Attendance Policy

Fredericton Synchronized Swimming Club

ATTENDANCE POLICY

The Fredericton Synchronized Swimming Cub has a strong policy on missed practices. Over the years, this issue has been a recurring topic of discussion. In 2009, we developed a policy we believe is fair to all swimmers, parents, and coaches, and has proven to be successful.

PRACTICES 2 WEEKS AHEAD OF A COMPETITION CANNOT BE MISSED FOR ANY REASON.

Please ensure any travel or vacation plans are made accordingly.

The Fredericton Synchro Club’s “3 Missed Practice Rule” is as follows:

Swimmers are allowed to miss 3 practices of their choice in a given season. Illness and significant life situations will be excluded from the 3 missed practices and need to be discussed personally with your coach. It is therefore up to the swimmer to choose their 3 missed practices wisely and make requests in advance.

When an absence is due to illness, the coach must be advised by a text, email, or a call by noon (if possible).

We strongly encourage everyone to follow this Club policy as it is a courtesy to their teammates and coaches. Any swimmer who is not respectful of the Club policy and does follow the 3 practice rule will be dealt with on an individual basis.

We do keep track of absences at the pool and whether we were advised in advance or not.

Please keep in mind that the coaches are supportive of the swimmers lives outside of the pool and will work with swimmers and parents to make sure that the demands of practice time are fair and acceptable to all.

There are some reasons that are not acceptable for missing practice:

1) Work (and babysitting) – Everyone is aware of their synchro schedule and working swimmers need to adjust their schedules accordingly or make sure they have the flexibility to change a work commitment if need be.

2) Pre-competition - Swimmers may not miss a practice the week before or weekend before a competition. This includes school trips and family vacations. It is crucial to the individual and the team to be prepared for competition and missing a practice at this time is unacceptable. This also includes missing a last practice for early departure for competition.

3) Homework – It is important that swimmers learn to manage their time effectively so they can come to the pool stress free. We realize that education always comes first for our athletes and we will make exceptions to this rule on an as needed basis such as exam time.

4) Menstruation.