Happy Father's Day!
First and foremost. Huge shout out to all the Father's out there. My father is a recently retired police officer and I gave him a call this morning to wish him a big Happy Father's Day. He is visiting my sister's in Minneapolis, helping prepare for my elder sister's wedding, so I am very jealous that my entire family is together without me! But enough about my Father's Day experience, let's get into it!
This week marks the halfway point of our season. On Wednesday, we are officially four and a half weeks into our nine week season. Time to buckle down. Let's see if we can't get back on schedule with both practice attendance, and showing up on time. The more we practice, the better we will become!
Our talking points today:
1) Gettysvue Meet
2) Private Lessons
3) T-shirts and Caps!
4) Ribbons
5) Practice Time Changes and 4th of July Schedule
6) Feeder Program
7) Communication
8) Master's Update
1.) AWAY MEET AT GETTYSVUE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24TH
REMINDER: This Wednesday is our first away meet of the season, at Gettysvue. The meet begins at 6pm. We are asking families to arrive at 5pm for warm-ups. If you are planning on participating in this meet, andu did not receive an email prior to this with meet information, please let me know ASAP!
2.) PRIVATE LESSONS
With the mid-way point of the season approaching, I cannot think of a better reason to think about setting up private lessons with on of our amazing coaches.
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. 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. Also, if you have already done lessons with one coach, don't be afraid to try someone else! The more eyes on your swimmers, and the more variety of explanations of stroke techniques, only increases your swimmers chance to understand a skill. That being said, consistency is also important, but keep in mind that there are three coaches available!
3.) T-SHIRTS AND CAPS!
At this time we are finally wrapping up our apparel order. We discovered, unfortunately, that we are unable to order any "youth small" sizes due to the size of the print on our shirts. If we were to order any "youth smalls" then we would need a minimum of over 70 shirts! That being said, if anyone signed their child up for a "youth small" or "youth extra small", your size has been up'd to a "youth medium". The shirt may be large at this point of their life, but kids this size are often growing the fastest, and hopefully the "youth medium" will fit them for longer! We do apologize for any problems this may incur.
In addition to T-shirts, we will have Cherokee caps available at our meet this Wednesday! No more plain green caps!
4.) RIBBONS
All our ribbons from the Beaver Brook meet are complete and available at the desk at the pool! If a coach is not available, ask a lifeguard, they should be able to help out!
5.) PRACTICE TIME CHANGES AND 4th OF JULY SCHEDULE
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.
The week of the 4th of July we will be cancelling both our Thursday evening and Friday morning practices. This time should be allotted for gratuitous celebration of our counties birthday. Please spend it near water, with cold drinks, meat being cooked on a grill and either personally shooting off fireworks or watching professionals shoot off fireworks.
6.) FEEDER PROGRAM
Our first few weeks of Feeder Group have gone 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!
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 have had a great turnout this month 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!
This week master's is cancelled on Wednesday night due to our away meet at Gettysvue!
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
