October 5, 2009

Dear Parents and Swimmers,

I am very excited to be on the pool deck again as your coach for FKSC.  The unique circumstances of Mark’s departure allowed me the opportunity to observe the team for sometime before I took over as head coach.  I am privileged to work with such a strong, talented team.

My philosophy of swimming is that a swimmer should enjoy coming to practice, expecting to work hard, and leave with a sense of accomplishment.  At practice all coaching staff should be respected.  Respect can be a simple as listening to the task, applying the directions, and waiting for the next instruction.  Parents should feel free to observe practice, but refrain from giving instructions, corrections, or coaching the swimmers.  Parent interjection creates a confusing environment for the swimmers and reduces the authority of who is the coach.  At swim meets, the coach has to be the last word to the swimmer before getting on the block, and the first words to the swimmer at the conclusion of the race, before the swimmer re-enters the water for the cool-down.  The appropriate time for the parents and team mates to congratulate (not criticize) the swimmer is after a  proper cool-down swim.

This swim team, like most swim teams, is a family.  Many of you have been together since the beginning of this team 7 years ago.  I am proud to be apart of this family.  It is important to remember there are times when family members may not get a long, but they resolve their issues.  A broken family can be very destructive.  I have an open door policy and view criticism and suggestions as opportunities to change for positive movement forward.  With this in mind, please voice your concerns to me either before or after practice.

Meet intentions are should be given to Aimee, Kelli, or me no later than 12 days before the meet.  Intentions are not the events you want to swim.  Parent or swimmer should state which day(s) they will attend.  The coach (and maybe the swimmer) will determine which events to swim.  Once you have stated your intention to go to the meet, you will be financially responsible for the meet/coaching fees whether or not you attend the meet.  Meet entries will be electronically sent to the host team 10 days prior to the meet (FGC Policy), unless otherwise stated in meet information.  Intentions can be given verbal or via e-mail to JACSWIM@HOTMAIL.COM.

Here are a few sites that may be helpful to you for finding information about FKSC, swim meets, and educational tools.  I plan to keep the keyswimming web-site up-to-date and active.  It should reflect meets, practice schedule, and other information.

Keyswimming.org,

FGCSWIM.org

USASWIMMING.org

The meet bid schedule for 2010 is due Oct 13, 2009.  I will review the schedule and bid for FKSC to host meets for 2010.  The award announcement is in November 2009.  Hopefully we will be selected.  Hosting a meet is a commitment from the entire team and everyone will be required to help.  In the mean time, here are the remaining meets for 2009 and proposed meets for the first four months of 2010.  I do not believe a team should go to every meet on the Florida Gold Coast Schedule.  Preparing and training with a goal in mind is why I have chosen these meets for our team.

*Qualify:  YES means you must have a “A” time or better to attend this meet.  Time standards can be found on the FCGSWIM.org web site.  In some cases, Junior Olympic cuts are “A” times.  Please check the web-site to see if you qualify.

Through hard work many of the swimmers who bagged groceries at Winn Dixie, the team was able to raise funds for the beautiful records board at Jacobs Aquatic Center.  Aimee Volland has put in hours of work researching and printing records for the board. Records will be obtained from competitions at meets (not swim offs at practice).  We have several empty spaces!  If you are looking for a personal goal, here is a great opportunity to set one.

Coach John

I.  Thou shalt not impose thy ambitions on thy child.

Remember that swimming is your child’s activity. Improvements and progress occur at different rates for each individual. Don’t judge your child’s progress based on the performance of other athletes and don’t push them based on what you think they should be doing. The nice thing about swimming is every person can strive to do their personal best and benefit from the process of competitive swimming.

II.  Thou shalt be supportive no matter what.

There is only one question to ask your child after practice or a competition – “Did you have fun?” If meets and practices are not fun, your child should not be forced to participate.

III.  Thou Shalt not coach thy child.

You are involved in one of the few youth sports programs that offer professional coaching, do not undermine the professional coach by trying to coach your child  on the side. Hour job is to provide love and support and a safe place to return at the end of the day. Love and hug your child no matter what.  The coach is responsible for the technical part of the job. You should not offer advice on technique or race strategy or any other area that is not yours.  And above all, never pay our child for a performance. This will only serve to confuse your child concerning the reasons to strive for excellence and weaken the swimmer/coach bond.

IV.  Thou Shalt only have positive things to say at a swimming meet.

If you are going to show up at a swimming meet, you should be encouraging, but never criticize your child or the coach. Both of them know when mistakes have been made. And remember “yelling at”  is not the same as “cheering for”.

V.  Thou shalt acknowledge thy child’s fears.

A first swimming meet, 500 free or 200 IM can be a stressful situation. It is totally appropriate for your child to be scared. Don’t yell or belittle, just assure your child that the coach would not have suggested the event if your child was not ready to compete in it. Remember your job is to love and support your child through all of the swimming experience.

VI.  Thou shalt not criticize the officals.

If you do not care to devote the time or do not have the desire to volunteer as an official, don’t criticize those who are doing the best they can.

VII.  Honor thy child’s coach.

The bond between coach and swimmer is a special one, and one that contributes to your child’s success as well as fun. Do not criticize the coach in the presences of your child, it will only serve to hurt your child’s swimming.

VIII.  Thou shalt be loyal and supportive of thy team.

Is is not wise for parents to take their swimmers and to jump from team to team.  The water isn’t necessarily bluer in another team’s pool. Every team has its own internal problems, even teams that build champions. Children who switch from team to team are often ostracized for a long, long, time by the teammates they leave behind and are slowly received by new team mates. Often times swimmers who do switch teams never do better than they did before they sought bluer water.

IX.  Thy child shalt have goals besides swimming.

Most successful swimmers are those who have learned to focus on the process and not the outcome. Giving an honest effort regardless of what the outcome is, is much more important than winning. One Olympian said, “My goal was to set a world record. Well, I did that, but someone else did it too, just a little faster that I did. I achieved my goal and I lost. Does this make me a failure? No, in fact I am very proud of that swim.” What a tremendous outlook to carry on through life.

X.  Thou shalt not expect thy child to become an Olympian.

There are 250,000 athletes in USA Swimming and we keep a record of the Top 100 all time swimming performance by age group. Only 2% of the swimmers listed in the all-time Top 100 10 & Under age group make it to the Top 100 in the 17-18 age group and of those only a small percentage will become elite level, world class athletes. There are only 52 spots available for the Olympic Team every four years. Your child’s odds of becoming an Olympian is about .002%