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The Gator philosophy, which starts at the top with Head Coach Paul Makin, Assistant Head Coaches Taylor Makin and Juliana Skopp Cardilo, and Team Reps Mike Anderson and Katy Jetton, is that sportsmanship is paramount. After all, it is just a swim meet. It is more fun to win than to lose, but the community bonding for kids and parents, and swimming improvement for the kids are the main goals. We've had fun in 5-0 years that end in championships, and we've had fun in 0-5 years that end in dropping to a lower NVSL Division. There is zero reason to be spiteful and angry toward the other team. They are our competitors, not our enemies. Without them, we would have an endless series of Green & White meets. We win with class and we lose with class. We have fun and show respect when we win, and we do the same when we lose.
At the start of each meet, our announcer reads this paragraph from the NVSL:
The Northern Virginia Swimming League was founded in 1956 to sponsor competitive swimming and diving events and activities among community swimming pools of Northern Virginia, and to develop in the children participating in this program--a love for the sport, advanced aquatic skills, teamwork, and the principles of good sportsmanship.
The Gators will continue to make that our mission statement and will continue our proud tradition of striving to achieve these goals:
Continue to build a program that we all can be proud of, one that focuses on sportsmanship and skill.
Have a program in which kids--whether they swim all A meets, a handful of A meets, or solely in B meets--become better swimmers and more confident people.
Have a program in which the kids have fun, whether it is at swim meets, pep rallies, teen nights, camp outs or other team events.
Continue to build friendships among adults, which in turn builds a stronger community.
Be the leading summer swim team in the greater Mt. Vernon area.
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