Rudgear Rats: Week of May 3rd Newsletter

REST Communications

Rudgear Rats: Week of May 3rd Newsletter

 

Upcoming Dates

  • May 15th - Time Trials

  • May 22nd - REST vs Livorna meet (home)

  • May 26 - REST vs. WCSC (away)

  • May 28 - No practice

  • May 31 - No practice
     

Health and Safety Reminder
Important reminder that swimmers must wear a mask as they enter and exit practice. Swimmers must wear a mask as they line up (not hold  a mask over their mouth or cover their mouth with a towel or shirt). We ask that all parents/caregivers also wear a mask when in the parking lot.

 

President’s Message

It has been amazing to have all of our swimmers back in the pool.  We hope your swimmers are having a ton of fun, meeting new friends and building strong swim skills.    And welcome to all of our new families, it's great to have you at Rudgear!  Thank you for everyone’s patience with the board and coaches as we are trying to navigate all the unknown and organizing that comes with running a non-profit sports team during Covid times.  

Now that we are a month in and are approaching summer, below are a few common questions I have been receiving:

  • What about parents on deck during practice?  We hope that we will be able to allow parents on deck at some point in the future, although at this point it is just too challenging to take on. We are working hard to keep our swimmers safe, while following the guidelines given to us by the Rudgear Estates Homeowners Association, from whom we lease the pool. As things ease up we will re-address the parents on deck policy, as we certainly understand parents wanting to watch their younger swimmers.
     

  • What about meets, are we having meets & what will they look like?  Yes, swim meets are happening (including WC City Meet & WC Swim Conference)!  Countless hours have been spent over the past month by the board and the league to put together a safe plan for swim meets.  More info to come, but note that swim meets will likely be ran in waves to keep numbers on the deck to a minimum.  Swimmers will be allowed to have a parent in attendance, but there likely won’t be the same “camping out” feel where families park themselves all day or evening to watch the meet.  We are finalizing our swim meet policy and procedures and will be publishing them later this week.  Thanks for your patience and understanding.
     

  • REST Information Meeting (aka New Family Orientation) Typically we hold a New Family Orientation at the pool around this time.  This year we will be holding two Team Information Meetings via Zoom.  One meeting will be geared towards new swim families and the other will be geared towards returning families.  Stay tuned for dates and times. 

     

Jobs

This is the time of year we typically open job sign-ups for the season. However, this isn't a typical year. As we work to finalize our meet structure and the jobs needed -- and other teams do the same -- we'll be pushing back sign-up a bit. 
 

Expect to hear news soon about staffing our Time Trials May 15th as if it were a real home meet, to test changes in running a meet and to learn how to staff it properly. Shortly after the 15th, we'll know the number of jobs needed and open up job sign-ups for the season. We hope by that time we'll better understand what we need to run an efficient, safe, and fun meet for our kids, and to have jobs needed for away meets as other teams struggle with these same questions. 
 

We know this makes planning difficult on all families, but ask for your patience as we do the best we can to get swim meets back for this summer! Go Rats!


RATS Kick Off Event
Thanks to all who came out to support Pinky's Pizza last Tuesday. Together, we raised $200 for our team!

 
We hope everyone has a great week. GOOOOOOOO RATS!!