Weekly Email #4

Good evening!

Let's get right into it.

Our talking points tonight:

1) Home Meet Review

2) Practice Time Changes

3) Feeder Program

4) Paperwork

5) Private Lessons

6) Communication

7) Master's Update

1.) HOME MEET REVIEWS

Our home meet this past week versus Beaver Brook was a roller coaster ride to say the least. I would like to apologize to everyone for the late start. A lack of preparation and practice with our new system on my part led to the issues with starting the meet on time. Yes, things could have been handled differently, but once we got the ball rolling in the right direction, everyone did an amazing job helping. That being said, I would like to thank all our parent volunteers and the extra effort put forth to get the meet set up, we could not have done it without you. For those of you wondering, we did pull out the big W, winning 386-222. 

Swimming wise, the kids performed well, but we have A LOT to work on. Our coaching staff is ready for a strong week of practice where the basics of swimming will be reviewed, and we will be preparing for an even better performance at our next meet.

2.) PRACTICE TIME CHANGES

Our practice times will change slightly starting this past week. With a large feeder group (more info on that in the next paragraph), we would like to ensure that all of our coaches are able to assist in some facet. That being said, we will be moving our feeder program to 9:45-10:15, and offering two practice times in the morning for swim team.

Monday-Thursday

10 and under- 9-10am

11 and over- 10:15-11:30am

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Feeder- 9:45-10:15am

Friday

Swim Team- 10-11:30

We believe the extra 15 minutes of practice for the 8 and under will be incredibly beneficial to their stroke technique, as well as their endurance. Also, adding the 9-10's to our 8 and under practice will give our advanced 8 and under swimmers the opportunity to work with older swimmers. This will allow for more skill appropriate drills and coaching. I believe that this will maximize our coaches talents and feedback delivery, and in turn, provide our swimmers with an even better experience this season. 

3.) FEEDER PROGRAM

Our first week of Feeder Group went great! We have over 25 of our youngest swimmers on roster. We were so glad to see those sweet faces again this summer and to meet our new youngest swimmers.

We will be focusing on more water safety this year in the Feeder Group and will start our stroke instruction out a little more slowly to make sure that all our Feeder Swimmers, whether they are beginner swimmers or more advanced swimmers, are getting the basics to build on. We are looking forward to all our swimmers learning and perfecting new skills and advancing to the main swim team when they are ready.

We are excited about moving to the new time change from 9:45-10:15. The program continues to grow and we want to meet all our swimmers' needs to the best of our abilities. The new time change will allow all 3 coaches as well as our dedicated teenage volunteers to work with the Feeder Program. 

In keeping with the Cherokee Swim Team spirit, on Fridays the Feeder Group will participate in the Cherokee doughnut and games tradition. So if your swimmer can spend a few extra minutes on Friday, we will look forward to our traditional Feeder Fun Friday!

4.) PAPERWORK

At this point, the majority of families have completed all three documents. If you have not completed the GKAISA form then you received an email from me yesterday. Please turn that in as soon as possible.

5.) PRIVATE LESSONS

We cannot stress enough the importance of technique as the primary way for swimmers to see performance improvements, and believe that all swimmers will greatly benefit from one on one work.  Private lessons are a great way to enhance your swimmer's technique. Myself, Brittany, and Elli have experience teaching private lessons, and have greatly impacted the stroke efficiency of many young swimmers. Proper technique is critical not only for enhancing a swimmers ability to move quickly and effectively through the water, but also aids in decreasing the risk of injury! Contact any of our coaches directly to reserve a lesson slot, and remember availability is limited so the sooner you sign up, the greater the likelihood that you will get your first choice time slot.  For your convenience, we will have registration sheets for each lesson completed, and CCC will bill each member's account directly.

6.) PARENT/COACH COMMUNICATION

My primary form of communication will be weekly emails sent on Sunday evenings.  The other forms of communication are outlined below. All important dates, practice times and the meet schedule are available on Google Calendar. Questions/comments feel free to let us know!

A.) Weekly Sunday evening emails (also available on the blogspot)

B.) Cherokee Blogspot (also available through CCC mobile app)

http://cherokeeswimteamnews.blogspot.com/p/practice.html

C.) CCC mobile app (download the app with password ccc1907 --> go to "Pool" --> go to "Swim Team News" which is linked to blogspot --> "Manage alerts" --> subscribe/turn on "Pool_news" channel)

D.) Push notifications (managed through CCC app)

E.) Google calendar

https://www.google.com/calendar/render?tab=mc&pli=1#main_7%7Cmonth-3+23233+23269+23233

7.) MASTERS UPDATE

We had a great turnout this week at our masters program!  There is a wide range of participants from those who have never had swim technique work before to college level swimmers.  We are always looking for more enthusiastic participants... Coach Brittany is the contact person for this group.  For more information and pricing info she can be reached via phone 850-585-3755 or at oxley.britt@gmail.com. For those of you who have thought about getting into swimming but never taken that next step, now is the time!

Sorry for the long email. Hopefully you digested the important sections and passed over the stuff you don't need!

You all are awesome! Looking forward to another great week of practice.

Thank you,

Sam Davy

715-340-8138