Newsplash Issue 4 June 3, 2018 stseaotters.com CONGRATULATIONS SEA OTTERS! Our first dual meet win! It was wonderful seeing all of our Otters swimming and displaying great sportsmanship during our meet against the Shadowbrook Sharks. Final result: Santa Teresa 311 Shadowbrook - 165 RECORDS BROKEN 11/12 Girls Medley Relay McKenna Valenta, Savannah Zuanich, Samantha Sousa, Gabriela Benitez New record - 2:08.80 Old record - 2:09.48 from 1988!!! SANTA TERESA @ PINEHURST JUNE 9TH Don t forget to sign-up for your events for the June 9 th meet (6 & Unders Backstroke and Freestyle / 8 & Up you will choose your three events). The signup sheets will be at the pool starting tomorrow. You must sign-up by circling your events and initialing next to your name, or cross off your name and initial, if you will not be at the meet, by end of practice, Wednesday, June 6th. Please ask a friend to sign you up, if you cannot make it to the pool. Our next meet is an away meet at Pinehurst. Their club s address is 886 Lewiston Dr, San Jose, CA 95136. Their club is smaller than ours, so please be prepared to huddle up with multiple families next weekend. I will share the meet timeline once I get it from our hosts.
SUPPORT ONE OF OUR OWN One of our Sea Otter families suffered a loss this past weekend. The Gonzales family is mourning their beloved husband and father, Abe. Neighbors and friends are rallying to support them as they move through this difficult time, with a sign-up sheet for meals and other entertainment, to help them through the summer. Sea Otters are amazing when it comes to helping one of our own. Please consider donating a meal at this link - https://takethemameal.com/tpyz6923 RELAY POLICY The relays will be decided at the coaching staff s discretion. Please notify a coach prior to Wednesday, each week, in writing or via email, if you will not be available for a relay. Relays will be posted for Friday s practice. Please contact Coach Les with any questions. Lesliejgreenwood2005@yahoo.com or 408-348-1491. More information about relays will be coming out from Coach soon. AWARDS Ribbons from each meet will be available the TUESDAY after each meet, at swim practice, outside the office. Ribbons are filed by family in the ribbon boxes. Ribbons are awarded for each individual event 1st through 6th place, heat winners, and improved times. All swimmers who compete will receive a participant ribbon. 1st and 2 nd place ribbons are awarded to the A relays only. If you have any problems or questions regarding ribbons, or if your name is misspelled, please send an email to awards@stseaotters.com. FUNDRAISING Beautycounter Fundraiser Fellow Sea Otter mom, Debi Fennern, will offer a fundraiser through Beautycounter. It is a company that is committed to progress in the personal care industry. Their mission is to get safer products into the hands of everyone. They provide non-toxic and effective skin care and beauty products. The new mineral sunscreen would be a great addition to your swimmer s swim bag as summer approaches! All orders placed between now and June 15 will benefit our team. You can place your order with her or online through this link: https://www.beautycounter.com/debifennern. Also, be sure to check out a Beautycounter package as one of our raffle prizes. Please contact Debi @ 408-806-3254 or debifennern@hotmail.com for any questions.
TECH SUITS In the spirit of Cabana and amateur athlete swimming, knee-skin tech suits will not be allowed during dual meets. Swimmers are welcome to wear their tech suits at Champs. We will be enforcing this throughout the season. SEA OTTER ACTIVITIES CAR WINDOW DECORATING With our first away meet next weekend, let s show off our Sea Otter spirit all season long! Come down to the club during practice and decorate your car windows. A bucket with the supplies will be in the club office. We even have Otter templates for those us who are artistically challenged. Please be respectful and return the supplies after you use them. Thank you! PRIVATE SEA OTTERS ONLY LASER TAG Becky Sousa, Activities Coordinator, is selling laser tag tickets. Contact her at becky.sousa @gmail.com. Tickets are $15 (cash, check or credit card), and the date is Sunday, June 10 th from 9-11am. This is a super fun event! SIGN UP SO WE DON T HAVE TO CANCEL! SPIRIT POSTERS About half of our team has made a spirit poster. If you still have not made one, look for Angela G or Sara S during practices. We will have supplies out. We hope to fill up our fences with Sea Otter Spirit! LATE NIGHT PARTY CANCELED Unfortunately, due to multiple conflicts, we have to cancel our Sea Otter Late Night Party. The club will still host their Late Night Luau, so please do enjoy the club s hospitality, even though we won t be able to stay even later that night. SEA OTTERS PHOTOS & VIDEOS Victor Bittorf continues to snap photos and take video for our team. Take a look at the links below from Time Trials you ll be impressed. More to come soon. You can contact Victor at victor@rwxmedia.com. Donut Meet 2018 - Video Donut Meet 2018 - Photos
HEAD STARTER SHADOWS NEEDED If you re interested in learning about the Head Starter position, please find the PDF attached. (Don t be intimidated.our current Starters would love to have you shadow them.) This role is integral to our meets running smoothly and on-time. The Head Starter is person with the whistle who calls the swimmers to the blocks, and maintains the meet cadence and rhythm. If you re interested, come spend time with Eric, Bill or Jason this season, and learn more about this role. Contact me at chair@stseatotters.com. BOARD MEMBERS NEEDED SHADOW US THIS SEASON! Every Newsplash, we will share the information about shadowing outgoing Board members. Thank you to those of you who have stepped up already and are shadowing or are talking to Board members. Some positions have had multiple inquiries, so please, if your first choice is taken, consider another position. No one does anything on our Board alone! We are eager to welcome new faces and hope you will join us. Open positions after this season are Snack Shack, Treasurer, New Sea Otter Liaison, Technical Records, Championship Meet Lead, Fundraising, and Activities. Feel free to contact me directly, Stacy Valenta, at chair@stseaotters.com, or contact the current Board member whose position you are interested in. OPEN POSITIONS TO SHADOW THIS SEASON: SNACK SHACK Grab a friend (it's so fun with a friend!) and shadow us this summer to learn about the Sea Otter Snack Shack! The great news is you only have to work during our home meets. We will teach you all you need to know to oversee the snack shack operations which include deciding the menu, shopping for food and food prep. For inquires please email us at... Cindy: cincoelho@yahoo.com Tracy: tracyannsimpkins@yahoo.com NEW OTTER LIAISON The New Otter Liaison is responsible for welcoming new families to the swim team and being there for them when needed to answer any questions they may have. It is also the responsibility of the liaison to make sure all new families know what to expect at a swim meet and at Champs. Attendance at Board meetings is an expectation, as is working with the president to set up times to meet with the new families. It would be helpful to have some background on how the team and the league work, as well as what it is like to attend a dual meet and champs. Heather: samsons98@hotmail.com
SEA OTTERS COMPUTER TECH Grab a friend, sit with Coach, and learn how to make a swim meet work. A Sea Otter Computer Tech is responsible for managing the athlete database, setting up meets in the team computer, and processing the times on the day of the meet. It is a great opportunity to chart athlete accomplishments and growth, help coach develop athletes and strategize a meet based on data, and enjoy the meets in the comfort of the air-conditioned Rancho lounge. This position is exciting, nuanced, and fulfills all your obligations for volunteering even for away meets. Please contact me with any questions. Bryan Phipps: mrbgphipps@yahoo.com TREASURER The role of Treasurer is a very rewarding one. As a member of the Executive Board, you will be a part of key decisions shaping the operations of the swim team. This person doesn't need to be a Finance expert, but rather someone who is detailed and organized. The primary function is acting as the Bookkeeper, managing income and expenses for the swim team. You will make payments and reimbursements as well as bank deposits. We use QuickBooks software to record those transactions which will help you report back to the Board how we are tracking to each account within the budget. I'm willing to work closely with the new Treasurer during the transition for as long as it takes to feel comfortable in the role. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have an interest or have questions about the position. Lars Samson: treasurer@stseaotters.com ACTIVITIES COORDINATOR This role involves planning and coordinating up to two team events that occur outside of swim meets. For example, Beach Day or Laser Tag. In addition, this role has the responsibility of providing window markers for families to decorate their cars. Although this role covers your volunteer responsibility, it is still important to pitch in whenever it is needed. For example, other committee members may need assistance or you may be needed to volunteer at Champs. Becky Sousa: becky.sousa@gmail.com FUNDRAISING Come talk with Jennifer Fusilero and Michelle Partsch at our next home meet. The Fundraising Chair(s) run several fundraising campaigns each season. This is a great volunteer opportunity for parents that are ready to give back to the team and have time in the early spring to set up fun fundraisers for the swim season. We always have time to see our swimmers swim and find this position very manageable. This year we are selling Jamba Juice at home meets and putting together our Annual Sea Otter Raffle and the new Parking Spot raffle. You can easily tailor this position if you have ideas of your own! We would be happy to help you learn the ropes. Jennifer Fusilero: jenniferfusilero@gmail.com Michelle Partch: mpartsch@nc.rr.com
SUMMER PRACTICES Please take note, summer practice schedule begins June 11 th. Evening practices will be offered but are limited to those swimmers who participated in the survey. SUMMER PRACTICE SCHEDULE 2018 Sea Otter Summer Practice Schedule June 11 July 6, 2018 Morning Practices Age Group Time 15 & Up 7:00am 8:30am 11-14 7:30am 9:00am 9-10 9:00am 10:00am 7-8 10:00am 11:00am 6 & Under 11:00am 12:00pm Evening Practices All Ages 7:00pm 8:00pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday *Please note, evening practices are reserved for those swimmers who participated in the survey. Evening practices are not for swimmers who want to double, or simply don t get up from AM practices. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK Don t forget to follow us on Facebook and refer to our website, regularly. LOOKING AHEAD 6/9 ST @ Pinehurst 6/10 Laser Tag Activity 6/16 ST @ Crossgates 6/22 Sea POT ter Luck Pasta Feed 6/23 Almaden @ ST 6/30 Creekside @ ST 7/6 Pancake Breakfast 7/7 CHAMPS @ College of San Mateo 7/9 Awards Night **Spirit Weeks will begin 6/11.