9-4-2012
Welcome note to all Nitro Families!
1. Welcome to the 2012-2013 season. We’re looking forward to working with your kiddos, and hope you enjoy your time with us. This will be a very straightforward, simple introductory note that will begin to answer some basic questions, with more information coming. Please read all 10 points. Here we go:
2. Practices generally begin on time and end on time. The coaches will call out the group name when they are ready to gather the kids for their practice. If more than three minutes have past the scheduled start time of your swimmer’s practice, stop a coach and ask where your swimmer’s group name is meeting, and we will point your swimmer to the proper area of the pool.
3. Parents – We work to teach self-reliance, independence, confidence, discipline, delayed gratification, the benefits of fitness, goal setting, and many other positive characteristics. That means they are in good hands with us once we call the start of practice. Please refrain from any coaching from the bleachers. We need the kiddos to be focused on us, and the less distractions to the groups in the water, the better. Thanks in advance for that.
4. We will have a listing of who is coaching the various groups in the upcoming days and will communicate that, along with contact information. If you ever send an email and you do not receive a reply within 24 hours, let me know personally (mike@nitroswim.com).
5. Stay positive in the bleachers, and remember that all your kiddo wants is to know that you are proud of them. Let them make mistakes, all part of the process, and love them unconditionally.
6. We will inevitably have some improper group placements with some of our swimmers. We will work to correct those within a few practices. We want this to be a positive athletic experience for all of our Nitro members.
7. Chances are also pretty good that we’ll have one or two additional schedule tweaks to a group or two – nothing major, but the coaching staffs of both pools are meeting on Saturday afternoon to recap the week and to discuss issues that need correcting. So give us this week to work through the inherent speed bumps that are always a part of the start of a new season.
8. All Nitro Swim Team Groups have certain gear requirements. Intro to Nitro, Bronze, and Technique and Fitness (TF) require a kickboard and a good pair of training fins – (like Speedo, Finis, Lane 4, TYR). Silver, Advanced Silver, and High School Training Group require kickboard,fins plus a pull buoy. The remaining groups will need board, fins, pull buoy, and some additional items. They will get separate communication shortly.
9. I will be out of pocket Tuesday and Wednesday attending a swim school forum, and will be back on the pool deck Thursday. Coach Kristyn, our Head Age Group Coach at Cedar Park will also be off the pool deck – she is attending the American Swim Coaches Association World Conference, and will return next week. One more coaching absence: Coach Megan Rose is visiting her family in Hawaii (where she is from) and will return to the Bee Cave pool deck on Thursday, the 13th. I am bringing two additional coaches on board at Bee Cave, and when they become official in the next few days, I will introduce them.
Quick update on the Extreme Locker Room Makeover at Cedar Park — HVAC installed, everything working, drying out concrete slab prior to installing the new flooring. LED lights already installed. Not quite finished. Will keep you posted — thanks for your patience while improvements being made!
10. More info to come, like meets, meet schedule, how they work, and some other items. That’s it for now. Thanks for being a part of Nitro Swimming, and we’ll see you at the pools! Let’s get this season started!! Coach Mike.
