2024/2025 Season Information
Season Fees & Information
For Competitive Swim Team:
Registration fees for the upcoming season are set at $775 for first/single swimmer and $725 for each additional swimmer (for multi-swimmer families).
Fees may be paid:
- In one (1) single payment at registration.
- In two (2) equal payments throughout the swim season (each payment in this plan is subject to an additional $10 surcharge to cover processing administration expenses).
For Shark Pups:
Beginner - $150 (once a week)
Intermediate - $250 (twice a week)
Advanced - $250 (twice a week)
Swim meets are optional to enter and there are additional costs to enter meets (typically they average $50-75 per meet, depending on the number of races entered per meet).
We host our own swim meet, the Ponoka Pool Sharks Cookie Classic Swim Meet, which is mandatory for all our swimmers, but there is no cost to participate in our meet.
Important Dates and Times
The 2025/2026 season will start mid-September (the Ponoka Auqaplex will be shut down for maintenance the month of September, so the season will start with dryland training and possible rental of surrounding community pools, more info TBD) and will run to the end of April 2026. Dates will be communicated as soon as possible once confirmed.
The Shark Pups Learn-to-Swim Program is a 12-week program starting in October (exact dates to be confirmed).
Beginners swim once a week on Tuesday, time TBD.
Intermediate and Advanced swim twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday, time TBD.
Our Central Alberta Swim Series Meet (we host) is December 13, 2025.
Our Cookie Classic Swim Meet date is February 21 & 22, 2026.
The MANDATORY parent meeting/AGM will be September 18, 2025, 5:30 to 7:00pm.
Tryouts for new swimmers will run September 9 and 10th, from 6:00 to 7:00pm at the Burman University pool in Lacombe. Drop in, no appointment needed. If you are unable to attend the tryout date, please contact a board member or our head coach, alternate dates may be available by appointment.
Competitive Club Swimmers:
Typical practice times will be:
Monday - 3:45 to 5:30 pm
Tuesday - 3:45 to 5:30 pm
Wednesday - 3:45 to 5:30 pm
Thursday - 3:45 to 5:30 pm
*Younger/Beginner levels will only practice Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Practices are not mandatory, but athletes are encouraged to attend as many as possible. Coaches may require that athletes attend a minimum 50% of available practices to be eligible to enter swim meets or other events.
Shark Pup Swimmers:
Beginner - Tuesdays
Intermediate/Advanced - Tuesdays and Thursdays
Times TBD
*Times noted are tentative and subject to change.
**Practice days and/or times are subject to change.
Volunteer Requirements
All club members are required to complete volunteer hours throughout the season. Participation as a volunteer at the Ponoka Stampede Food Booth (our main fundraiser) and the Cookie Classic Swim Meet (our local swim meet that we host) are mandatory for ALL club members.
These volunteer hours are very important as they help keep our club fees low (without these fundraisers our fees could be up to double!) and are an important component of club participation.
Volunteer requirements for the Ponoka Stampede Food Booth are:
Competitive Club families with 1 swimmer must work 6 shifts at the booth during stampede week.
Competitive Club families with more than 1 swimmer must work 8 shifts.
**Shark Pup only families are only required to work 2 shifts.**
Each shift is approx 5 hours in length. You can schedule shifts however works best for you (you could work 1 shift per day for 6 days, you could recruit 5 other family/friends to help you and complete all your shifts in one day, etc.).
Volunteer requirements for the Cookie Classic Swim Meet are:
Competitive Club families must supply 1 adult volunteer for each day of the swim meet.
Shark Pup families must supply 1 adult volunteer for one day of the meet.
There are a variety of roles to be filled (timers, food, etc), please ask the meet manager or one of the club executive about what's involved.
Failure to participate in the mandatory volunteer activities will result in the following ADDITIONAL fees:
Ponoka Stampede Food Booth
$400 for Competitive Club
$100 for Shark Pups
Cookie Classic Swim Meet
$100 for Competitive Club
$50 for Shark Pups
- These fees will be charged to members accounts immediately after the event if the member fails to participate as a volunteer.
- Fees will be charged to the payment method associated with the account. Credit cards will be automatically charged. Fees that cannot be collected for any reason will result in an overdue account and will be subject to the same conditions as any other overdue account (such as, but not limited to, athletes being ineligible for swim meets, suspension from activities, etc, until overdue accounts are paid).
- If members are not available for the dates or times of the mandatory events, they are responsible to find alternate volunteers to participate in their place (these alternate volunteers do not need to be club members).
Payment Options
All payments should be made via the online registration/account system via credit card. Alternate payment methods may be considered and should be arranged with the club treasurer. Any alternate payment arrangements may be subject to a manual processing fee.
Members will have the option to make:
- One single lump sum payment due at the beginning of the season, or;
- Two equal payments, with first payment due at the beginning of the season and the second payment due December 1.
*Option B will be subject to additional processing fees on each payment.
Refunds
All registration fees are non-refundable.
Other
More information about the Ponoka Pool Sharks Swim Club, including required epuipment, is available in the club handbook.
We look forward to having you join the Ponoka Pool Sharks Swim Club and are excited for another great season!
