Thanks for coming to our Kickoff meeting today.  The info flyer from the meeting is attached for your reference.  Please feel free to reach out with any questions you have about this season.  

There were several questions at the kickoff meeting regarding team suit requirements and competitive vs. non-competitive registration status.  Here are some additional details:

Team suits:  The team suits are not required for practice, although a racing-type suit is highly recommended for practice.  Regular swim suits, particularly swim trunks, create a lot of drag due to the loose fit, pockets, etc. which is challenging when you're swimming a significant distance.  Team suits are required for meets, although if you can't find yours on the day of the meet, we would rather you swim in the meet in the suit you can find vs. skipping the meet.  Also, we selected suits that are priced at a good value, and we will use these suits for two seasons.  Order directly at https://www.swimoutlet.com/collections/swsurfers .  We'll bring the sample suits to practice if you need to try them on to determine your size before ordering.

Competitive vs. Non-Competitive:  The practices are the same for either category.  The main difference is whether or not your swimmer will participate in the swim meets that start the week of May 27th.  We highly recommend that you try out a swim meet even if you're currently signed up as non-competitive.  The swim meets in our league are a lot of fun and are designed to have new swimmers try racing in a low-pressure environment.  If you're putting in the work during practice, you might as well have some fun racing too!  Please contact me if you have questions about changing categories.  We were "forced" to swap to Competitive by our Surfers coach during my son's initial season as a six year old, and we're glad we did.

Stroke Judge: I forgot to mention at the meeting that we are looking for 3-5 more stroke judges.  This is a great way to fulfill your volunteer requirements.  We currently have 5 judges.  We would like to have a total of 8-10 so we can better allocate duties throughout the meet season.  Please let me know if you are interested in learning more about this role.  It's a great way to view the meet, and you'll learn more about the rules for the various swim strokes.

Communications & Alerts for weather / practice & meet impacts, etc.:  We're using the Swimtopia app again this year (the system you registered on).  You can download the app from your applicable app store.  We will use alerts for quick updates such as cancellations for weather, so please enable notifications on the app on your phone.  We will also send a redundant e-mail in case you don't have the app or in case the notification is missed.

Merchandise:  We have some fun gear such as the Mom and Dad shirts for meets and personalized swim caps on our Surfers Shop.  The items are sold at cost.

Please contact me with any questions.  Thank you!

Shu

713-443-4616