May Newsletter
Dear Orca Families,
Only 20 days until the swim season begins!!!
To see all past newsletters, please refer to our team website at: https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/recnslrcoil/page/home
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REGISTRATION IS STILL OPEN
It’s not too late to sign up for the 2025 Orcas Swim Team! Registration is still open, and closes on Wednesday, June 4, 2025.
Do you have friends curious about the swim team but aren’t sure what it’s all about? We will have a Free Swim Team Trial from May 27th through June 4th. You must be a pool member to utilize this free trial.
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SPIRIT WEAR AND TEAM SWIMSUIT
Last call for spirit wear! Here’s a direct link to our store. We’ve expanded our offerings again this year. Please place your spirit wear orders by May 14th. Deb’s Embroidery will be delivering all orders to the pool on May 31st.
Team Swimsuits: If you missed ordering your team swimsuit through the Urban Tri Gear Pre-season store, it’s not too late to get a suit! Please contact Urban Tri Gear at (630) 230-9386 and they can help you. You will likely need to visit their Westmont store at the end of the month and they can stamp our team logo on a suit in-store.
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TEAM WEBSITE REGISTRATION
You’re going to hear us talk a lot about “TeamUnify” and “Sports Engine”, and both are the name for our team website.
To finalize your registration with the team, please go to our team website at https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/recnslrcoil/page/team-registration. This step is required to ensure your swimmers are on the team roster so we can enter them in swim meets throughout the summer.
All meets are posted, and jobs for the first two meets are posted. Jobs are first come, first served. Ashley Cobb will be our new Meet Volunteer Coordinator this year, replacing Beth Bleser. Ashley is who you will look for at meets to check in for your job and get your worker lanyard.
As for the meet signups, a few notes:
- If you know for sure that you will MISS a particular meet, go ahead and decline those meets.
- If you know for sure that you will ATTEND a particular meet, please declare "yes" for those meets. Don't worry about signing up for any specific races. The head coach determines those events.
- If you are UNSURE of your attendance at a particular meet, please declare yourself as a "yes" for those meets. Meet files have to be sent to the other team about a week in advance, and it's much easier to take a swimmer out of a meet than it is to add one to it.
Useful Apps to download to your mobile device:
- Sports Engine Motion - This company purchased TeamUnify a few years ago, and we “veterans” use TeamUnify and Sports Engine interchangeably. This app will enable you to declare your swimmers for meets and sign up for jobs from your mobile device.
- Meet Mobile – this app has both free and paid subscriptions, and all of our meet results will be posted to this app.
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BOARD/CHAIR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
We still have some committee chair positions that need filling, namely the Concessions Chair, Spirit/Social Chair, Photography Chair, and helpers with Meet Setup/Cleanup.
Please reach out if you have questions about any of these positions, such as time commitment, responsibilities, etc. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080E4CA8AB2BA3F85-54420238-2025.
To all our volunteers who’ve already signed up, THANK YOU!
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OFFICIALS NEEDED!
If you are interested in becoming a Meet Official (this is where you watch the kids swim to verify stroke, turn, start, and finish legality), please sign up for one of the below training sessions. The Naperville Swim Conference requires all officials to complete annual training (exception: USA or YMCA certified officials).
Hello Team Reps and Officials:
We are excited to announce the NSC Officials Certification Program for the 2025 Summer Season. As you may already know, it is a requirement of the Naperville Swim Conference that all Officials attend training, with the exception of USA Swimming/YMCA certified officials (see below for how to submit your credentials).
Every swim team in the NSC conference needs certified officials to operate home meets. While some people pursue USAS/YMCA certification, most volunteers simply attend one of the three training sessions listed below to earn their certification. It's that easy!
All training sessions will be held in person at Cress Creek Country Club (1215 Royal St. George Dr. Naperville).
Please pick one:
Wednesday, May 7 from 7:00p – 9:00p
Class focused on officials with less than 3 years of on-deck experience, but open to all levels.
Wednesday, May 14 from 7:00p – 9:00p
Class intended for those officials with more experience. Registration should be limited to those with 3+ years of NSC officiating experience.
Saturday, May 17 from 8:00a – 10:00a
Class focused on officials with less than 3 years of on-deck experience, but open to all levels.
Click here to register:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4CA5AD22A4F9CF8-56050413-officials
USA Swimming/YMCA Officials:
Email your current and valid credentials to: [email protected]
Please help us spread the word! If you'd kindly take a moment to forward this message to your team's Head Official, that would be an awesome first step toward your recruiting efforts.
We appreciate your help communicating this plan to any prospective officials. It's going to be a great summer!
NSC Officials Committee
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SPONSORSHIP & FUNDRAISING
This summer would not be possible without our generous sponsors! We encourage you to use these businesses to thank them for their support:
| Premier |
Matthew Smith Homes
|
| Platinum |
Beach for Dogs Pica Pau Jiu Jitsu & Grappling Fresh Thyme Market Heritage Plumbing & Sewer G & G Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics Jenn Gawenda, Guild Mortgage Mi Kozina
|
| Gold |
Rosenberg & Parker Light On Anxiety Treatment Center
|
| Silver |
DeAnda Photography Valley Honda Kastle Electric, Inc. Nicky’s
|
| Bronze |
ATB Automotive
|
Links to all our sponsors’ websites can be found here on our team website.
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JOB OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUR TEENS
We are looking to update our teen worker lists for swim meets. We utilize teen workers when we have a job that’s vacant for a meet. We are also offering to help our Orca families cover their own jobs and will provide a worker contact to them if you would like to hire directly.
Candidates must be 13 years or older, responsible, and able to work a variety of meet jobs (timer, concessions, bullpen, etc.). Pay for each meet is $40.00. If you or your teen are interested in being on our list, please send your child’s name and preferred contact number to Christine Guerin at [email protected].
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FUN FRIDAY DONUT SIGNUP IS LIVE!
An Orca Tradition is Fun Friday Donuts! We are asking families who are able to please sign up to donate donuts and juice boxes to the team for our weekly Fun Fridays. Practices typically ends 10-15 minutes early so kids can grab a donut to munch on while their coaches announce the Swimmer of the Week.
Please sign up via this SignUp Genius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080E4CA8AB2BA3F85-56775919-orcas
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BUDDY BANNER SIGNUP IS LIVE!
Another Orca Tradition is making Buddy Banners for our home swim meets. Coach Teagan will pair our older swimmers (our Big Orcas) with our younger swimmers (our Little Orcas) to help with team bonding and mentorship.
Big Buddies will arrive to practice about 30 minutes early (at 9:00 AM) to make their banners, and Little Buddies will stay after practice ends at 9:30 to make their banners.
Our Buddy Banner Coordinator this year is Soorya Thacker. She will be on-hand to help volunteers with assisting the kids in decorating their banners and distributing “Buddy Bags”. The kids typically put a few pieces of candy in their “Buddy Bag” to give to their buddy at the meet to help them fuel their races.
Please sign up via this SignUp Genius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080E4CA8AB2BA3F85-56776289-2025
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LET’S STAY IN TOUCH!
For team updates, please check out the team website and the following social media channels:
· Team Website: https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/recnslrcoil/page/home
· Team Facebook Page (public): https://www.facebook.com/napervilleracquetcluborcaswimteam
· Team Facebook Group Page (private): https://www.facebook.com/groups/336838065322320
· Team Instagram Page: @ntc_orcas
· NEW! Join our New WhatsApp Group here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JiEoMzwJZDUGRh81LhUIKn
o WhatsApp will be used to communicate last-minute scheduling changes, such as weather-related practice changes or cancellations, or other “emergency” type communications.
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OTHER KEY DATES AND INFO
We have some dates for you to save!
Practices begin on Tuesday, May 27th. For the first week, practices will be held in the evening. Please see the attached Meet & Social Calendar for the season.
Team Picture Day is on June 12, 2025 at 10:00 AM.
The Classic Championship Meet will be held on Saturday, July 19, 2025.
The City Championship Meet will be held on Friday, July 25th for our 15-18 swimmers, and on Saturday, July 26th for all other ages.
Remember: swimmers aged 12 and under must have qualifying times to be eligible for the City meet. Swimmers aged 13 and up automatically qualify for City and are ineligible for the Classic meet.
Thank you for your support in making this swim season unforgettable for our kids!
Go Orcas!
Kelly Smith
NTC Orcas co-VP
