2011-2012 Season Start Information
Practices
Coyote practices will resume on Tuesday, September 6th. Practices will be Monday through Friday with some groups swimming on Saturday (that will be detailed in group emails from the respective coaches). Here is an outline of our group schedule:
Coyotes (5-10) 3:30p-4:30p
Coyote 1 (7-10) 3:30p-4:45p
Coyote 2 Teal (11-13) 4:30p-5:45p
Coyote 2 White (11-13) 4:45p-6:15p
Coyote 3 Teal (14-18) 6:15p-8:00p
Coyote 3 White (13-18) 5:20p-7:40p
Swim Team Billing
The Coto Coyotes will be billing on a four-week system. Your team dues may or may not fluctuate every billing period depending on the amount of practices you attend as the Coyotes bill on a sliding scale. To take a look at the billing scale, please refer to the Coyote sign up sheet. In addition to team dues, every swimmer is assessed a $10 fee each billing period. The $10 goes into the Swim Team Fund and is used for several things including, training gear, coach’s travel for swim meets, and team parties as well as other things. Both the swim team dues and the swim team assessment will be billed directly to your Coto De Caza Golf and Racquet Club account. Here are the remaining 2011 billing dates:
October 4th
November 1st
November 29th
December 27th
United States Swimming Membership (USS)
All Coyotes are required to have a valid USS Membership. Your USS Membership has two (2) important benefits that are a necessity to be a Coyote. 1) Your USS Membership allows your athlete to compete at local and travel swim meets. 2) Your USS Membership covers your athlete with insurance in the event anything happens to your swimmer while with the team. USS Membership runs $55 a year and your coach will hand out the registration form to your swimmer at practice. Please fill out and return with a check (written to SCS) for $55. Your coach will then mail all registration forms together.
Swim Meets
I am often asked what is the true reward in the sport of swimming. My answer is always the same, Swim Meets. Your athletes work hard day in and day out to improve in the sport of swimming. Swim Meets is where your athlete gets the opportunity to showcase their skills. Swim Meets are a lot of fun and build team camaraderie as well as confidence. All swimmers on the Coyotes should be going to Swim Meets. For example, not going to Swim Meets would be like a football player practicing everyday, but not attending the games. Swim Meets are important to both swimmers and coaches as it gives us an idea as to how your athlete is progressing in the sport.
Volunteer Jobs for Swim Meets
In order for Swim Meets to Work, parents need to volunteer. Currently, there are two (2) jobs to volunteer for at swim meets. 1) Timing – timing is required by the host team and is divvied out to each attending team depending on the number of swimmers each team brings. Typically our team averages 2-4 timing chairs a meet. Timing is NOToptional and all parents are required to time at meets. Plan on signing up on the team website (under jobs of the specific event) as soon as it is posted to ensure you have a spot. Our coaches will be monitoring the Jobs section and will place parents in timing slots if they do not volunteer. If we all share in the work-load, it isn’t much. 2) Team Tarps – Swim meets are outdoors and our swimmers need protection from the elements. Our team has several Team Tarps that protect our swimmers in style. These team tarps need to be transported to and from the meet by our parents. If you sign up to take a team tarp, you will not need to time as well. If no one signs up for taking team tarps, there will be NOteam tarps at the swim meet.
Swim Meet Fees
All swim meets carry an entrance fee. There is a standard Surcharge fee (Typically $5.25) and an event fee (typically $3.00 per event). Each team must submit one team check for each meet, which means I personally have to write the check for the Coyotes out of my own bank account. Therefore, meet fees will need to be paid to me in form of a check (Todd Conrad) or cash within 30 days of the meet. You can check your meet fees under your invoices on our team website when logged in. Please place your swim meet checks in a white envelope and put them in the first folder of the teal box, which is located in the swim office. If you are unsure as to where the teal box is, please ask another parent or coach to point you in the right direction
Late Fees
Late fees ($10 per month) will be assessed to all members whose swim meet fees are left unpaid for more than 30 days (Billing generates on the 21st of each month). This is a standard procedure and one that we will be very strict on this season. If you wish to avoid late fees by writing a check ahead of time you are more than welcome to carry a positive balance in your account. To do so, write a check to (Todd Conrad) for whatever amount you would like and I will credit your account that amount. As swim meets come around, your fees will be deducted from the account, which you can then replenish at your leisure. This would be highly recommended as it is a for sure way to not have to worry about late fees. Do not worry, if at any time you would like your money back, simply email me directly and I will issue you a check for the remaining balance in your account.
Team Spirit and Gear
It is our hope that every Coyote purchases the team gear. I would love to see every coyote with a team suit, team bag, team shirts, team caps, and team warm ups. It is very important that we look like a team when we go places. Team Gear can be ordered every quarter with the first order taking place the third week of this month. If you are unsure on sizing, please talk to other parents in your group as they will know more about the sizing of specific items than the coaches will. As for spirit, it is important that we continually remind our athletes to support each other both in practice and at swim meets. Cheering is certainly one of the most important aspects of swimming and I want to make sure that everyone knows it is expected of our athletes.
Website
One of our main venues of communication is through our team website. From Swim Meet entries to billing all of your child’s info regarding our sport is on the website (when logged in). Therefore be sure to spend ample time familiarizing yourself with the team website and editing all information about your child (under my account), including medical information and shirt sizes. In addition to the website, we also have an app (currently for Iphone/Ipad/Ipod only) which is free. Simply go to the app store and purchase (for free) “OnDeck Parent”. Once installed open it up and log in using your email address, your password, and the team alias (SCCC). This app will give you full access to your swimmer’s times, attendance, and other cool things like a swimming stop watch.
Helpful websites to get all news and info regarding swimming:
Coto Coyotes (this is our team website that has everything from swim meet entries to team information)
United States Swimming (This is the national website that has all information on the sport of swimming including your childs swim times)
Southern California Swimming (This is our local section website which has information on time standards and swim meets)
