Planning for the 2024 Season is Underway!

Kelly Smith

Happy New Year, Orca Family!

 

The Naperville Swim Conference has released the first draft of the 2024 Meet Schedule, and we are busy planning another fun summer of swim team and social activities.

 

  • New for 2024 - 8 and Under Invitational Meet, Adjusted Practice Times, NEW HEAD COACH
  • Board Member At-Large Vacancies
  • Fundraising/Sponsorship

 

--> NEW FOR 2024 <--

8&Under Invitational Meet - We reviewed the feedback you all provided at the end of the 2023 season, and the Orcas will be hosting an Invitational Meet for our 8 and under swimmers! This will largely be a fun meet focused on our youngest swimmers with some normal races, but also with several fun relay events. Thus far, we've had three teams accept our invitation and are waiting on a response from the other two. This meet is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, July 13th.

 

Adjusted Practice Times - We will be flip-flopping practice times. Kids aged 11 and over will be swimming in the first session beginning at 8:30 AM, and our youngest swimmers aged 10 and under will be swimming in the second session beginning at 10:00 AM. This is to allow the pool to warm up a little bit with the morning sun for our littles and to help make the transition from swim team to private lessons  (which start at 11:00 AM) a bit more seamless.

 

New Head Coach!!! We are also very pleased to announce that we have hired a new Head Coach for the 2024 season. Please give a warm welcome to Teagan Michalek. Coach Teagan is a graduate of Neuqua Valley High School and currently attends Florida Southern College, where she is majoring in Mathematics with Secondary Education and minoring in Business Administration. She is currently starting a 4+1 Master of Education in Transformational Curriculum and Instruction, and is in her fourth and final season with their swim team.

 

Coach Teagan’s swim achievements include:

·      11 years of swimming with the Naperville Swim Conference

·      12 years with Fox Valley Swim Team

·      4 years with Florida Southern College

·      Two-time State Championship Team (2018 & 2019),

·      Neuqua Valley school record holder in 200 medley relay,

·      Top 10 All-American for 200 medley relay,

·      CSCAA Scholar All-American First Team for earning higher than a 3.5 GPA and participating at NCAAs Div. II Swim Championships in 2022,

·      FSC Athletic Director's Scholar - Athlete Award for Women's Swimming,

·      Member of International Honor Society in Education (Kappa Delta Pi),

·      Member of Mathematics Honor Society (Kappa Mu Epsilon). 

 

Her favorite swim strokes are the butterfly and backstroke. She’s participated in 11 Naperville Turkey Trots, completed one Naperville Sprint Triathlon, and hopes to complete an ironman. In her free time, she enjoys painting, reading, hiking, and playing ultimate frisbee.

 

Welcome Teagan! 

 

VOLUNTEER PARENT BOARD OF DIRECTOR VACANCIES

We need your help filling our Board Member At-Large chair vacancies:

·      Computer Chair

·      Photography Chair

·      Concessions Chair

·      Spirit/Social Chair

·      Fundraising/Sponsorship Chair

 

Being a Board Member At-Large counts toward half of your dual meet jobs requirement and will give you priority “early access” signup for your remaining jobs requirement.

 

Please see the attached for more information about each of these positions. The Executive Board meets monthly at the conclusion of the summer season, every two weeks from January through April, weekly in May through the start of the season, and as-needed during the season. Meetings are held on Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. Board Members At-Large are expected to be able to meet once per month from January through April, and more frequently as the summer season approaches.

 

FUNDRAISING/SPONSORSHIP

We started approaching sponsors for the 2024 season last November, and if your company (or your friend's company) is interested in sponsoring the team, please forward the attached sponsorship document to the appropriate personnel. We have some major fundraising efforts planned as we need to raise about $21,000 to replace the diving blocks and purchase a sound system for the team. Please have potential sponsors contact Kelly Smith at [email protected] or at 630-205-2149.

 

Please feel free to forward this email to any friends or family members interested in swim team, too! While we are in the pre-season planning stages, emails will come from this account.