Guidelines and Etiquette

We promise to respect all athletes regardless of experience, skill, and ability. We will treat every athlete as an individual and help them reach their full potential.

We promise to be professional. Punctuality, preparation, and conduct are priorities to us. We will do our best to arrive early and be prepared for every practice and competition. Our daily practice plans will be prepared in advance and in accordance with session and season goals. We will model the efforts, attitudes, and behaviors we wish to see in our athletes. In addition, the club will share session, tournament, and event information as early as possible to help families plan. This is often at the mercy of district pool managers and tournament organizers.

We promise that your child’s time with us will be a positive experience. We will not yell to belittle or intimidate athletes. Coaches do have to yell to instruct during practices and games. We will focus on effort and attitude. We will point out mistakes in a positive manner so that an athlete can learn and improve.

We promise to make a commitment to continually improve as coaches and mentors. We will utilize our ECA coaching manual to have consistency across age groups. We will seek to improve through performance evaluation and coaching education.

We promise to build our club responsibly. We are always searching for more pool time and coaches. We strive to find a balance between accepting more athletes and making sure practices and rosters are not impacted.

We promise to keep competition rosters small and balanced to the best of our ability. We will not be like the clubs that bring oversized rosters to events. Our goal is to provide playing time and experience for athletes. We will do our best to have balanced rosters with athletes of similar skill and experience. It is stressful and unfair for an inexperienced athlete to be placed on a skilled roster. And experienced athletes deserve the opportunity to play with similarly skilled athletes.

We promise to provide a safe environment for practices and competition. We will ensure all equipment is safe and used properly. We will never ask an athlete to participate while sick or injured.

We promise to follow the rules of the sport.

We promise to be dedicated to our club motto of building athletes, character, and community.

HAVE FUN! We promise to make this a fun experience for our athletes, for ourselves, and for our community. We coach because we love water polo, and we love making this a positive and rewarding experience for athletes and families.

Make every effort to attend every practice and competition. Time-management and a commitment to school studies is imperative to be a successful athlete. Athletes need to be responsible to school and family commitments in order to be available to attend practices and competitions.

Arrive in a timely manner to all practices and competitions. Take responsibility at home to prepare yourself so your parents can bring you on time.

If you know that you will miss a scheduled practice, please take the responsibility to communicate that with your coach in advance. Your parents may also communicate with the coach, but this is your activity, your team, and your coach.

Respect your coaches. Listen when coaches are speaking. Give them your best effort and attitude at every practice and competition. Never leave a practice or competition early without notifying your coach.

Respect your teammates. Value all teammates regardless of skill, experience, and ability. Work hard for your teammates at every practice and competition. The team will improve when athletes are committed to making each other better. Bullying is not tolerated.

Respect officials. Never argue with an official or question their calls. Your responsibility is to play and adjust to the officials calls.

Respect your opponents. Be a good sport and place value in your opponents. Without them, there would be no competition.

Respect the club. Represent ECA with sportsmanship and dignity at every event. Wear your ECA suit and shirt at every competition. When possible, support and cheer for all ECA teams and athletes at competition. In addition, athletes should be aware that younger club athletes look up to you as a role model. At all practices, competition, and events please behave and act as a leader to younger athletes.

Play by the rules. Never cheat, bully, or intimidate an opponent to gain an advantage. Play the game the way you are coached. Violence is not tolerated.

HAVE FUN! Practice and compete because you love water polo and love being part of a team.

Please help your athlete go over the Athlete Guidelines. Coaches will present it at the beginning of every session, but we appreciate parental support.

Promptly pay all club session fees and tournament fees when they are due. ECA provides scholarships to families in need. Please contact Coach Clint at EastCountyAquatics@gmail.com with a request for help. The club requires last year’s tax return to validate a scholarship request.

Promptly reply to club emails when requested. Every session, we will share a tournament RSVP form. We face deadlines to enter teams in tournaments and will not be able to guess. Without a completed RSVP form, your athlete is not guaranteed a roster spot at any event.

Refrain from coaching your child during practices and games. Allow the coaches to be the voices they hear. Please do not approach the bench or the team during competition.

Never approach and speak/yell at an opposing coach or official. Allow the coach to handle any situations during/following the game. Please do not yell at officials.

Focus on your child’s efforts and attitude rather than mistakes and winning/losing.

Please be aware that the club strives to attend tournaments with small and balanced rosters. If you RSVP to an event and then cancel with late notice, it puts the team and club in a difficult situation. Be aware that if you do RSVP for an event, a roster spot is not guaranteed. The club will do their best to have well-balanced rosters and refrain from placing beginners on advanced rosters. We ask parents to acknowledge that we are still a growing club and sometimes this goal is unattainable.

Please help the program improve by communicating any issues/concerns appropriately. Do not approach a coach immediately following a game or during practice to question tactics, playing time, or decisions made in the game. Please do not complain to other parents about these issues. We want any type of feedback but it must be in a calm, productive, goal-oriented manner. Questions about playing time and team structure are valid concerns and we place value in your feedback. Please email any questions/concerns to Coach Clint and/or Coach Scott. We will reply to every email and will approach coaches when concerns need to be addressed. This chain of communication will remove any stress from the coach/athlete/parent relationship and will allow parents to feel free to voice any concerns. You may also utilize our contact form to post questions, comments, and concerns. When appropriate, please encourage your child to approach the coach to discuss any issues.

Please volunteer and help when needed. ECA relies on parent support for fundraising, transportation of equipment, running desks at hosted tournaments, and planning/hosting team social events. We greatly appreciate your support!

HAVE FUN! Remember, your child participates in water polo for their enjoyment. And you should as well.