Feb 21 update: Big announcements and reminder!
Hi all!
We got some exciting updates coming up with March fast approaching. Here is the brief overview of the announcements:
- March 31st at 5pm-7pm will be our SVYA team banquet! It will be a pasta feed/potluck so bring what you can!
- Here is a signup link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0C49ABAF2CA5FF2-svya
- There will be an awards ceremony celebrating the success of the swimmers since September, including information I've gathered on personal bests, records broken, most inspirational swimmer awards, and more!
- We will be announcing a new mascot during the banquet - the votes will be counted from a combination of paper and online polling
- The online votes will be on our Facebook page linked ->here<-
- The paper votes will be passed out during practice, only one vote per swimmer please!
- Swimmers may change their vote up until the deadline of March 27th at 11:59, at which point I will total everything up.
- Our combined practice is tomorrow Feb 22nd!! All swimmers will be in the water from 5:00pm to 6:30pm!
- Reminder that we will not have practice on March 3rd or March 6th for the Y Regional Championships
About the mascot voting
During the banquet, one of our announcements will be the new team mascot! We have been the Chinooks for decades, and that only recently changed as our team had moved to be sanctioned by USA Swimming. Unfortunately there was a USA Swimming team that already had the name, so previous admins had to change the team name and color, as well as lose the mascot.
Please ask your swimmers to suggest and vote on a team mascot! I will be totaling up the paper votes as well as the online option, and during the banquet will announce our new team mascot. While the Facebook group is for the parents, I trust everyone here and encourage you all to communicate with your swimmer and vote on their behalf if choosing to go the online route. Doing the online poll is easier, since suggestions can be seen and made and choices can be changed; but I also will offer the paper option before and after practices! Please keep to one vote per swimmer!
Deadline to vote is March 27th at 11:59pm (paper copies are accepted up to March 27th practice), each swimmer may vote for one option, but can change their vote at any point up until the deadline. Any paper votes that have been cast can be changed as well! Votes will be kept anonymous but I will have the names on paper copies to be able to effectively allow for changes.
Let's let the swimmers decide our new direction 
This could be something they all feel proud of; to be part of the founding group of a strong new swim community. Only swimmers vote please!
This could be something they all feel proud of; to be part of the founding group of a strong new swim community. Only swimmers vote please!
About the swim team banquet
There will be an awards ceremony featuring the following awards: most inspirational, most improved, golden goggles, and personal best and record holding certificates! We will also be passing out awards that are still in my possession (some Friday harbor awards), as well as a Y values award from the Y State Championships.
The banquet will be held in the teen center / meeting room at the Y! Same place as all the parent meetings and hospitality. Banquet will go from 5pm-7pm, and will take the place of practice that day. This is a pasta dinner / potluck with a signup here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0c49abaf2ca5ff2-svya.
Big thank you to Jen Lewis for helping set up these mascot and banquet events!
Once plans and preparation are finalized, we will send out more details ASAP. Thank you all for helping bring so many opportunities and great memories for our team! I am looking forward to the future as we continue to expand, improve, and provide a home for our swim families and community -
Joseph Shelly
