Practice Starts this Week!

Hello everyone,

I hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend! We are getting very close to the beginning of the season! This will be my last massive email. Hopefully all our new families are up to speed. Feel free to email me any questions as they come up!

Volunteering

It looks like we have  a lot of hoursour volunteer positions filled! That is great! I appreciate those of you who have already signed up! The time and energy you donate to the team does not go unnoticed.

For those of you who have not signed up, you have until the end of this week to sign up! We are asking that everyone commit to their hours by June 2^nd! We still need about 90 hours covered!

Practice Starts this Sunday, June 2^nd!

I have attached the groupings to this email for reference. They are also updated on the website posted within the new items.

Reminders about practice Requirements:

• 10&Under: 2 swims a week. One of those should be a class at the swim school.
• 11&Older: 3 swims a week. One of those can be a class at the swim school.

You are welcome to attend more practices than what is required. We will have plenty of swimmers who attend 3 and 4 practices a week in addition to their lessons. The more time in the water, the faster they will improve! But do not feel overwhelmed by our schedule. It is designed to give families flexibility within their schedule.

Suits and Team Apparel

Everything is on schedule! There have not been any issues with production for the suits or team apparel. Everything should be here by the week of our first meet. Plan to pick things up that then.

Information on Harford Community College (HCC) Practices:

First of all, pay close attention to the calendars when practices are at HCC. All morning practices will be there. MONDAY evening practices will be there throughout the season.

I will send one more email on Monday to remind people about the dynamics of entering/navigating this facility.  

• The pool is within the Susquehanna building. This is connected to the AOGFCU Arena. If you are looking from Thomas Run Road, then the pool is behind the arena and not visible.
• Parking is allowed in the lot in front of the APGFCU Arena. The entrance is along the left side of the APGFCU Arena. Parents will escort their swimmer to the right and down a long hallway to access the pool.
  • Construction is happening on the adjacent building, and this will continue throughout the summer. It should not have major effects on us, but be aware.
• Unlike Aqua Culture, younger swimmers can not enter the facility on their own and may not play in the facility without supervision. Swimmers under the age of 12 should be escorted to the pool deck and escorted from the pool deck and outside. Swimmers should not be roaming around the dry side of the facility unattended.
• Clean-up will be essential and items left behind are subject to disposal. HCC is kind to us and we do not want to incur additional fees or be bound by additional rules as a result of an increased workload on their staff.
• We would like to keep the use of the locker rooms at a minimum. There is no way for us to safely monitor the behavior in those areas. Swimmers should arrive in their suits. Swimmers should also leave in their suits when possible.
• We ask that food stay off the pool deck at HCC. Fluids including water and sports drinks are always allowed.

Officials

I would like to add some more trained officials to our list! If you are interested and have not attended training yet, let me know. If you are interested in just shadowing this year and potentially working meets next year, that would be great as well!

Upcoming…

We will have a brief new parent meeting during one of our practices the week of our first meet. Be on the lookout for those details. It is not required, but we can usually answer some burning questions and help prepare you for the first competition.

Thanks,

Coach Galen