Practice Policies
Guidelines during practice
This year’s team is expected to be over 175 swimmers strong, so it is very important that we all adhere to the following guidelines. Here are the ways you can best help your swimmer and the team succeed:
Take your child to practice! The swim season is a short 9-week commitment. We understand that this is a recreational league and there will be a lot of competition for your swimmer’s time this summer. We certainly understand vacations, summer camps, etc., but you give your Extreme Swimmer the best opportunity to succeed by getting them to practice each day. Most children don’t have access to swimming year-round. As a result, many swimmers can show dramatic improvement over the course of the season just by coming to practice, as well as increasing their satisfaction and making it even more enjoyable for you to watch your child swim. Coming to practice is especially important on meet mornings when we practice starts and relays, communicate meet information and mark arms with meet events.Do your best to attend and PLEASE let us know when a swimmer will not be at meets. For meets, you will use the Swimtopia website to declare your swimmer as AVAILABLE or NOT AVAILABLE.
Also, when your swimmer is at practice, it is important that he/she treat the coaches and other swimmers with respect and that they practice diligently. We have a large team, and we will need to be self-disciplined! Parents are responsible for making arrangements for picking up their children immediately after practice. Coaches are not responsible for children before and after their practice times.
Parents, please stay behind the (invisible) line. Parents are welcome inside the pool area during practice; however, they should stay clear of the main pool area allowing the coaches to conduct practices without interruption. Feel free to use the space under the cabin deck, the bullpen area or beyond the four trees leading to the pool. If you need to talk to a coach, please ask to speak to him or her AFTER practices,or send an email. Please do not approach a coach on the side of the pool during practice. This does not mean the coaches aren’t interested in your input; however they have five back to back practices. They are also watching A LOT of swimmers! WTTE Board Members are usually at the practices; you can always ask them questions or share concerns.
We do welcome parents on the mornings before meets! Come to the pool and grab a Sharpie! As the kids finish their practice, we mark their arms with their names and the events they will be swimming at the meet. The more help we have, the faster it goes!
The SLIDE POOL is not to be used during practice time by swim team members or any other swim team families unless a coach is working on stroke technique with specific swimmers. The baby pool is to be used by non-swim team members only (age 5 & Under) who are under parent supervision.
We have implemented these rules for the following reasons.
1. Your child’s safety is of the utmost importance and it is difficult to properly supervise or keep up with their whereabouts when a swimmer gets “lost in the crowd”. We have also found our younger swimmers are much more eager to become part of the team and swim with their new teammates when mom or dad isn’t quite so handy!
2. The team will be using all sides of the pool for practice and will need to move about quickly, unimpeded by deckchairs, etc. Exercises may be conducted around the pool.
