SeaDogs Welcome to the Yellow Springs Aquatic Club summer swim team. The SeaDogs program is about improving swimming skills and building confidence, coming together as a team and having fun, for both the swimmers and the families. Parents’ Handbook Overview The SeaDogs swim team has been the summer recreational swim program in Yellow Springs since 1991. Yellow Springs is one of seven teams that currently make up the Miami Valley Swimming Association, www.mvsaohio.org. The other teams are the Clinton County Barracudas (Wilmington), Forest Ridge Fighting Fish (Dayton), Greene Valley Gators (Beavercreek), Oakwood Dolphins, Wayne Wahoos (Huber Heights) and Waynesville Blue Dolphins.The SeaDogs swim in dual meets (against one other team at a time), at home and away, and in the league championships at the end of the season. Yellow Springs’ home meets are held at the Gaunt Park pool. Directions to away meets are available at the YSAC website, at registration, from the coaches or on the MVSA website, www.mvsaohio.org. Car-pooling is encouraged. Dual meets are scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from mid-June through late July and usually start at 6:00 p.m., although this can vary. The championships are usually held on the penultimate Saturday in July at a local university, with events for swimmers 10 and under in the morning and for swimmers 11 and up in the afternoon. The team also hosts a pizza and swim party after one of the home meets, rides or walks in the Yellow Springs 4th of July parade and holds a pot-luck awards night and swim party after the championships. Participants in the SeaDogs pay a modest fee for the summer (with some scholarships available based on need). Participant fees cover supplies needed for practices and meets, the cost of membership in the league, fees for championships and stipends for the coaching staff. The SeaDogs also obtain revenue from street fair parking and the summer yard sale. The team relies greatly on the volunteer work and dedication of parents and community members. Cost Cost for a single child is $75.00. The cost for a family is $125.00. Scholarships available. Practice Schedule The practice schedule is as follows: For swimmers 10 and under: Monday through Thursday, 9 to 10 a.m. For swimmers 11 and up: Monday through Thursday, 10 to 11 a.m. Contact Information All swim parents will be provided with contact information for the parent group officers and the coaches. If you have questions about your child’s swim training or practices, please call one of the coaches. If you have questions about the parent volunteer schedule or about the areas of volunteer coordination, or need to change a volunteer shift, please call the co-chair in charge of organization. If you have general questions or concerns about the SeaDogs, please contact one of the co-chairs. Swimmers’ Responsibilities Do your best and have fun. Respect the coaches, your teammates, officials, parents, and other team's swimmers at all times. Follow the pool rules at Gaunt Park and all other pools. Remember that you represent Yellow Springs when you are at other pools. Know the schedule and be on time for practices and meets. Do not dive into the shallow end of the pool! Let your coach know if you cannot come to a meet when you have signed up to swim, especially if you expect to be on a relay team. Be prepared to swim all of the events – including butterfly, the longest freestyle event for your age group and the individual medley – at least twice during the season. (The more experienced swimmers will be asked to swim the hard events early in the season; newer swimmers will be given time to learn and practice.) Although we want swimmers to swim their favorite event, it’s part of being on a team to swim events that challenge you. Indicate for each meet whether you will be swimming. The coaches will post a sign-up sheet four or five days before each meet. There you will indicate your preferred events. If you cannot swim the meet, you need to put that information on the sign-up sheet. This needs to be done 24 hours before the meet starts. Swimmers who do not sign up will not be given races. If they show up at the meet, the coaches might be able to get the swimmer in a race or two, at the coaches’ discretion. Parents’ Responsibilities Parent involvement is the backbone of the SeaDogs swim team – it takes a village to run a swim team – and the SeaDogs could not function without the hard work and dedication of the many parents and family members. Signing up your swimmer: Some of our swimmers are too little to take responsibility for signing up for each meet. We ask that the parents fulfill this responsibility by either 1) filling out the form at the pool under your child’s name or 2) writing to YSACSeadogs@gmail.com with that information 24 hours before the meet. Helping your swimmer: Make sure swimmers are on time for practices and meet warm-ups. Check swim meet and invitational schedules carefully, and help them be ready for their events at the meets. If you have young swimmers, find out when their relays are and help the whole relay team get to the blocks on time. Encouraging all the swimmers and modeling respect: Keep in mind that the goals of the program are to help the kids improve their swimming skills, build confidence and have fun. The team includes swimmers of all ability levels, and swimmers and parents are expected to be respectful and encouraging of everyone involved. Parents also are expected to set an example of respect and sportsmanlike conduct toward teammates, swimmers from other teams, coaches and officials. Disrespectful or abusive conduct, by anyone, will not be tolerated, and parents are encouraged to make this clear to swimmers and visitors. Staying informed: Check the bulletin board at the pool entrance for important information. Please also make sure the team has your e-mail address, as e-mails are the easiest way for the coaches and coordinators to be able to reach everyone. Working at Meets: It takes more than 40 parents or other volunteers to run every home meet. We also must provide parent workers (to be timers and judges) at away meets. Therefore, it is absolutely critical that every family cover four work assignments (usually, an assignment is for one half of a meet) at home and one assignment at away meets during the regular season. As the season goes forward, the meet coordinator will contact you each week to fill in a slot. If you are scheduled to work a meet but cannot be there, give as much notice as possible so that a replacement can be located in advance. The home meet worker assignments are: Announcer/starter: Announces the events and calls swimmers to their races (there generally are three calls for each event); coordinates with the timers and clerk of course to keep the meet moving at the right pace; starts the races using the PA system, whistle and starting horn.Clerk of course: Organizes the swimmers as they report for their events and directs them to the blocks for each race; escorts the youngest swimmers to the blocks. Timers: One timer for each lane, takes the times of each swimmer using a stopwatch and hand-recording the results. Head Timer: Keeps two additional stopwatches, serving as a back-up for the timers, in case there is a mistake or a malfunction of the timer’s stopwatch. Stroke-and-turn judges: Observe the swimmers to make sure they are doing each stroke and turn properly. If a stroke or turn is improper, these judges will disqualify the swimmer from that race. Place judges: Watch the end of the race to determine which swimmer completes the race in first, second and third places. Referee: An official who assigns the stroke-and-turn judges to their lanes and arbitrates any questions concerning the judges’ calls. Runner: Delivers the completed lane slips from the timers and place slips from the judges to the scoring table after each race. Scoring and ribbons table workers: Record the results of the races to score the meet and prepare award ribbons for the top finishers in each event. Most of the volunteer jobs do not require any experience or particular knowledge of swimming. For the jobs that do involve more specific knowledge, MVSA offers a training session for judges, referees and announcer/starters before the start of the season. Parent volunteers also are needed at the championship meet; you will be asked to sign up to work a slot near the end of the regular season. SeaDogs Swim Meets What events your child will swimEach meet your child can swim up to three individual events and two relays. The relay events are events 9 through 18 and 71 through 80, listed on the last page of this handbook. All other events are individual events. Normally, your child will swim in events with other children of his/her age. Occasionally, your child will be asked to "swim up". The coaches, in an effort to put as many kids in as many relays as possible, might be left with a relay of only three swimmers. Since, relays must have four swimmers, a younger swimmer is asked if they are willing to swim in an older relay. It's always optional but it is a challenge that many kids will remember for years. Ask the coaches about their "swimming up" stories. You may also be asked to swim up if the age group above your has very few competitors. It's a way to earn points for the team. What to bring to a meet Bring towels, games or other activities for the time between your swimmer’s events, folding or portable chairs or blankets for your family and for the swimmers and some food (but not glass containers) if you choose. Concessions are limited at the meets. You will want to bring chairs to the championship meet, since it lasts several hours and since the families and swimmers generally wait in a gymnasium between events. If the weather is rainy, bring umbrellas or ponchos; the evening weather can be cool, especially early in the season, and jackets or sweaters are a good idea, particularly for the swimmers. Team suits may be purchased but are not required for the meets. Weather policy Meets will go forward if there is rain, but, of course, not during a thunder or lightning storm. In accordance with Village and Gaunt Park pool policy, if the lifeguards see or hear lightning or thunder, they will suspend the meet until at least 30 minutes have passed since the last thunderclap or lightning. It is difficult to reschedule a dual meet, so MVSA teams try to avoid weather cancellations if possible. Therefore, please bring your child to the pool even if the weather is rainy; often, a storm will pass and we can proceed with the meet, even after a late start or a suspension of the races. How a dual meet works Before each meet, the coaches will have prepared “lane slips” for each swimmer in each race. The lane slips indicate the event number and description (e.g., 50 meter freestyle), the heat (when there are more swimmers than there are lanes in the pool, there will be two or more heats) and the lane to which the swimmer is assigned. The swimmers give the lane slips to the timer in the assigned lane, to record the swimmer’s time. Parents should help swimmers keep track of the information from their lane slips so they know when to report for their races and which lane to go to. (Many families take along a marking pen and record the information on the swimmer’s arm before the start of the meet.) The standard schedule of the events for an MVSA dual meet is attached to this handbook. Events at dual meets usually are organized by a "clerk of course" who directs the swimmers to the events as they are called by the announcer/starter. (At Yellow Springs’ home events, the clerk of course is located in the diving board area.) The announcer usually will give three calls for each race (first call; second call; last call); swimmers are responsible for getting themselves on time to the clerk of course or, at locations where there is none, to the blocks. Terminology Swimming has its own language. The glossary below of some of the terms used may be helpful. Blocks – The platforms on which the swimmer stands and pushes off to start the race. Break or Relay False Start – When one swimmer on a relay team leaves the wall or block before the other swimmer in the water touches the wall. Championships – The Miami Valley Swimming Association championship meet, held in late July at a university pool Clerk of Course – An area where swimmers go to be staged for the upcoming event. Disqualification (D.Q.) – Some infraction of the rules committed by the swimmer. This could be a violation of the rules regarding the start, turn, touch, or stroke. When this occurs, no points are scored and the time is not recorded. Dual Meet – Swim meet with two teams, held at the Gaunt Park pool or at the home pool of the opposing team. Event – A race classified by the age, stroke and distance (e.g., Boys 13-14 100-meter freestyle). Exhibition Heat or Exhibition Swimmer –An event or swimmer that does not count toward the total points for the meet. False Start – When a swimmer leaves the block before the starter has started the race. Heat – Groups of swimmers all competing in the same event or race, when there are more swimmers for the event than there are lanes in the pool. At dual meets, the first heat is the “medal” heat, with later exhibition swimmers in the later heats. At championships, the swimmers with the fastest “seed” times generally swim in the later heats. I.M. – Individual medley; one swimmer swims one length of the pool in each of the four strokes in this order: 1. butterfly; 2. backstroke; 3. breaststroke; 4. freestyle. Lane – Specific area to which the swimmer is assigned to swim. Lane slip – A piece of paper that identifies the swimmer, event, lane, heat and time. Medley relay – a race in which four swimmers swim 25 or 50 yards each. The first swimmer swims backstroke, the second breaststroke, the third, butterfly and the fourth, freestyle. Referee – An official who assigns the stroke-and-turn judges to their lanes and arbitrates any questions concerning the judges’ calls. Runners – Parents who collect lane slips or cards from each lane at the end of a race and run them to the scorer’s table. Scorer – The parent workers who score the dual meets. Scoring a Meet – The totaling of points awarded to individuals and teams. Teams are awarded points based on the placement of individuals and relays from the team. The number of points and places awarded varies with each type of meet. In regular season dual meets, first place gets five points, second place gets three points, third place gets one point. Relays are all or nothing – first place gets seven points, second place gets no points. Seeding – The placement of a swimmer in a heat with the fastest swimmer generally swimming in the last heat toward the center of the pool. In the summer league, this occurs only during the championships. Split – A segment of time for part of an event or race. Most common on relays where you have four individual times that equal the relay time. Starter – The person who starts the race with a gun or buzzer. Also determines if there has been a false start and whether to recall such a start. Stroke and Turn Judges – The officials who see that the swimmer does each stroke and turn properly. If a stroke or turn is improper, these judges will write up a disqualification card and bring the card to the runner or the scorer’s table. Strokes – The four competitive strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Each stroke has a proper execution. Take your Mark – The command the starter gives the swimmers at the start of each race that tells the swimmer to take his/her starting position. Timers – Parents who take the times of each swimmer. There is normally one timer per lane using a stopwatch and hand-recording the results. A head timer serves as a back-up for the timers, in case there is a mistake or a malfunction of the timer’s stopwatch. Warm-ups – The pre-meet swim that allows swimmers to get a feel for the pool and the starting blocks. Warm-ups also enable a swimmer to loosen up and practice events they will swim that day. At dual meets, the home team generally warms up first, then the away team. At championships, warm-up times are assigned to each team. MVSA LEAGUE DUAL MEETS – Order of Events 1. 9 – 10 Girls 50 Freestyle 41. 9 – 10 Girls 100 I.M. 2. 9 – 10 Boys 50 Freestyle 42. 9 – 10 Boys 100 I.M. 3. 11 – 12 Girls 100 Freestyle 43. 11 – 12 Girls 100 I.M. 4. 11 – 12 Boys 100 Freestyle 44. 11 – 12 Boys 100 I.M. 5. 13 – 14 Girls 100 Freestyle 45. 13 – 14 Girls 100 I.M. 6. 13 – 14 Boys 100 Freestyle 46. 13 – 14 Boys 100 I.M. 7. 15 - 18 Girls 100 Freestyle 47. 15 - 18 Girls 100 I.M. 8. 15 - 18 Boys 100 Freestyle 48. 15 - 18 Boys 100 I.M. 9. 8 & U Girls 100 Medley Relay 49. 8 & U Girls 25 Breaststroke 10. 8 & U Boys 100 Medley Relay 50. 8 & U Boys 25 Breaststroke 11. 9 – 10 Girls 100 Medley Relay 51. 9 – 10 Girls 25 Breaststroke 12. 9 – 10 Boys 100 Medley Relay 52. 9 – 10 Boys 25 Breaststroke 13. 11 – 12 Girls 200 Medley Relay 53. 11 – 12 Girls 50 Breaststroke 14. 11 – 12 Boys 200 Medley Relay 54. 11 – 12 Boys 50 Breaststroke 15. 13 – 14 Girls 200 Medley Relay 55. 13 – 14 Girls 50 Breaststroke 16. 13 – 14 Boys 200 Medley Relay 56. 13 – 14 Boys 50 Breaststroke 17. 15 - 18 Girls 200 Medley Relay 57. 15 - 18 Girls 50 Breaststroke 18. 15 - 18 Boys 200 Medley Relay 58. 15 - 18 Boys 50 Breaststroke 19. 8 & U Girls 25 Butterfly 59. 6 & U Girls 25 Freestyle 20. 8 & U Boys 25 Butterfly 60. 6 & U Boys 25 Freestyle 21. 9 – 10 Girls 25 Butterfly 61. 8 & U Girls 25 Freestyle 22. 9 – 10 Boys 25 Butterfly 62. 8 & U Boys 25 Freestyle 23. 11 – 12 Girls 50 Butterfly 63. 9 – 10 Girls 25 Freestyle 24. 11 – 12 Boys 50 Butterfly 64. 9 – 10 Boys 25 Freestyle 25. 13 – 14 Girls 50 Butterfly 65. 11 – 12 Girls 50 Freestyle 26. 13 – 14 Boys 50 Butterfly 66. 11 – 12 Boys 50 Freestyle 27. 15 - 18 Girls 50 Butterfly 67. 13 – 14 Girls 50 Freestyle 28. 15 - 18 Boys 50 Butterfly 68. 13 – 14 Boys 50 Freestyle 29. 6 & U Girls 25 Backstroke 69. 15 - 18 Girls 50 Freestyle 30. 6 & U Boys 25 Backstroke 70. 15 - 18 Boys 50 Freestyle 31. 8 & U Girls 25 Backstroke 71. 8 & U Girls 100 Free Relay 32. 8 & U Boys 25 Backstroke 72. 8 & U Boys 100 Free Relay 33. 9 – 10 Girls 25 Backstroke 73. 9 – 10 Girls 100 Free Relay 34. 9 – 10 Boys 25 Backstroke 74. 9 – 10 Boys 100 Free Relay 35. 11 – 12 Girls 50 Backstroke 75. 11 – 12 Girls 200 Free Relay 36. 11 – 12 Boys 50 Backstroke 76. 11 – 12 Boys 200 Free Relay 37. 13 – 14 Girls 50 Backstroke 77. 13 – 14 Girls 200 Free Relay 38. 13 – 14 Boys 50 Backstroke 78. 13 – 14 Boys 200 Free Relay 39. 15 - 18 Girls 50 Backstroke 79. 15 - 18 Girls 200 Free Relay 40. 15 - 18 Boys 50 Backstroke 80. 1 5 - 18 Boys 200 Free Relay |
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Parents Handbook |