Dear Stingray Parents and Swimmers,

 

We have TWO YMCA meets open for entry.  Please note the entry deadlines. ALL swimmers* should swim these meets!  We also have several practice changes this week that affect Senior, Gold, and Silver.  Bronze and Miniray are “normal” all week.

*If you have a MiniRay or a first-year Bronze swimmer, please check in with a coach before signing up for events for the first time. 

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MEET UPDATE

 

2025 BA Halloween Town USA Open - October 25-26

Brighton High School, Brighton, Michigan

This is a USA Meet.

 

Flint YMCA Fall Classic - November 2

Brandon High School, Ortonville, Michigan

This is a YMCA meet. ALL SWIMMERS SHOULD SWIM THIS MEET!

Entry Deadline: October 23, 2025

 

2025 BBA Fall Quack-Tack-Ular Invite - November 8-9

Seaholm High School, Birmingham, Michigan

This is a USA Meet.

 

2025 RAYS TYR Thanksgiving Classic - November 15-16

Zeeland West High School, Zeeland, Michigan

This is a YMCA Meet!

Entry Deadline: November 3, 2025

 

2025 DRD Winter Solstice Meet - December 13-14

Saline High School, Saline, Michigan

This is a USA Meet.

Entry Deadline: November 12, 2025

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PRACTICE UPDATE - Please note TIME and LOCATION changes this week.
 

Monday, October 20

Senior & Gold - 5:30-7pm NF

Silver, Bronze, MiniRay - Normal YMCA practice times

 

Tuesday, October 21

ALL Practices are at the YMCA

Senior - 6-8pm - YMCA

Silver - 6-7pm - YMCA

Gold - 7-8:30pm - YMCA

 

Wednesday - Friday

Normal practices 

 

Sunday, October 26

No Practice - Our coaches will be at the Brighton swim meet with our swimmers

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STINGRAY WEBSITE

 

If you have not had a chance, be sure to check out our Stingray Website.  There is an abundance of information about practices, meets, social events, hotel information for travel meets, team records, and more!  You can even sync our practice calendar with your Google Calendar or the calendar on your iphone.  Go to the Parent Info: Athlete Calendar for directions to sync your calendar.

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PARENT VOLUNTEERS

The Boosters are seeking one volunteer for a critical position, if you are interested, please reply to this email.  

Sponsorship Coordinator - We are looking for someone to shadow Teresa Chisholm this year, as her son is a senior, and it is her last year as our sponsorship chair.  Teresa will teach you everything that she knows this year, so you are prepared to be the chair next year.

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MEET SPONSORSHIPS

 

Mark your calendar!  Our December 6-7 “home” meet is coming up fast!  There will be A LOT of information coming soon about this meet, but one of the first things we need to do is to secure sponsors.  We are asking ALL families to secure ONE sponsor! Take or email this form Stingray Sponsorship  form to your…dentist, orthodontist, massage therapist, florist, ice cream shop, insurance agent, favorite restaurant or brewery, or any other local business.  

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BAND APP

 

Practice times and locations sometimes change due to weather, pool availability, or like last week, power outages.  Please check your email daily before heading to practice. You can also download the FREE Band app and join our Stingray group: Band App.  Turning on the alerts in Band can help you be aware of practice changes.      PLEASE join with your first and last names.  This helps us keep this Our Band App closed, private and consisting of current parents, swimmers and coaches.  All “first name only” members will be deleted.  

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MEET INFORMATION

 

Meet Entries: When meets open for entry, you will receive an email from 'Sean Smith' via SportsEngine Motion.  The first step is to click on the button that says “For more information about this event click here.” This will take you to a page with detailed information about the meet, including the very important Meet Packet, that can be found under FORMS / DOCUMENTS.  Be sure to read this packet!  Next, sign your swimmer up for the meet by clicking the ATTEND/DECLINE button AND choosing his or her events BEFORE the deadline. Some of the deadlines come up fast, so please keep an eye on our Meet Calendar and look for those emails from our very own Sean Smith.  Click this link: Entry Instructions for more meet sign up directions.

Meet Structure:  Meets are made up of days and sessions.  Each meet is unique, varying from 1-3 days and from 1-8 sessions.  Sessions are based on the age of your swimmer, and may be different for each meet.  For example, one meet might have AM sessions for 12 and Under swimmers and PM sessions for 13 and Up, whereas the next meet might be a completely different age group structure.  Swimmers can sign up for just one session on just one day of any given meet.  It is not mandatory to sign up for all days or all sessions. 

Meet Packet: Every meet has a packet with LOTS of information about the meet.  Reading this entire document is the best way to make sure you have all of the relevant meet information. 

Individual Events: Meets have a certain number of individual events per session that a swimmer is allowed to swim.  These are described in the meet packet and are always part of the meet entry process.  Additionally, the order of events varies for each meet, so reading the meet packet can help inform your event choices for your swimmer as well.  Parents choose individual events for their swimmers. If you are not sure what to choose, please talk to your swimmer’s coach.  

Relays: If there are relays, the coaches place swimmers in the relays based on who attends the meet.  Sometimes relays are at the beginning, but they can also be at the end.  For some meets, relays are at the beginning and the end!  Relay placement decisions are usually made by the coaches on the day of the meet, often at the end of warmup, so pay attention to the warmup schedule in the meet packet, and help your swimmer be on time!  

Meet Entry Fees: Our Meet Entry Booster enters all of our swimmers who sign up for a meet in one meet entry submission.  You do not have to individually send anything to the hosting team.  (There is a meet submission page included in the meet packet.  This is for our Meet Entry Booster to send in our team entry.)  Fees for meet entries vary, but are usually $5-$7 per individual event, per swimmer, plus a $1-$10 surcharge or facility use fee.  Individual event costs and surcharges/facility use fees are charged to individual Booster accounts.  Relay entry costs are picked up by the Boosters.  

Please note, once the meet submission deadline passes, if your swimmer cannot swim for any reason, you will still be charged for the events for which you signed your swimmer up to swim, since we are charged by the hosting team at the time of entry submission.

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YMCA OFFICIALS TRAINING

 

NEW CLASS DATE: Saturday, October 25

 

Do you like free food?  Do you like a front row seat to the action at our YMCA meets?  Do you have a little bit of competitive swim knowledge or even perhaps some personal experience?  These classes are FREE for FFYS parents!  All parents are welcome!  

 

Level 2 Class - AM -  https://lcdc.yexchange.org/Catalog/Class/Detail/308408

 

Level 1 Class - PM -  https://lcdc.yexchange.org/Catalog/Class/Detail/308407

 

Questions?  Please contact Tom Ludden at [email protected].

 

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QUESTIONS???

Competitive swim is like entering a whole new world in which the people speak an entirely different language.  If after reading the newsletter you have questions about anything swim, please ask!  There are many people ready to help you.  

A Coach* can answer…

Is my swimmer ready for a meet? 

Which events should my child swim? 

Coach Kellen and Coach Mandy are popping out to the viewing area at the Y several times per week to make themselves available for questions during the turnover time between practice groups.  Please use this time to ask them questions!

A Booster Parent is happy to help you answer..

How do I sign up my swimmer for a meet?

Where do I find hotel information for a travel meet?

Where is my Stingray merchandise?

My swimmer lost his/her cap, what should I do? 

How do I sign up for a USA membership?  

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And finally, the best part of the Newsletter…

SWIMMER OF THE WEEK 

Senior - Luis Cervantes

Gold - Zoe Seals

Silver - Ellie Bakhmutsky

Bronze - Kaylee James

MiniRay - Daarshik Ramteke

 

Each week, our coaches choose one swimmer from each practice group to recognize.  It could be for working hard, being a great listener, showing improvement, being a good teammate, showing good sportsmanship, swimming well at a meet, or anything else that the coaches want to consider.  

 

 

Fire Up Stingrays!