December 19, 2012

  To:     All New Green Bay YMCA Swimmers & Parents

  From: Coach Dave - voice mail-436-9624

Email- [email protected]   team unify website - www.teamunify.com/wigbymca

 Re:      1)  Holiday Practice Schedule  2)  Bowling Party  3)  Starting Blocks  4)  2013 Strong Kids Campaign/Swim-A-Long  5) Upcoming Events  6)  Assorted Notes

1)      The practice schedule for next week and December 31 are on the team calendar on the website.  There will be no dry land for Silver group until next year. That includes tomorrow night and next Thursday night.  Because of the bowling party next Thursday night there will be no Bronze practice either.  We have no scheduled practices on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. The Gold team will have Saturday morning practices both this Saturday (Dec 22) and next Saturday (Dec 29) at BV from 6-8am. 

2)      The bowling party is Thursday night, December 27, from 6-8pm, at Pro Bowl in Howard. Sign-up for this event closes Sunday night.  All GBY swimmers and their families are invited. See the website for details and sign-up.

3)      Just a note to send along to all team members. For safety reasons the Swim Team starting blocks are only to be used while under the supervision of a GBY Swim Team coach or coaches only. This should be almost entirely be at practices and at meets.  Both YMCA and USA swimming have this as a guideline for swim teams and their coaches.  Sadly we did have someone come in and use a couple starting blocks this past Saturday and block number 3 got broke.  We are getting this replaced and are planning for a January 16^th delivery in time for our meet. 

4)      We are quickly moving towards 2013. That means that the Green Bay Y Strong Kids campaign will be beginning soon.  A couple important dates to remember.  Wednesday, February 6, will be the Downtown Y Community Kick-off, and Calling Night.  I have already secured some volunteers to help make phone calls but can use more.  Please contact me and I will be glad to go over the Strong Kids calling night and how you can get involved.  I will also ask our Gold Swimmers to Volunteer for the calling night too.  2^nd, Wednesday, February 20, will be our GBY Swim Team Strong Kids Swim-A-Long. This will happen during Gold practice from 4-6pm at SWHS, and for Bronze and Silver from 6:30-8pm at the DT Y.  All swimmers will receive a pledge envelope to go out and ask family, friends and neighbors to make a pledge to the Green Bay Y Strong Kids campaign.  Swimmers are perfect representatives of the YMCA because they can tell all their potential donors about their involvement on the GBY Swim Team and other programs that they participate in at the Y.  Swimmers can either get  pledges based on laps swam during the Swim-A-Long or just donations to the Strong Kids Campaign.  This will be our third year with this great event. We raised over $6000 the first year, and over $8000 from last year’s Swim-A-Long.  The YMCA and I appreciate everyone’s support and help with the Strong Kids campaign.  Last year the Green Bay gave over One Million dollars in scholarship and subsidies for Green Bay Y Membership and programs. Strong Kids allows the Green Bay Y to make membership and programs available to all members of our community. Again if you have questions regarding Strong Kids please contact me.

5)      Upcoming Dates (Team events and meets)

Wednesday, December 19                 Team Picture (DT Y Large Gym, 6-6:30pm followed by the Holiday Relays, DT Y, 6:30-8:30pm, (All GBY swimmers should participate)

Thursday, December 27                     Team Bowling Party, Pro Bowl, Howard (check website for more info and sign-up)

Saturday-Sunday, January 5-6            Oshkosh Mid-Winter Invite, Oshkosh Y

Saturday, January 12                          DCY Hawaiian Meet, Sturgeon Bay Y

Friday-Sunday, January 18-20             GBY Titletown Freeze, Downtown Y Pool

Wednesday, February 6                      Downtown Y Strong Kids Community Kick-off & Calling night, Downtown Y

Wednesday, February 20                    GBY Swim Team Strong Kids Swim-A-Long, 4-6pm SWHS, and 6:30-8:00pm DT Y.  Pledge envelopes will be passed out around the first of the year

6)      Assorted Notes

·         There will be Friday afternoon practice and Saturday practice this week.

·         Just a reminder about weather cancellations.  Unless the Y closes we will still plan to run practices for the team.  If we do close the Y or have to cancel practices I will send a note out through the web site ASAP.  Do remember that you may add additional e-mail addresses and phone numbers on your account page to receive the notes I send out through the web site.

·         Parent Group committee meetings have been moved to the first Mondays of the Month. Next meeting is Monday, January 7, 2012.

·         GBY swim families have the opportunity to participate in a scrip program to help raise monies for your escrow accounts.  A power point presentation is posted on the website (under documents tab) to explain the whole program and to allow you to get involved with the Scrip program.  Thank you to the GBY Gymnastics Team for allowing us to join in with their program.

·         We have scheduled our annual awards banquet for Friday, May 10, at the Riverside Ballroom.  Please get this on your calendars right away.  We will do a sign-up for this on the website.

·         Please make sure that you are keeping up with entry deadlines, etc.  Many meets are already opened for January and February meets.  Please check the team events regularly for all team activities.  The Titletown Freeze entry and job sign-up are also open for sign-ups.  The Oshkosh Mid-Winter Meet entry closes Sunday night.

·         Please ensure that you have monies in your escrow account to cover all upcoming swim meets.  Thank you for taking care of this ahead of the charges.

·         A reminder that all GBY swimmers ages 8&over must scan their membership upon entry to all Green Bay YMCA’s.  If you need a new card stop at the front desk and have them make you a new one.  It is very time consuming especially during the rush around team practices to have to stop and type in your information manually to make sure you are a member. Thank you for taking care of this matter.

·         It is winter time.  Please make sure that all swimmers dress properly for the weather.  I expect all swimmers to have on and zipped up a winter coat as well as wearing hat on your wet heads when you leave practices.  A sick swimmer does no one any good. 

·         REMINDER - All swimmers should be showering before using any pool for practices.  This can be a big help with the air quality.  Thank you for doing this.

·         Not sure about a newsletter next week due to the holidays. 

·         Happy Holidays to everyone and Safe Travels.