Hanna Seals Swim Club June 2008 Newsletter www3.telus.net/hannaseals www.assa.ab.ca Welcome back This is the first official newsletter of the season. I apologize as it is a little long, but as most of our fundraisers are coming up quickly in June, all the more reason to get the information to you. If you have any questions or concerns, please ask one of the executive. Our Coaches We are happy to introduce you to our new coaching staff: Our new Head Coach is Jennifer Sernecky. Jennifer has many years of coaching experience in Saskatchewan. Jennifer is off to a great start, and will have our swimmers in shape in no time! Welcome to our club, Jennifer! We welcome back our Assistant Coach, Ashley Siverson, and Junior Coach Lisa Kroetsch. Both are excited to be back and have lots of new ideas! We just want to remind you that if you need to speak to any of the coaches, please do so after the practice to avoid disrupting the practice. If you have any concerns, you may call Jennifer @ 854-2874, or any member of the executive. Practice Times Our swim schedule is as follows: Seals @ 4-6 pm (dryland from 4-4:30 runners required) Otters @ 4-5 pm Pups @ 5:15-6 pm **Reassessment of swimmer division will be at the coach s discretion. Important - If your child is only able to come on certain days until ball or soccer is over, please let the coaches know as soon as possible. They can then work out a schedule to accommodate all. Thanks! Also, please remind your children that the tot pool is not rented by the swim club, and therefore should not be used by us. They should be working on their stretches until the coaches are ready for them.
Executive members As you may have heard, our general meeting was not very well attended. We needed to have elections for President and Vice President, and didn t have anyone jump up and volunteer for these positions. Lynette Barker volunteered to take on President (again) one last year, if someone would be willing to take on the Vice President position with the intention of becoming President next year. Tracey Grantham volunteered to take Treasurer, and Chantelle Burgemeister has agreed to take on Vice President. A huge thank you to Tracey and Chantelle!! President Lynette Barker Secretary Cindy Kroetsch Coaching Liaison - Vice President Chantelle Burgemeister Treasurer Tracey Grantham Fundraising Tannis Voltner Non Executive position - Equipment Manager Deanne Bish Both Lynette and Cindy are planning on stepping down after this season, so please think about joining our club s executive at our September general meeting. NEW - There is a new incentive to becoming an executive member. There was a motion made and passed at the general meeting that each member of the executive will receive $100 off each of their children s registration fees. FYI - I have posted a list of what is expected of each executive member on the bulletin board. Being on the executive may take a bit of your time (it s only a couple of months and a couple of meetings), but your kids will thank you for it! The best way to learn is by doing! Term length:- President - 1 year term (then past President to help out) Vice President 1 year term to learn - then move up to President Secretary - 2 year term Treasurer - 2 year term Fundraising (includes casino) 2 year term Swim suits, Hoodies, Track Suits and other equipment needs Please contact Deanne Bish as soon as possible to order a swim suit. T-shirts, hoodies and track suits will be ordered on Friday, June 5 th. (Yes, the sizing kit for the track suits has arrived.) Deanne can usually be found at the pool after work from 5:30-6 pm.
Practice cancellation The only time that practice will be cancelled is when we do not have a coach available. So on bad weather days please send your swimmers to the pool with their runners (not sandals), as well as their suits and towels in case the weather changes! The kids will do some dry-land training (usually in the arena). The coaches will also go over ideas and strategies that they may not actually get to talk about during regular practice, but are beneficial to our swimmers. www3.telus.net/hannaseals The Hanna Seals Swim Club website has lots of information for all the new and old swimmers in our club. You can find out things like what to take to a swim meet, what to eat at a swim meet, and what you can expect at a swim meet. Our club records can also be found here. Check out our photo gallery of the past seasons. We are still working on updating it and hope to get it done soon. www.assa.ab.ca The Alberta Summer Swimming Association website. At this website, you can see how well your child is doing in comparison to other swimmers in the province. It is updated after each swim meet. Swim Meets Region E Swim Meet Schedule 2008 June 7 Okotoks Stingrays Good luck to all swimmers! June 14 Joint meet in Didsbury (Didsbury Aqua Jets/Calgary Swordfish) June 21 - High River Otters June 28 Medicine Hat Region F meet** July 5 Innisfail Dolphins July 12 Hanna Seals July 19 Calgary Tritons (Talisman Centre) July 26/27 Canmore Coho Swim Club (or Forestburg Region D meet)*** August 2, 3 - Regional E Finals (Talisman Centre) August 17, 18 - ASSA Provincials (Edmonton) ***We will have to decide as a club if we will be going to other Region meets if there is one in our own Region. The sign up sheets for the swim meets will be posted as we get them. If your swimmer is not going to the posted swim meet, please neatly cross their name off the list, and let one of the coaches know. If you need help, deciding which event to enter you child in, please talk to one of the coaches.
Deadlines to sign up for the meet are usually the week before the meet, so that we can send our entries in on time. No exceptions!! These entries then have to be downloaded by the host club and set up before the meet begins. Upcoming Fundraisers everyone must participate in- We don t have a lot of fundraising to do, but it still must be done. Our two main fundraisers are relatively easy on the parents, are organized during practice times, and best of all - mostly involve the kids doing the work. We will be receiving our casino funds near the end of July, so these fundraisers are for the little extras. i.e. - club t-shirts/treats/year end wind-up and swimmer gifts. Swim-a-thon Tuesday, June 10 th Seals & Otters from 4 5 pm, Pups from 5-6 pm. We will need some parent help for counting laps. If you have not received a pledge sheet please see Tannis Voltner. Bottle Drive Thursday, June 19 rain or shine (hopefully shine) We will meet at the pool at 5 pm bring a truck if possible. Routes will be assigned when you get there. The more people we have the faster it can be done. The ideal is 2 adults, 4 swimmers / truck. Swimmers should wear either their Seals t-shirt or hoodie. Hanna Seals Swim Meet Saturday, July 12 In order to run a successful meet, we need your help. The coaches will all be at the meet to care for the swimmers, which will free the parents up to help out. We will need help with set up, take down, timing, computer entry, marshalling, etc. Reminder every family must help out!! Upcoming Events Monday, June 16, 2008 Swim Club Pictures - Rana Keen Zandbeek will be taking our swim club pictures again this year. Even if you do not want individual pictures of your swimmer, please send them anyway so that we can get a group picture of everyone for the club. Individual pictures of Seals and Otters will start at 4 pm, followed by the group picture for everyone around 4:45 pm, then individual pup pictures. **If your swimmer has other commitments that night, Rana will get those that need to leave done first. (Please let us know ahead of time if possible). The price will be $15.00 for a group picture + 2 individual pictures, payment due to Rana that night. **Swimmers please wear your Hanna Seals t-shirt for the group picture**
June 26, 2008 - Garth Hanlon Lane Swim Community Challenge In 2004, the Hanna Seals Swim Club initiated the first annual Garth Hanlon Lane Swim Community Challenge, in Garth s memory. Garth Hanlon was an avid athlete who embraced the life long sport of swimming, encouraging others to take part. As a competitive swimmer, Hanlon was a member of the Hanna Seals Swim Club, later becoming a lifeguard at the original town swimming pool. Over the years, he coached the Seals Swim Club, implemented a swimming program for adults and was a regular at the Daybreak Dippers lane swimming. Garth Hanlon truly enjoyed the sport and the benefits derived from being an active swimmer. The Hanna Seals thought the Community Challenge would be a great way to continue Garth s legacy of encouraging all ages to swim. Together, the Town of Hanna and the Hanna Seals made it possible. The first annual Garth Hanlon Lane Swim Community Challenge was held on August 9th, 2004. We had a total of 58 swimmers that came to swim laps. The combined total of all laps for the day was 3219 lengths (80.5 km). As an added bonus, the Town of Hanna waived the fee for everyone to come and swim lengths for the day, and over $700.00 was donated towards the new pool in Garth's name. These funds will be directed towards a new display cabinet for the use of the Hanna Seals in the front reception area of the Hanna & District Community Swimming Pool. The plaque for this annual event is proudly exhibited in this display case. Garth Hanlon Lane Swim Community Challenge 2004-3219 lengths 58 swimmers 80.5 kms 2005-2867 lengths 63 swimmers 71.7 kms 2006 5292 lengths 105 swimmers 132.3 kms with $254.00 raised. 2007-3025 lengths 40 swimmers 75.6 kms $105.00 raised 2008 Let s get the best numbers yet!! All proceeds go towards the Garth Hanlon Memorial Display Case. Bulletin Board Please check the Seals bulletin board regularly for any notices or swim meet signup sheets. As well, in case you don t check your email all the time, we will post one copy of the newsletter on the bulletin board. So please check the board daily for updates.