News Splash September 22

Andrew Hasek

Good afternoon CAJ Parents,

 

Coach Andrew’s Corner

Save the date: CAJ Summer Takeoff Meet is Friday 6/14/24 - Sunday 6/16/24

Tomorrow’s practice (Saturday 9/23) is canceled due to the swim meet. If you are not going to the swim meet, take this opportunity to rest and recover for a couple days.

On Saturday September 30, there will be a zoom Officials training for those that are interested in becoming officials. Officials are the volunteers on deck at swim meets that watch and make sure all the swimmers are doing legal strokes. Each team that attends a swim meet has an officials requirement based off of the number of their swimmers in attendance. If a team does not bring enough officials, then that team’s swimmers do not get placed and will not receive awards. Our team only has a few trained officials so it can be difficult for us to have the required number of officials at swim meets. Officials get free food and water while working at swim meets, and our team will pay for the officials training. If you are interested in becoming an official or want more information on what the training process is like, then please let me know so I can get that information to you. The more officials we have, the less each person will have to work.

CCA’s Spook-Tacular meet is open for signups! Signups officially close on Thursday 9/28 at 11:59pm or when they reach their registration cap. This is a popular meet for our Sierra Nevada LSC (local swim committee) so it does tend to reach the registration cap, which means it is extra important to signup for the meet as soon as possible instead of waiting for the deadline to get closer. If you are unsure if your swimmer is ready for this meet, or what events to sign up for please let me know and I can help answer your questions.

If you are thinking about getting some custom team gear, place your orders soon. Our custom team store will be closed temporarily after Saturday September 30 at midnight. The Team Store will reopen on November 1 until November 19 for holiday orders.

We are having a new parent meeting on Wednesday 10/4 at 6:00pm at Chico Junior (park and approach Chico Junior from Oleander ave). If you have joined our team in the last few months or if you have not had the opportunity to attend a new parent meeting before then I can not recommend attending this meeting enough. Our sport can be complex with many different parts. We will cover a ton of useful information that each family on our team will want to know as they move forward with their swim careers. Swim meets, practice goals, USA swimming registration, the various websites and apps we use, and more will be covered at this meeting. The location and time are subject to change; emails and TeamSnap messages will be sent if something changes.

Old Business

For the safety of our swimmers please make sure to pick up your swimmer(s) on time after their practice ends.

In order to keep our swimmers safe and to ensure a positive relationship with In Motion Fitness I am asking our Aquajet families to adhere to the following. When swimmers are on deck, they need to follow the pool rules; this includes walking on deck, no horseplay, and no foul language. Aquajets are only to use the lap pool, the outside showers, and the outside bathrooms during their practice time as well as 30 minutes prior to and after their scheduled practice. Aquajets that are 14 years old or younger need to be supervised at all times, if you are unable to supervise your swimmer while waiting for the start of their practice then your swimmer will need to sit at the tables located on the deep side of the lap pool so the coaches can watch them. If you are going to watch the practices, please do so at the tables located on the deep side of the lap pool, which In Motion has reserved for us during our practice times, this helps keep the entire outside pool area organized and helps us work with In Motion better. When picking swimmers up make sure to follow the rules of the road in the parking lot; stop at stop signs, follow the speed limit of 5mph, and do not park in the handicap spaces if you are not approved to do so.

We are going to start having goal-setting meetings with the White, Navy, Pre-Senior, and Senior groups once a month. These meetings will take place at the start of each of their respective practices and will normally occur on the first Monday of each month. Since the first Monday of September is Labor Day and we will have no practices then, the September goal meetings will take place a week later on Monday September 11. At these meetings we will talk about how to set good goals and what some potential goals could look like for the swimmers. Parents are encouraged to attend and listen so they may learn about swimming goals and what their swimmer is interested in accomplishing in the sport.

We use an app called TeamSnap in order to improve the ability of our team to communicate with each other, and to make it easier for our members to see upcoming events. I highly recommend you download the app and turn notifications on, so you do not miss any information. If you have not received an invite to our team’s profile on TeamSnap, send me an email and I will work to get an invite to you.

Our Team Snap schedule has been updated for the 2023-2024 swim season. The majority of our planned meets as well as some planned practice cancellations have been posted. A couple meets I want to highlight and for you all to start planning for is our CAJ Summer Takeoff meet June 14, 2024-June 16, 2024, and the NVAL championship July 26, 2024-July 28, 2024. We will be hosting the CAJ Summer Takeoff and will need all hands-on deck to make the meet run smoothly. The NVAL championship is our final meet of the summer and a lot of fun.

Next month on Wednesday October 11 there is the Fish Bowl, Chico High vs. PV High swim meet. There will be no Aquajet practices that afternoon so that our younger swimmers have the opportunity to go watch and cheer on the high school swimmers. This has been a fun event in the past and I am excited to start attending this meet again. The meet takes place at the PV pool (2320 North Ave) and will start at 4:00pm

Be sure to check out our Chico Aquajets Facebook and Instagram pages for fun posts and information about the team!

Check out our team store on our website for some CAJ gear!

If your swimmer is not USA swimming registered yet, please do so as soon as you can. There is a link to do so in the “USA SWIM REGISTRATION” section of this news splash.

USA SWIM REGISTRATION

This link will show you all you need to register your swimmer until the end of 2024.

https://omr.usaswimming.org/omr/welcome/2945A4A75BFD45

UPCOMING MEETS

  • RAD Sprint and Relay Meet in Redding [SCY, AGO] 9/23/23 https://ome.swimconnection.com/meets/3256
  • CCA Spook-Tacular in Roseville [SCY, AGO] 10/6/23-10/8/23 https://ome.swimconnection.com/meets/3265
  • Bill Fisher Classic in Redding [SCY, AGO] 10/14/23
  • WAC Cranberry Classic in Roseville [SCY, AGO] 11/17/23-11/19/23
  • SYS Winter Champs in Redding [SCY, AGO] 12/16/23
  • CAJ Summer Takeoff in Durham [SCY, AGO] 6/14/24-6/16/24
  • North Valley Aquatic League Championship (NVALs) in Redding [SCY, Invitational] 7/26/24-7/28/24

IMPORTANT Reminders

  • Make sure your swimmer is USA Swimming registered
  • Make sure your swimmer is bringing a water bottle to every practice
  • October goal meetings on Monday Oct. 2
  • New Parent Meeting on Wednesday Oct. 4 at Chico Junior High
  • No practice Wed Oct. 11, go cheer on the Fish Bowl at the PV pool

NEW AQUAJETS: 

Please Familiarize yourself with our  CAJ Handbook located on the CAJ website under Join the Team.  

We ask that parents avoid being on deck during practice as it can be distracting to the coaches and the swimmers.  

NEW SWIMMERS: SIGN    CAJ WAIVER  AND HAND IT TO YOUR COACH    

SWIMMER ACCOUNT REMINDER:  All swimmer fees are due on the 1st day of each month and are considered late if not received by the 10th. A $10 late fee will be assessed for late payments. Notice of intent to discontinue swimming must be provided to the Chico AquaJets in writing by the 15th of the month before the date of inactivity to cancel monthly fees. Written notice should be provided through the "Contact Us'' button on the CAJ website. Verbal notice to coaches is not sufficient. Any written notice occurring after the 15th of the month before deciding to discontinue will be charged the following month. Any hanging balances left will be billed and payment will be required before any re-registration. 

  • BE ADVISED: if you discontinue your membership, the $65 registration fee will be reassessed upon re-registration. 
  • CAJ WEBSITE: All members must double-check your Team Unify member account to ensure that your e-mail is correct and verified. We also need you to verify your SMS number, and make sure you use dashes. This will ensure you receive ALL of our communications. 
  • REMINDER FROM IN MOTION: If families discontinue their In Motion gym membership it is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to notify In Motion that the swimmer is remaining an Aquajet swimmer. We’d also appreciate notification to the team through the “contact us” button so that our bookkeeper and membership coordinators are aware of your IMF membership status. This will assist in smooth entry to the club as well as accurate billing information for CAJ. Thanks! 

Coach Andrew