Practices & Meets
Practices (for swimmers):
Safety of all of our swimmers at every practice & every meet is the main concern of the board members and the coaches. During practices, the coach also has the responsibility
for the safety of all the swimmers in the pool. For this reason and in order to enforce our team philosophy of sportsmanship, discipline, commitment and cooperation,
the swimmers must listen to and obey the coaches at all times. The coach has the right to ask any swimmer that is mis-behaving, fooling around or not listening to
leave the pool deck. The coach will contact the parent after practice to explain the situation. At no time is a parent allowed on deck during practice to discuss the issue.
Practice Groups:
Swimmers will be assigned into an appropriate skill level practice group at the beginning of the season. This is to ensure that each swimmer receives the best workout to help him / her
achieve their highest potential. If, during the season, a child shows marked improvement, the coaches may change his/her practice schedule. Swimmers and parents are asked to leave this
decision up to the coaches.
The head coach is responsible for coordinating the workouts for the team and for the coach for each group. The coach of each group coordinates the swimmers into different lanes and
adjusts the workouts based on the swimmers in the pool. During the course of the season, the coach may move swimmers into different groups or different lanes. This is normal for the
progression of all swimmers.
Practices (for parents):
Do not drop your child off more than 15 minutes prior to, or pick up later than 15 minutes after the designated practice session ends. If you choose to stay at the pool during practice,
please remain in the gallery area. Coaches are on deck during this time to run the practice, and ensure the safety of all and to help your children learn & improve.
Talking to the coach during practice distracts the coach and takes away valuable training time for all the swimmers in the pool. If you would like to speak to the coaches,
do so after practice, or make an appointment to speak with them privately. Also, please let the coach know if they need to leave practice early.
Locker Rooms:
: Locker rooms are not playgrounds. They are to be used for changing and showering before and after practices and meets. The coaches cannot be expected to police the locker rooms.
Monitoring children from both teams in the locker rooms is necessary at both home and away meets. It is the parent’s responsibility to supervise their children when they are not on the
deck with the coaches. Any child guilty of disruptive or inappropriate behavior in the locker room will be disciplined.
Meets:
All swimmers are expected to compete in all Yankee League meets. The coaches also strongly encourage this as it is another step in the swimmers learning sportsmanship. The meet schedule is
published at the beginning of the season and all swimmers will be entered in all meets. If you cannot participate in one of the meets, it is the parents’ responsibility to notify the coach at
least 1 week in advance. If a swimmer does not show up to a meet and the parents did not notify the coach, the parent will be fined a sum of $10.00.
Of course there are always last minute circumstances that can arise. If it is last minute, anyone who is not able to swim at an upcoming meet should call one of the coaches right away.
The meet line-up is usually made up a week before a meet, but the strategy for developing a meet lineup is a longer process. It is not fair to the coaches or the team to have to redo the meet
lineup to accommodate a family that has known for some time that they will not be at a particular meet.
For USA meets, the swimmers are also expected to compete in and are strongly encouraged to participate in all meets. Entries for USA meets usually have to be submitted a month in advance.
Also, swimmers are charged for each event they swim in a meet. This is typically called a splash fee and it is paid to the club hosting the swim meet. If parents fail to notify the
coaches in advance of the deadline, they will be charged for the meet. The splash fee is non-refundable.
Parents have the major responsibility for running all home meets and for assisting at away meets. Every parent is required to lend a hand during the course of the season;
he/she may "volunteer" for any or several of the jobs described in the Parents Association page. The various chairpersons will use a team roster to "volunteer" parents for events and
will assign jobs to those who have not already volunteered.
What to Bring to a Meet:
- Swim suit, team cap and goggles. Baby or talcum powder to 'dust' the inside of the swim cap. This helps preserve the cap and makes it easier to put on.
- Sweat suits. Bring at least one. You may want to bring two, because they can get wet and soggy.
- T-shirts. Two or three. Same reason as above.
- Towels. Realize that you will be there awhile so pack at least two;
- Deck shoes. Clean water shoes, sandals, or flip-flops, etc. are recommended.
- Games: Travel games, coloring books, anything to pass the time.
- Food: Bring nutritious snacks. Although you can always find something good to eat at our concessions stand, it is a good idea to pack a pick-me-up just in case the line is long. Also, you never know what will be for sale at away meets.
- Suggested drinks: Water, fluid replacement sports drink, fruit juice.
- Suggested snacks: Granola bars, yogurt, dry cereal, cheese sticks, sandwiches, fresh fruit.
Once you have attended one or two meets this will all become very routine.
Clothing Identification:
We ask that you clearly mark your child’s bathing suits, cap, T-shirts, jogging suits, towels, etc., with their name on the label or some other readily visible place.
There is a tremendous amount of lost and found that goes unclaimed and, unfortunately, it will be disposed of after a couple of weeks.
It might be helpful if your child has specified towels for swimming and that your last name is clearly written in permanent marker along one of the edges.
All identifiable articles will be returned.
Practice Times:
Practice schedules are set up by the coaches and published on the calendar. Once practice groups and times have been assigned, each swimmer is expected to be on deck and ready to
swim at the beginning of each practice. Following each practice, swimmers are to be picked up promptly; coaches cannot supervise children who have left the deck and locker room.
Should a swimmer's practice time prove to be truly inconvenient, the parent should speak to the Head Coach before changing his/her child's practice times on his/her own.
As a rule of thumb, a swimmer may swim with the next younger age group, only swimmers with "A" times should be considered for swimming up.
Cancellations:
Practice is canceled when Oxford schools are closed due to inclement weather. Practices may be held on a limited basis during school vacation periods. The team does not practice
on school holidays such as Veteran's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, etc.
Email:
Parents and swimmers will be notified by email of most changes to practices or meets. Please make sure your current email is registered with the team secretary.
If you do not have email, notify the team secretary so you can be contacted by phone for emergency notification of changes.