May 31, 2015, Week 4 Welcome! In the Pool We ve had a great several days in the pool and have just completed our Mock Meet. The Hurricanes are ready to roll! Despite some thunder delays, we managed to get times for all swimmers who attended, and our first meet will be on Thursday! We will be hosting Brushy Meadows/Summerwalk. Coach s Corner Hi all! Our swimmers found this week in the water to be fun and challenging. I m really happy to see so many new faces. We have been working on kicking techniques this week. Please don't forget to send me a text if your child will be missing a meet. Thank you to all the parents that came out to support the mock meet. I am looking forward to working hard for next Thursday. Please don't forget your water bottles, goggles, sunscreen and towels. Let s go, Hurricanes! ~Coach Roslyn Despite missing a Monday practice this week, the week has gone pretty well. All the swimmers looked good at the mock meet, but there is still a lot we can improve on. For older kids especially, we need a lot of work on backstroke. Also, there is a lot of work needed on everyone's turns in general. This week will contain a lot of hard work and a great first meet! ~Coach Henry Hi everyone! We had a great second week in the water. I hope my Guppies had just as much fun as I did! I have some great news, the t-shirts I have been designing for the Guppies are almost done! Hopefully order forms will be out in the coming week. Let's be the team with the most team spirit for our first meet coming up! Don t forget that there is no Guppy practice on Thursday due to the Big Team meet. ~Coach Jamie Swim suit and Apparel Orders Our new team swimsuits have arrived! They were handed out at practice last week and many wore them to the mock meet; they look great! If you did not get yours, please see Barb Soenke at practice time. The apparel orders will arrive soon.
Stroke Sign-ups Coach Roslyn got stroke choices from most everyone at practice on Friday. If your child did not get a chance to choose this time, Coach will have to do it for him/her as stroke choices must be entered on Monday. In the future, the swimmers will get to choose one stroke and Coach will select the rest. Our First Meet! As you know, our first meet of the season is this Thursday, June 4, at Holly Tree, against Brushy Meadows/Summerwalk. Please arrive at the pool at 4pm. Our team will warm-up from 4:15 4:45, Our visitors will warm up from 4:45 5:15. The meet will start at 5:30. Show your team spirit - Wear your Hurricane greens! All stroke & turn officials, timers and recording timers need to be at the pool by 5pm so they can be assigned to a lane, get their stop watch, get head sets and be ready to go by 5:30pm. What to bring your child will be sitting outside on a pool deck that will start at 90 degrees at 5pm, and end at 65 degrees by 8:30pm, so some warmer clothes for the end of the evening may come in handy. Please bring your child a chair, an extra towel to keep warm, a drink to keep them hydrated, and a snack to munch on during the meet. (Please stay away from chocolate - it melts and makes a mess). Books, ipods, small handheld video games and toys to keep them occupied while they wait between races are also good ideas. The swimmers will sit as a team on the far side of the pool. It is a tight fit for them. Parents may sit along the pool edge near the team area. Parents of 8 & Under swimmers or first time swimmers may want to sit near their children so they feel more comfortable. There will be 80 kids plus parents from HTCC at this meet so it can seem a bit overwhelming. Do not sit your kids in another area of the pool deck with you. There will be a tent parent stationed in the Team Area who will be calling the names of kids who are swimming each event to get them lined up. If your child is somewhere else on the pool deck and not in the team area, the Tent Parent cannot go looking for them. We have had kids miss events when they were sitting with their parents or wandering around the pool deck. If they have to use the rest room, they can tell someone they are leaving and will be back in a few minutes. Please tell your child that he/she needs to stay in the tent area when they aren t swimming. If they would like to get food from the concession area, please get it for them or make arrangements for someone else to get them food. We don t want them standing in line for 20-30 minutes waiting on food, when they should be resting for their next event. Non-swimming siblings and visiting friends should sit in the parent section, not in the team area please. Heat sheets will be available for sale - $2 each. This is like a program of the meet. You will want to buy one so you can know when your child is swimming. Heat sheet sales are one of the ways we raise money to buy pizza for our post meet parties, so please do not ask to see one without buying it. We appreciate your support! We also suggest bringing a highlighter so you can mark your heat sheet with the events your child is swimming. There are 80 events and about
8-10 pages of heat sheets so it can get a little confusing if you aren t used to it. It also helps to bring a sharpie to write your child s events on his/her arm. Working the meet - Name tags will be created for all parent volunteers. They show the credentials of parents who have been trained for specific roles in officiating the meet. If you are working at the meet in an official position, please look for our table that will have the name tags, stopwatches, pencils for recording timers, head sets for stroke and turn judges, etc. If you are officiating or working in the first half, please stop at the table to check in as soon as you arrive. Everybody will need to report to their timing or working position by 5:15pm so we can get started on time. Please listen for the meet/official announcements. If you are working the 2nd half of the meet, you will know it is your turn when the starter makes an announcement calling for all 2nd half officials. This will happen at the start of the 11/12 breast stroke. Please be ready to move to your work position at that time. What to Do If It Rains... If it s raining lightly, the meet will continue. If it thunders, lightening, or is raining hard, we will clear the pool and wait out the rain in the team areas. The lifeguards will make this call. If it thunders loudly close by or lightening, we will clear the pool deck and team areas and have all swimmers and families wait in their cars. Please do not leave. The officials from both teams will be checking the weather and if looks like it will clear up soon, we will keep the meet going. If you have left, you will be scratched from the meet. We will shout the news from car to car like previous years. Please stay close by until you hear a final determination about the meet. We will not be able to make up the meet if it is rained out. Food and Concessions We will be selling concessions (snacks drinks and Hurricane paraphernalia) out of The Deep End during the meet, and the Club will be setting up their grill and selling made-to-order dinner plates for about $6 apiece. (Hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.) Post Meet Party Hungry Howie s Pizza, who is sponsoring our team, will be providing pizza for our post-meet party again this week! Please bring your own beverages (no glass!) or you may purchase drinks from the concession stand. And I thank everyone in advance for your help in getting the pool deck tidied up and put back together for the next day. Meet Volunteer Sign-ups Parents please go to the team website, www.htccswim.com, and get signed up to work the 4 th meet! Click on Meet Sign Up and volunteer to help out. We need the parent of every swimmer to work at least one half of each meet. If you are new to the team, don t worry, there are several easy but important jobs you can do! If you have certified as a stroke & turn judge for the first time this year, please do not sign up to work at the first 2 meets. You must shadow one of the experienced S&T parents before you can work on your own. Meet volunteer pages have been created for all the Hurricane meets, so feel free to sign up for jobs at all the meets!
Certified Officials If you have been planning to certify for any of the positions, there is still time. Please go to www.swimsail.org, click on the Officials tab, and choose Online Certification. Scroll down to find the link to certify for the position of your choice. We are still in need of at least 4 more Records & Ribbons volunteers, 4 more Runners, 10 more Timers and 2 for Stroke & Turn! Again, We need the parent of every swimmer to work at least one half of each meet. To all of you who have already gotten certified thank you, thank you! We couldn t hold the meets without you! Moving On, Moving Up Just like the team suit that changes every two years, so does the team leadership. Laurie & I have so enjoyed being the Directors of this wonderful team and group of families, but our time is up after this season and another individual or pair (I do recommend doing this job with a partner!) needs to start getting prepared for the next season. Amanda Gonzalez, our Team Computer Operator is also serving her second season and would like to start training an apprentice. Please consider helping out in one of these capacities and come talk to me or Laurie if you are interested in any way. We will work with you to make it an easy and smooth transition. Many thanks! Parking When coming to the pool, please use the parking lot across the street. The lot next to the pool is for the tennis membership. This is especially important on meet nights. Thank you! Fitter & Faster Clinic & SAIL Night at the Greenville Drive The annual SAIL night at the Greenville Drive is scheduled for Monday, June 15 and it is always a fun night. Before the game, all of the SAIL teams participate in a parade around the field. Each SAIL team sits together in a section reserved for SAIL teams. There are also special games/activities that take place during the game. There will also be an opportunity to meet Olympic gold medalist Lauren Perdue. The deadline to order tickets with the team has passed, but you can always buy tickets at the gate and join us anyway! They are $8 apiece. We will have additional details regarding times soon. Earlier, on the same day, is the Fitter and Faster Swim Clinic. On June 15, at 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. Lauren Perdue will be working with swimmers in this clinic. There are two age and ability level clinics. Below are links to information about what is scheduled for the clinics. More information will be available shortly Check out custom curriculum for each clinic today: Techniques for Faster Freestyle (swimmers 11 and younger): http://fitterandfaster.com/swim-clinics/techniques-forfaster-freestyle-greenville-sc Fast Freestyle and Racing Skills (swimmers 12 and older): http://fitterandfaster.com/swim-clinics/fast-freestyle-andracing-skills-greenville-sc
Spirit Buddies The Big Team Spirit Buddies were revealed this week! The idea of a Spirit Buddy is to foster a stronger team spirit by moving the focus away from physical gifts and being more of a cheerleader or mentor to your Spirit Buddy. Everyone participates. If you do not know who your child s Buddy is, please check in with Coach Roslyn. (Roslyn.burroughs@gmail.com) The most important job of a Spirit Buddy is to know when your Buddy is racing and to CHEER for him/her! Bring signs! Write a sincere note. A small gift is fine, but please limit it to $2-$3. Older Buddies should also help their younger Buddy remember when their event is. There will also be designated Buddy practices, which will be announced periodically. This is a great opportunity for team building and for giving the kids a chance to get to know teammates they might not otherwise have had much time to meet. Iron Man/Iron Chick Every year the swim team holds an Iron Man and Iron Chick recognition. Our goal is to have each swimmer learn all the strokes and be able to swim them at least one time correctly in a meet. Therefore, to qualify as an Iron Man or Chick, each swimmer age 9 and older will need to swim each stroke without getting disqualified (DQ d) in a meet at least once. The strokes they must swim are: Short freestyle, Long freestyle, Breaststroke, Backstroke, Butterfly and the IM - Individual Medley (fly, back, breast, free). Our 8 and Under swimmers are only required to swim 5 of the strokes correctly in a meet in order to qualify. During our Donuts & Ribbons or Popsicles & Ribbons party each week, the kids will show their ribbons and receive a sticker(s) to put on the Iron Man/Chick poster next to their name. This will help them to keep track of which strokes they need to swim at the next meet to earn their Iron Man/Chick award. At our season ending party, we will recognize and reward those kids who achieved their Iron Man/Chick during the season. Guppy Meet Our sweet Guppies have their first meet this week as well. They will be meeting at RiverWalk at 8:30am on Saturday morning in preparation for a 9am start. Big Team cheerleaders are always welcome! Memorial Day Party Did you make it to the pool on Memorial Day? If not, you missed out on a fabulous party! Many thanks to Jason Hucks and Chip Davis for organizing this fun event and fundraiser for the team, complete with games and a DJ! They raised over $800! It was such a hit, there have been requests for a repeat performance on Labor Day!
Season Schedule Changes/additions since last newsletter are in BLUE May18-June 5 - School-in-session practice. 10 & Unders 4-5pm Guppies 5-5:30pm 11 & Ups 5:30-6:30 June 4 First meet! @ HTCC vs. Brushy Meadows/Summerwalk June 6 Guppy Meet @ Riverwalk 8:30 am Monday, June 8 Donuts & Ribbons. 9:30 am in the cabana (Big Team only) Monday June 8- Summer Swim Practice begins! Monday Thursday 10 & Unders 8:30-9:30am & 5-6pm, Guppies 9:30-10 (Monday Friday) 11 & Ups 10-11am & 6-7pm June 11 Swim Meet HTCC @ Poinsettia/Heritage Pt. June 12 Donuts & Ribbons 9:30 am June 13 Guppy Meet @ Stonehaven 8:30am June 15 Fitter & Faster Clinic SAIL night at the Greenville Drive June 18 Swim Meet @ HTCC vs. Silverleaf June 19 Donuts & Ribbons 9:30am June 20 Guppy Meet. Pelham Falls @ HTCC 8:30 am June 25 Swim Meet HTCC @ Pebble Creek/Half Mile Lake June 26 Donuts & Ribbons 9:30 am June 27 Guppy Meet Spaulding Farm @ HTCC June 30 Swim Meet @ HTCC vs. Neely Farm July 1 Donuts & Ribbons 9:30 am July 10 & 11 Blue Division Meet @ Neely Farm July 12 End of Season Banquet July 18 &19 C&C weekend July 19 - C&C party
If your child(ren) will be missing a meet, please email Coach Roslyn Roslyn.burroughs@gmail.com to let her know, so that she can plan accordingly for relays and the seeding of the meet. It is also very important that you email Amanda Gonzalez at amandaleticiag@gmail.com so she can be sure to take your child s name out of the computer for that meet. At the Club Your pool membership comes with dining/social privileges at the Club. Here are a few fun events for this coming week: Fine Dining June 5 & 6, 5:30-9pm Enjoy delicious entrees! Bring your friends! Reservations required. Please call 967-9515 Don t forget about the team website www.htccswim.com Check in often for information, schedules, sign-ups, photos and more!
If you would like to share your photo here, please email it to me at chipkat@charter.net