What are my responsibilities as a parent?
What are my swimmer’s responsibilities?
How do I manage the Parent/Swimmer/Coach relationship?
When do swimmers move up?
When will my swimmer be ready to move up?
What are my responsibilities as a parent?
As the Parent/Guardian of a competitive swimmer, your main responsibility is to provide a caring, supporting environment. This support will encourage your child to feel good about his or her interest in competitive swimming. Show your support by ensuring your swimmer’s attendance at practices and swim meets.
Parents/guardians are not participants on their child’s team but contribute to the success experienced by the swimmer and his or her team. Parents/guardians serve as role models, and children frequently emulate their attitudes. Strive to be a positive role model. Most important, show good sportsmanship at all times toward coaches, officials and other teams.
The following are membership responsibilities for parents:
- Complete all registration forms.
- Notify the registrar of termination as well as important changes (i.e. address, phone, age of child, change of insurance).
- Keep coaches informed of anticipated absences from practices or meets.
- Alert the coach if your child is unable to attend a meet for which he or she has been entered so a substitute might be found for relays. Please try to avoid missing meets that your swimmer is signed up for as refunds will not be issued for splash and entry fees.
- Stay up to date with Storm Aquatics information. Please notify the technology technician if you change your email address. We use this at times as a way of keeping our team informed about Storm Aquatics team information.
- Make sure your account payment information is up-to-date to cover swim meet fees.
- Sign-up your swimmers for meets.
What are my swimmer’s responsibilities?
The following are the membership responsibilities/guidelines for swimmers:
- Show respect for the coaches, your teammates, pool facilities, equipment and yourself.
- Develop and maintain essential qualities of good sportsmanship both within the team structure and while representing Storm Aquatics at meets.
- Maintain a safety first attitude, refrain from doing ANYTHING that might cause injury to yourself and/or others and report any unsafe actions immediately.
How do I manage the Parent/Swimmer/Coach relationship?
To have a successful program, there must be complete understanding and cooperation among parents, swimmers, and coaches. It is with this in mind that we ask you to consider this section carefully. The following guidelines will help you keep your child’s development in the proper perspective:
- Every individual learns at a different rate and responds differently to the various methods of instruction in skill development. This fact requires patience on the part of the parents, swimmer, & coach.
- When a swimmer initially joins the team and begins practicing, it is possible for his or her skills to diminish rather than improve. Sometimes the swimmer has to regress before he or she can progress. In time the swimmer will improve.
- Plateaus can occur at one time or another in every swimmer’s career. They can occur both in competition and in training. As most athletes experience plateaus at some point in their careers, they will need to patiently and persistently work through them. Working through the plateau will make the athlete a better swimmer and individual.
- Swimmers who are age ten and under are typically the most inconsistent swimmers; this can be frustrating for parents, coaches and swimmers alike! Parents need to be patient and allow these youngsters to develop a love of the sport in their own time.
- Slow development of competitive drive at an early age is normal and is perhaps more desirable than precocious or forced early development. It is important that everyone learns to compete and develop a competitive spirit on their own individual timeline. Also important, is the opportunity for children to learn to adapt to reasonable levels of emotional stress. The small disappointments they must learn to handle as children prepare them for the larger problems they are certain to experience as adults.
- It is the coach’s job to offer constructive criticism of a swimmer’s performance. It is the parent’s job to supply the love, recognition and encouragement necessary for the young athletes to feel good about themselves. Parents should not attempt to coach as this often leads to confusion on the part of the athlete and can be detrimental to their progress and personal satisfaction.
- Parents’ attitudes and models of behavior often dictate those of their children. A child might not be consciously aware of what is taking place, while subconsciously absorbing powerful messages about his or her parents’ desires. Therefore, it is important that parents remain enthusiastic about taking their child to practice and meets, participating in fund raising projects and home meets as well as attending meetings. Parents are encouraged to see these activities as helpful in the development of healthy athletes and not as chores.
- If you have any questions about your child’s training, contact the coach before or after practice. Criticizing the coach in front of the athletes undermines the coach’s authority and breaks down the swimmer. Parental support of the coach is necessary for maximum success.
- No parent should behave in such a way as to bring discredit to the child, the team or competitive swimming. Any disagreement with a meet official should be brought to the attention of the coach and handled by the coach.
- Parents should be certain that their child is personally motivated to swim. People tend to resist anything they “have to do.” Self-motivation is the stimulus for all-successful swimmers and programs.
- Communication between the coaches and swimmers are very important. The two-way relationship must exist daily at practice and at meets. It is imperative that the coach has the swimmer’s full attention at these times. Visitors to practice sessions are asked to sit on the bleachers.
- The board will review any infractions regarding the Parent/Swimmer/Coach relationship before any actions will be taken.
Please remember that attitude and behavior of the parents in regard to their outlook on the sport has an important effect on the child. In swimming, as in life, nobody can “win” or succeed all the time. Disappointments will occur. Every child can gain from his or her experience whether or not he or she ever wins a single race. It is most important to keep on striving to do better the next time.
Swimmers typically move up at the start of a new session. So for fall, in September, for winter in November, for spring, in March; and for summer, in May.
The process will look something like this:
- Coaches will meet as a staff to look at rosters, factoring in age, peer groups, and ability
- Coaches will come up with a list of prospective candidates to move in each group
- Coaches will have a conversation with potential move-up candidates to gauge their interest/confidence
- After clearing with coaches and swimmers, families will be emailed to confirm the move-up.
All of this will be done before the registration window opens to allow for families to plan accordingly.
When will my swimmer be ready to move up?
All group placements are based on objective standards (time standards, legal strokes) AND head coach approval. Group placements are based on the child's physical & emotional maturity, peer groups, family, and most importantly--the long term growth of the athlete. Coaches will always place long-term development over short-term reward.
Group prerequisites are available to view under the list of Training Groups.
