c. Sign in/out AT LEAST 3 days before the day of the meet. i. If they are not signed in or out I assume they WILL NOT be attending and therefore they will not be in the meet. d. If something changes within 3 days of the meet, please me ( mbonit10@gmail.com ). The earlier you can let me know the better e. If something happens the day of the meet please let me know ASAP by . It takes my eyes away from the pool in order to make changes when someone is not coming last minute. So please try to limit this, but I understand things happen. f. Again, BE ON TIME. i. If swimmers aren t there by warm up I check my , if there is no notice I assume they are not coming and start to take them out of the meet. g. Tell your swimmers to ALWAYS ask for their time i. They may not always get it, but always ask

4 ii. The coaches will be asking them after their races h. Encourage your swimmer to talk to the coaches after races i. Ideally they will get advice for how to improve. If not, they can atleast get some encouragement/praise. ii. We will want to know their time to see if they improved. 5. Line Ups a. All swimmers are guaranteed 1 individual and 1 relay each meet i. If a swimmer swims the minimum one meet I will make a conscious effort to get them in more for the next ii. If an age group is small, they will likely be in 3 or 4 events iii. Meet to meet it will be different depending on the teams we swim against b. I will swim everyone in every stroke over the course of the season. I realize not all swimmers like each stroke, but when they don t swim it as frequently it s easy to improve (Which generally comes with a smile :)) c. You can request 1 event per meet when you sign your swimmer in i. Keep in mind there is no guarantees 1. Depends on if we have the heats to do it 2. If the swimmers is going to be DQed I try not to put them in it (more for older swimmers). 3. If you miss a number of meets then requests become even less likely d. My lineups are written based on who we are swimming against i. When we may win the meet, swimmers will likely be in their best events ii. When we are swimming a very strong team, swimmers may be in off events 6. Champs

5 a. Prior to A, B, and C champs make sure swimmers are signed into what they want to swim i. Please only sign up for swims that your swimmer does legally 1. Sometimes stroke and turn judges miss things and they could still receive a time. Check with me if you aren t sure b. You must qualify for both A and Bs c. Swimmers are only allowed 4 total events throughout all 3 meets d. Swimmers must attend 3 meets in order to be in an A relay e. Top 4 swimmers based on time will make the A and B relays i. Computer calculates these times ii. Last day to improve is the last meet 7. Questions a. Ask me anytime by . b. You can talk to me in person if I am not busy. c. If it s a simple question you may ask assistants, otherwise ask me. 8. My Philosophy/Goals a. IMPROVE AND HAVE FUN i. Each practice, each meet, and throughout the season that s what I want to happen b. Winning meets and places in races comes second i. Parents need to encourage the same thing ii. Please DO NOT give incentives based on places 1. The swimmers have no control over the swimmers in the other lanes iii. Help us enforce that they will not drop every race, it s not possible. Just do the best they can and have fun! c. Short term individual improvements lead to long term team success

6 9. Last few things a. Being on time and communication is crucial to success b. Its summer swimming HAVE FUN!