Handbook - Daleview Feet Swim Team

Feet Handbook: Participation Responsibility

The Swimmer

Being a member of the Daleview Swim Team is fun, but it also carries with it a certain basic responsibilities and expectations consistent with any athletic endeavor. Those responsibilities include the following:

Attend Practices as Scheduled. The most important part of the whole swim team season is the practices. They are designed to help improve the swimmers stroke mechanics, strength, and endurance. Success in swimming is often measured by improvement of time and that is usually directly related to practice participation. Although vacations, illness, and special family events may cause swimmers to miss some practices, swimmers should try to keep to the practice schedule. Typically swimmers who have practiced diligently will see noticeable improvement in time and stroke quality by the end of the season.

Be Prompt for Practices and Meets. To get the most out of practices and to avoid disrupting coaches and other swimmers, each swimmer should report and be ready at least five minutes before the start of practice. Before meets, swimmers should report for warm-ups on time (at the time specified by the coaches).

Think Safety and Act Safely. Learn and always obey basic swimming pool safety rules at practice and at meets. Never dive into shallow water, don’t play rough in or out of the pool, and don’t swim when you are injured or sick.

Follow Instruction of Coaches and Officials. A safe and successful season requires that each swimmer be attentive to the instructions of the Coaches and Meet Officials. Disobeying a Coach or Meet Official could result in a swimmer being suspended from the Team, denied participation in Team events, or being disqualified from the swim meets or certain meet events.

Communicate with the Coaches. Let coaches know when you are sick or injured and cannot attend practices or a swim meet. It is very important that the coaches be notified in writing as soon as possible, at least one week in advance, so they can plan meet line-ups. If you have missed practices during the week, but can be available for the Saturday meet, you must let the coaches know as soon as possible, but no later than Thursday afternoon. Line-ups for Saturday meets must be finalized no later than Thursday evening and the coaches must know who will be available for the Saturday meet when they are preparing the line-up.

Follow Swim Meet Rules and Etiquette. Get plenty of rest before a swim meet. Be prompt for warm-ups, know your event number, and report to the Clerk of Course when called. Stay in the team area when not swimming an event. Be supportive of all team members and be courteous to all members of the opposing team. When the meet is over, all team members are responsible for helping to clean up the team area. At home meets, team members should help return chairs, tables, and other equipment to their proper places so normal pool operations can resume.

Keep Up with Swim Team Information. Times for practices, team social events, pep rallies, and swim meets may change. Swimmers are responsible for keeping informed about all team events. Each swimmer should consult the team bulletin board, the swim team website ( www.daleview.org/swimteam), and the Daleview website (www.daleview.org) regularly for announcements of upcoming events and should be sure to review Team newsletters and handouts. If there are questions about any team event, swimmers should ask the coaches. Swimmers are encouraged to attend all team events and they are expected to be available to swim in meets throughout the entire season.

The Parent

Swim Team is a program for children, but parent support and participation are more important in swimming than, perhaps, in any other sport. Adults are needed to help organize and officiate swim meets, plan and organize team social events, and raise operating funds for the team. Since the season cannot proceed without parent help, all parents are expected to contribute time during the season as timers, meet officials, and as volunteers for other team events. There are many tasks for which parent volunteers are needed so it is important that all parents participate so that the work can be divided into manageable parts that will not be a burden to any one person or family.

Meet Volunteers. More than 25 volunteers are required to conduct a swim meet. These include 18 timers (9 from each team), a head timer, and an assistant head timer, two clerk of course, a computer operator/scorer, a verifier, an announcer, and ribbon writers.

Among the tasks for which parent volunteers are required are: setting up the pool for home meets, providing and selling refreshments at home meets, and coordinating “B” meets.

Meet Officials. At any meet, each team provides at least one half of the officials. Some positions, including referees, starters, and stroke and turn judge require certification by the League. Certification is obtained by attending 2-3 hour MCSL sponsored training clinic. Any parent interested in becoming a certified official should consult with the Team Rep or the officials coordinator. The dates and locations of clinics are on the MCSL website (www.mcsl.org).

Social Activities Volunteers. Among the tasks for which parent volunteers are required are: preparing newsletters and informational flyers, maintaining the team website, ordering and conducting sales of Team, Divisional, and League suits and accessories, ordering team awards and trophies, arranging for the team picture, ordering and selling pizza on Friday nights, and coordinating and helping with parties, picnic dinners, barbecues at the pool, and other team sponsored events.

Other Parent Responsibilities. As indicated by the need for parent participation, Swim Team is really a family affair, requiring cooperation among family members. Although Swim Team is a supervised activity of the pool, parents obviously still have the responsibility to supervise their children’s participation in Team activities, ensuring that swimmers have transportation to practices, meets, and other events, helping swimmers understand and fulfill their responsibilities, and providing the necessary encouragement and advice that will help make Swim Team a positive experience.

Parents may attend practices, but should not interrupt or interfere with the coaches during practice sessions. Parents also should feel free to talk to the Team Rep or a Swim Team Committee member about any aspect of Team activities.

The Coaches

The Daleview Swim Team hires coaches with significant experience in swimming and coaching, many of whom are college students. The Coaches work with the Swim Team Rep and Swim Team Committee to ensure that the Team activities are safe, fun, and consistent with the Team’s mission.

The coaches are responsible for all activities related to the selection, training, development, and swim meet competition of Swim Team members for participation in MCSL events and other competitive swimming events determined by the Team Rep and the Daleview Swim Team Committee (such as “B” meets and mini meets). The coaches are expected to promote fair competition, inspire excellence in swimming, encourage team member participation in swim team events, and foster the highest level of sportsmanship among team members.

The coaches have sole authority to determine practice strategies and select swimmers to swim in meets. Coach’s policies and decisions are based on years of experience in the sport. Parents and swimmers should recognize that, as in all sports, coaches must often make judgmental decisions. Decisions about final meet line-ups and the make-up of the relay teams are made solely by the coaches. These decisions are based on the times of swimmers in each event and how those compare with the times of the other team members in the same age/event category. The times of swimmers from the opposing teams are also considered. In addition, the coaches can consider such things as practice attendance and performance at practices, and the availability of other opportunities for each swimmer to demonstrate performance and gain experience.

There are numerous swimming meets and events throughout the season, and coaches are expected to provide a significant number of opportunities for each swimmer to participate.

Next: The Season