Rudgear Rats Newsletter: Week on July 16th
Upcoming Dates
July 18 – Bike to Practice Day
July 19 – REST @ Sycamore | Warm-ups at 4:25pm
July 21 - Splash and Dash (during practice)
July 21 – End of Hell Week Breakfast (during/after practice)
July 21 – Rugrats Graduation | 12pm
July 22 – REST vs. DPST | Warm-ups at 8:00am
July 26 – Rudgear Idol | 6pm
July 28 – Conference Spirit Fun Friday (during/after practice)
July 28 – Tuck-Ins
July 29 & 30 – Conference Meet
July 30 – Conference After Party
August 1 – Awards Night | 6pm
August 1-4 – County Practice qualifiers only
August 5 & 6 – County Meet qualifiers only
Link to full season calendar
Coach’s Message
Fellow Rats,
The moment we’ve all been working towards. This week is officially Hell Week! Please have swimmers bring socks and shoes in case we do running + workout exercises. It’s going to be hot outside, please send swimmers to practice with water + healthy snacks! Let’s also work on resting outside of swimming, and limiting next week’s extracurricular activities…
Everything is focused on conference now. The more we talk about it, the bigger it becomes in our swimmers’ heads. Let’s make sure they realize this is the biggest competition of the season. No holding back! Time to work hard this week in order to achieve our goals! Both individual goals and team goals. Coaches are all fired up!
Swimming Sycamore Wednesday and Dewing Saturday. The home stretch… thank you to every parent for helping out with jobs and being a part of the Rudgear Family.
Don’t forget about two big things on the horizon…
1. Rudgear Idol
2. Conference spirit
Please, allow me to leave everyone with our first Hell Week quote of the day… tomorrow’s quote:
“If you want to go fast, go alone… If you want to go far, go together”
Fast means far and we are not alone. We want to go fast…together!
Don’t forget to consider signing your swimmer up for Fall Swimming in Sep-Oct! More info coming soon.
Bless Up Bleed Green Go Rats!
-Coach Nick
TL;DR:
-stay safe – do not prop the gate
-let us know if your swimmer wants to do fall swim
-donate to the coach bonus program
-everyone cheer
-bike to practice on Tuesday
-splash & dash and breakfast on Friday
-sign up for Idol
-sign up to bring coach lunch on Tuesday
Safety Message
There is a young man going to different local pools asking to swim. When he is turned away due to not being a ember, he tries to get into a physical fight with whomever interacts with him. Local authorities has advised everyone not to engage with him. Please help keep our swimmers and pool safe and keep the front gate closed. Please do not prop the gate for any reason.
Fall Swim Anyone?
We are excited to announce that we are going to have a fall swim program this year coached by our very own Head Rat, Coach Nick! The details are still being worked out; however, we do know that we are offering the program to 6-18-year-old team swimmers. AND we are going to do a couple meets. We are trying to gauge interest, so if your swimmer wants to do fall please fill this form out to let us know.
Coach Bonus Program
It’s time to show our end-of-season gRATitude to the coaches!
The Rudgear Coach Bonus Program is a tradition our swim team holds to say thank you to our coaches for their hard work each season. The strength of this program is what sets our team apart in our ability to offer compensation packages that retain and recruit amazing coaches.
It has been an incredible season - our swimmers are working so hard towards personal goals and having a blast along the way. Please join me in saying thank you to our coaching staff that has worked so well together to make this season so great!
The Rudgear Coach Bonus Program is primarily made up by family contributions. This season, the suggested family donation is $65, although any amount more or less is greatly appreciated. Donations will be collected through August 3rd.
There are three ways to donate:
- Venmo: @John-Mathieson j[email protected]
- Cash to Jill or JC Mathieson directly
- Check written to "Jill Mathieson" and given to Jill Mathieson or placed in the Mathieson family folder. Please write 'bonus' in the memo line.
Thank you so much for your generosity and support of our coaches! Please let us know if you have any questions - [email protected].
Sincerely,
Jill & JC Mathieson, Coach Liaison
Bless Up Bleed Green Go Rats GO TEAM!!
We have two dual meets left before Conference. Which means… only four team cheers left for the season! Parents, please join us in SCREAMING our team cheer, so we can show off all our Rudgear spirit and power!
Buddy Reminder
Bring your buddy a sweet treat! Click here for weekly buddy ideas.
Splash and Dash
The Splash and Dash is this Friday. Our 6U and 7/8 age groups will do an obstacle course on the lawn and our 9/10, 11/12, and 13U groups will do the traditional laps and run. Make sure your swimmer brings shoes!
End of Hell Week Breakfast
First we splash, then we dash, then we eat! Swimmers can chow down after the Splash & Dash to celebrate the end of Hell Week. If you want to contribute to the breakfast, please click here to sign up to bring something.
Rudgear Idol
Rudgear Idol is coming soon (7/26) – a star-studded talent show featuring our very own RATS! Keep your eyes out at the pool to sign up for the show and encourage your swimmers to participate!
The evening of Rudgear Idol, BYO dinner, drinks, and chairs and get ready for an amazing show!
Conference After Party
The Conference After Party is the place to be! After relays and awards on Sunday, head on over to Rudgear Estates to eat, drink, swim, and dance with our Rudgear Fam! All are welcome! Keep an eye on your inbox later this week for an email that will let you know how to purchase your family food and drinks! (If you choose to BYO food and drink that is cool, too.)
Lessons
Lessons are available! We post all the coach’s sign-up links on our website (click here); however, it is the coaches’ responsibility to update their sign-ups (usually on Sundays or Mondays), set prices, receive payment, etc.
We have a lot of swimmers on our team, so please be considerate when booking lessons. We don't want one swimmer having three lessons per week and another left with none.
Please note: Swimmers may only sign up for one lesson per week with Coach Nick. Also, only team swimmers should sign up for Coach Nick lessons; Rugrats and other non-team swimmers are encouraged to sign up with any of our assistant coaches.
Coach Lunch
We have a great tradition of keeping our coaches at Rudgear fed! Our coaches need lunch this Tuesday - please sign up here to feed them! (We have EIGHT coaches this season, so we encourage you to team up with another family.)
Let’s Connect
Instagram: @rudgear_rats
Facebook: Click here to join our Facebook group
Let’s make it a great week and GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RATS!!
