8/30/25 Parent/Student Email

Hello everyone,

The 2025 swim and dive season is in full effect, with competition beginning soon. Just a few reminders and some information as we begin moving forward.

Reminder, we do not have practice Monday 9/1 for the holiday. It also looks like Monday 9/8 practice will need to be cancelled as well.

On the team site: https://sites.google.com/guhsdaz.org/sunnyslopevikingsswimanddive/home

There are tabs to find our schedule as well as the handbook. A new addition to the handbook this year is a set of varsity lettering requirements which can be found at the end of the handbook. The schedule previously said 2024, but was for this current season, this has been fixed and should read as the 2025 Schedule.

Team suits have been ordered, and we are just waiting on them to be completed and delivered. For the suits this year we have gone with Jolyn Clothing. For the girl’s suits, the price will be $60. For boys, the jammer is $40 and the brief (speedo) is $30. Returning swimmers will only be required to pay half. Once the suits are in I will send out another email, and athletes will receive their suit after payment. For payment, check or cash can be given to me on campus or at practice.

This Thursday 9/4 will be our first meet. The meets will begin at 4pm and typically end around 6:30pm, with athletes expected to be at the pool by 3pm for warmups. For our first meet we will be at the Roadrunner Pool for swim, and for this meet only, dive will be at a separate location, Paradise Valley Pool. For all other regular season meets dive and swim will be at the same location. The students will be released from their 7th hour at 2pm and there will be a bus leaving campus to the meet, and returning to Sunnyslope after. For this meet it will be a tri-team meet. That means we will have less lanes than normal for our races, so some students who would typically be in a lane may not be for this meet specifically. We will still have exhibition heats for 50 and 100 freestyle (extra heats of those races after the initial heat). Swimmers without an individual event on the meet sheet will still be swimming in one or both of those exhibition races. So every swimmer who attends the meet will be able to participate on some level. Anyone unable to make the meet should let me know as soon as possible so that I do not mistakenly put them in a race. 

Any student who wishes to transport themselves must have a permission slip signed and returned to me by Wednesday 9/3 at the absolute latest. All students are able to travel home from any meet with a parent, they must just inform a coach before leaving.

A last note. We have just completed time trials and are beginning to start competition season. Many students can take these times or rankings in a negative way if they aren’t as fast as they want to be. I would urge athletes and parents to remember that times for swim should be used to show your own growth throughout the season. Someone who continually gets better and better times throughout the season should see that as a positive, regardless of where they are ranked in their races. So I encourage as much positive reinforcement as possible.

I have high hopes for this season and I expect a good showing from all of our athletes. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. 

Thank you!

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8/2/24 Parent/Student Email

Hello all,

This will be the last swim/dive update for the "summer" before we start school up next Monday 8/5.

First, don't forget that the first day of practice had to be moved to Monday 8/12! We will still practice from 3:30-5:00 at the Sunnyslope pool, but AIA shifted the season a week later so we are unable to access the pool and have practice the first week of school like we have done in years past. Students need to also realize that practice starts at 3:30, so they need to already be changed and ready at the pool by that time.

Probably the most important update of this email is the change to using ParentSquare as a communication tool for parents and students. This will be used by me to communicate with parents and students as well as for the school itself to deliver information and important alerts. This will take the place of Remind, and a majority of communication will be done through the app. It also has the ability to message me directly for parents or students with individual questions. Please download the app as there can be times when practices are cancelled or times change and I need to alert everyone at once. In the app you should also go to Notification Settings and change them from Digest to Instant. Digest will send all notifications at the end of the day in big summary, but Instant will send it immediately. 

We have ordered a fit-kit from Jolyn for the team suit this year and I am hoping to get that as soon as we can so that we can send the order in. Assuming we get it during the first week of school (8/5-8/9) I will have students interested in getting a suit come to my room after school to either give me their size (if they already know it) or to take a couple sample suits and go to the bathroom to try them on to find their size. Ideally we can get the order in soon so that we can get them before the first meet. I am in room J322 on campus, and every student should come by to at least give me their size one day during the first week of school. If the kit comes in later we will have the option to try on suits during practice (8/12 or after), but to expedite things I am hoping we can get the sizes in during the first week of school.

I mentioned before, but the school will have an all-sport parent meeting Thursday 8/15 at 6:00pm in the auditorium. Once that is done there will be the option for swim/dive to meet separately afterward if there are any other specific questions for me.

As of now a potential dive coach has been interviewed and I am hoping that by the first day of practice we will have one hired and ready to go. I will update information on that as soon as I get it, and that will include the location and time for practices. There is a chance that this will be done at David C Uribe Pool and not the pool at Sunnyslope. Students who know they will be diving for sure can still give me their suit size or come try sizes out after school once the fit-kit is in.

Somewhat related to dive practices being off campus, students who are planning to drive or carpool will need to come by my room during the first week to pick up the student driving form, and there will also be a separate carpool form. These are both to ensure that students and parents are aware of who is driving, and with whom, to make sure everyone is accounted for.

I know this email has a ton of information, but please make sure to look through it and contact me if you have any questions at all. I will also be checking my email during this pre-school weekend in case anything comes up. 

Thank you all!

7/30/24 Parent/Student Email

Hello parents/guardians/athletes,

So this email has the most important updates for the upcoming season so far.

The most important update is that AIA will not let us begin practice on August 5th (the first day of school), so our first practice will actually be August 12th the following Monday.

I have alerted students through email, and have asked swimmers to text anyone they know that is swimming, but if you know anyone who may not be in the know, please try to spread the word.

With regard to suit fittings, we are seeing when we will get the fit-kit from Jolyn, but if necessary students will be able to try on the sample suits after school the first week back so we can get sizes and get the order in as soon as possible. If the kit comes in later we will be able to do this during part of practice when we start on the 12th, but I will keep everyone updated as to the status of suit fittings.

The parent meeting has also changed. For the first time this year there will be a school-wide parent meeting for athletics Thursday, August 15th in the auditorium at 6:00pm. After this meeting I will stay behind and be available for any questions that may come up.

Another big update is that our dive team is grouped with Greenway for dive. They practice at David C. Uribe Pool from 3:30-5:00. However, as of now their dive coach is also not returning, and so dive practices are being put on hold until the district is able to find a dive coach for our group. I am trying to keep as updated with that process as I can, and hope that by the 12th there will be a coach hired. (If you know anyone interested, let me know and I will get them in touch with the right people!)

As we get closer to the first week back of school I will be updating more (and putting all updates on the swim and dive website).

Thank you and let me know if you have any questions!

Athletic Clearance Webpage

Below is the link to the Sunnyslope webpage with more information about signing up in Aktivate online and making sure your athlete is cleared for practices and meets. This needs to be done before they are able to practice (first practice is the first day, August 5th, 2024)

Athletic Clearance 

7/26/24 Parent Email

Hello All,

So some small updates. The schedule is roughly set for this upcoming season. There will be some minor changes here and there, and the dive practice is still being determined, but I am just waiting to hear back on that.

I will attach a viewable link to the schedule so far:

2024 Schedule 

If anything changes I will update, but for now the main changes that may happen are to the things where the time/date is still to be determined. For meets the times present are the start times of the meet, students will be there earlier for warmup and setup.

I will also provide the link to the team website:

Sunnyslope Vikings Swim and Dive

In the announcement tab you can find the previous email with links to getting your student cleared online for practice. The schedule tab will have the document linked in this email. And the team handbook is also up as well with some important information. Students will receive a paper copy at practice as well.

I will continue to update as things change, but email me with any questions.

Thanks!