Even if your athlete is not competing in this Saturday’s meet, please read points 6-10. Thanks!
***Regular Saturday practice schedule for all Sept 24th Saturday groups***Even if in the meet, HIGHLY recommended you attend your Saturday practice.
- This Saturday’s meet is split into two sessions. The earlier session is set up for our “older” training groups – which would typically mean 13 and older. HOWEVER – there are a few exceptions to that in this meet, and some 12 and Unders will be swimming in this session.
- Our later session is set up for our “younger advanced” training groups – which would typically mean 12 and unders, Silver group and above. HOWEVER – there are a few exceptions to that in this meet, and some 13 and olders will be swimming in this session.
- To be sure of what session your athlete will be swimming, go to www.nitroswim.com and get onto the Nitro/USA Swimming Team part of the site (upper right quadrant on our landing page), and click on the “Events” tab. Scroll down to the Sept 24th Red vs Black meet. Click on the actual text of “Red vs Black” and then scroll down a bit to Forms/Documents. Click on the Heat Sheets to see what events your athlete is entered in, and to verify what session they will be competing. Feel free to print the heat sheet and bring it with you to the meet. We will not be providing heat sheets at the meet, so if you want one, BYOHS (Bring Your Own Heat Sheet)!
- Warm up for the first session will be 12 noon. Meet starting at 1:00PM. First session should be done by around 3:15 or so. Second session warm up beginning at approximately 3:30PM, with meet tentatively slated to start at 4:15PM. Don’t worry about getting to the meet early – especially if first session is still swimming. There is not enough room for both groups of folks, so second session folks, if you pull in and the parking lot is totally full, then the first session hasn’t finished yet. Hold off from coming in until you see families exiting.
- I anticipate second session being done by 6:30. As always, would love it if we had help cleaning up at end of meet for any who want to help.
- If new to the “meet thing,” we will have the smaller bleachers set up for the athletes, and the larger bleachers set up for the spectators. It will be somewhat tight on the pool deck, so be nice to each other!! No swim bags needed. No fins, no kickboards, etc. Also – parents – no need to bring in any bulky items. The less clutter the better.
- We also have the viewing area that has more bleacher space if you so choose. No room for deck chairs, so please leave those at home (parents and athletes).
- One quick note about USA Swimming Officials: This meet is an officially sanctioned USA Swimming meet. There will be USA Swimming officials on our pool deck. Many of these folks are our own swim parents. They don’t get paid for doing what they do. They are VOLUNTEERS. If your athlete gets disqualified in an event, it is NOT the end of the world. I’d much rather see a disqualification occur in September as opposed to March. So if you see a USA Swimming official, give them a pat on the back and tell them Thank You for taking time out of their day to help our athletes get better.
- Last note while I’m still on my soapbox: I communicate this throughout each season, so here goes: The role of the parent in all of this is to simply encourage and support. All that your athlete wants is for you to be proud of them – so tell them that when you give them a hug. Don’t bother going over race strategy, stroke techniques, why they didn’t get a ‘best time,” etc. No need to offer your “advice” to the other parents/families on how the kids could be coached better, why aren’t they working on whatever it is you think they need more of, etc. Most other folks don’t want to hear that anyway, there just too polite to tell you so. This Saturday is a celebration of youth sports. We’re all ambassadors of hopefully all that is good about athletics. The best advice I have ever heard comes from baseball great Cal Ripken Jr. He asks all parents who have kids involved in athletic programs to “become the grandparent.” Anyone ever see Grandma or Grandpa criticize their grandkid’s performance? There’s a lot we can learn from the Grandparents of the world.
- Looking forward to this Saturday. Thanks for being a part of Nitro Swimming. See you at the pools! Coach Mike.
Posted in Swim Team
