Manta Rays News 9.19.25
Good Afternoon, Manta Rays!
I have a LOT of things to share with you on this beautiful Friday afternoon! I appreciate you taking the time to read through all of this information.
- Practices for USA registered athletes begin Monday (9/22)! YIKES!!
- If you have not registered your swimmer yet (paid your registration fee & set up either monthly or pay in full options to start via the Team Unify website), they will not be allowed in the water until that is done. This is for liability purposes, please don’t wait to get this step done!
- USA athlete membership also needs to be done, but depending on which option YOU select (Premium, Seasonal, Flex, etc…) this can wait. If you are selecting the Flex or Seasonal option, please wait until after 10/1/25 to purchase or renew your membership. If you purchase before 10/1, the membership will expire BEFORE USA championship meets and you will have to purchase again ☹
- Please complete BOTH parts of registration when you sign up!
- Part 1: team registration via Team Unify website
- Part 2: Registration Part 2 Jot Form: This provides us with updated shirt sizes, personalization preferences, gear orders, fundraiser selection, home meet job preferences and so on: https://form.jotform.com/252334476909162
- We will not be using the Team Newsletter function this season! Instead, we will be using the Team News function (https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/ymca-2205/page/home) of our team website, social feed, HEJA and our team calendar.
- You can access our team’s Google calendar via the team website: https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/ymca-2205/page/calendar#/team-events/upcoming (links are at the top of the page)
- Here is a direct link to the Google format: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/[email protected]&ctz=America/Chicago
- Here is a direct link to the calendar in iCal format: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/muscatineswimclub%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics
- All of our meets have been entered into our Team Events! Several are open now for sign up & some have deadlines coming very soon: https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/ymca-2205/page/calendar#/team-events/upcoming. Please remember:
- USA meets: the PARENT is responsible for selecting events.
- This is due to the fees associated with each event swam and multi-day meet format.
- Coaches cannot be responsible for this financial obligation, so it’s up to the parents to determine which days they will be present and how many events their swimmer swims.
- If you need help or suggestions, please reach out to the coaching team via HEJA, we’ll be more than happy to give you recommendations!
- We cannot accept late registrations for USA meets & all meet fees are non-refundable after the deadline has passed.
- YMCA Meets: the COACHES are responsible for selecting events. All you have to do submit your commitment to attend by selecting YES or NO. We will usually discuss events with swimmers to align with their goals.
- Don’t forget that for YMCA HOME meets, parents are also responsible for covering a job if your kid is signed up to swim
- If you have requests or restrictions that must be emailed to the Job Assignment Coordinators by the meet sign up deadline! [email protected]
- For either USA or YMCA, we will do our best to enter swimmers in as many relays as we can, whenever possible. If you do not wish to have your swimmer participate on relays, please communicate that with the coaches!
- USA meets: the PARENT is responsible for selecting events.
- As a team, one of our goals for this season is to get our Safe Sport Team Recognition! We are very, very close to our goal, but we need your commitment and help to do that. ALL parents are required to complete a Safe Sport training, and ALL athletes 12 & over are also required to complete a Safe Sport Training. You can complete these FREE training courses in one of two ways:
- Safe Sport Training offered via Zoom led by a SS staff person. These are offered for adults as well as for the athletes. If you take a course this way, please send me a direct message in Heja so I can get appropriate documentation from SS. You can find those options here (scroll down to the bottom of the page under Parent Education): https://www.usaswimming.org/swimmers-parents/parents/safe-sport-for-parents?_ga=2.160238718.214604225.1650300735-1483109512.1469208890
- USA Swimming University Online Course. You will need to log in/create an account and register for the appropriate course. Make sure, when asked, you list Manta Rays as your team, so our records will automatically update once you’ve completed the course! https://hub.usaswimming.org/landing
- USA Swimming Code of Conduct can be found here for your reference: https://www.gomotionapp.com/ymca-2205/UserFiles/Image/QuickUpload/usa-code-of-conduct_028553.pdf
- If you or your swimmer has completed either option and did not have it documented for our team, please let me know so I can reach out to the SS staff for updates.
- For the past few years, we have offered a “virtual meet” as part of the National YMCA’s Annual Tom Warrick Virtual Meet. We are still working to see if this is an option for us this season due to the required date range and availability of the high school pool. We will let you know if we are able to offer once the season is underway.
- Last but not least: PLEASE CHECK YOUR SWIMMER’S GEAR BAGS!!! Several of our swimmers were either missing gear completely, had equipment that was broken, or no longer fit appropriately. You can submit an order when you complete part 2 of registration (Jot Form) or you can order gear on your own (please be sure any gear you order on your own is appropriate for your swimmer’s size and skill set). If you can’t find your swimmer’s gear bag, send me a message in HEJA, there were several bags left behind after last season and this summer!
Phew! That was a lot to share! I’m sure I’ll have more to share with you in the future LOL!
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions!
Have a wonderful weekend & we’ll see you all very soon!
Coach Jocelyn
