Hi Poolsharks -

I first want to thank each of our parents - you continuously go above & beyond supporting our team.  From cheering on the team & volunteering til 10 pm last night, to getting your kids to the meet in the middle of a work week, to showing up this morning to get our Speeding Bullets, donuts, and ribbons organized.  Our team is possible because of each of you & your support.

Our ribbon box has been enhanced, thanks to Clio & Maia Browne's family organizational talents & time.  We now have file folders for each family - please pick up your ribbons (and leave the folder). Meet 1 ribbons that were missing (all Heat 2+ ribbons were missing) have been placed in family folders.  Please make sure to keep the bin organized & neat.  Here are a few of our Poolsharks enjoying the neatly organized system this AM!

Our Team Talk this morning - a few swimmers asked if we won or lost the meet last evening, I think it is a testament to Echo Ridge's sportsmanship, and them winning with humility, that most of our swimmers did not realize that the score was a lot (Echo) to a little (Venetian).  ASA, our league, allows us to request 3 teams for our dual meet teams each season.  I requested Echo Ridge, Leafmore and Twin Lakes this season because of their priority for excellent sportsmanship.  

Next week, we will be away at Winding Vista.  They typically are even stronger than Echo Ridge and known for their fierce competitiveness.  I tell my own children Isaiah, Naomi & Olivia that the 2 things we can control in sports & life are our attitude and effort.  This is what we will do vs Winding Vista - we will have excellent sportsmanship & race our tails off.  I let our swimmers know this morning that the things I was most proud of last evening was how determined they were for each race, regardless of who was racing next to them, what heat or event or relay they were in, and whether it was their first race of the evening or last.  The second thing I was proud of for our team, was matching up with Echo Ridge's sportsmanship in the water and behind the blocks - our kids exchanged high fives consistently with the other team & cheered with spirit behind the blocks for their fellow swimmers in the water.

While I try to focus on the positive - it is important to address things we need to improve behaviorally as a team.  So we took time this morning, especially with our 9-12's, to talk about a few things that we did not do well as a team.  

We talked about what 'character' means - that the choices we make, when no one (ie your coaches/your parents/grownups) is watching, helps define your character.  

I learned after the meet that:

*teammates were taking each others stuff (like treats they received from their buddies)

*V caps ripping in the baby pool during shenanigans (kids were told not to be in the baby pool during our pre meet team meeting) - pink/green caps will not be replaced - although they can be earned again next season

*swimmers having a hard time listening to their teen coaches when given instructions

*general roughhousing, non listening, messing around unkindness to peers

Ugh.  But as Mister Rogers says, when hard things happen, look for the helpers.  

I reinforced that 9 out of every 10 Poolsharks, did make great behavioral choices during the meet and if they see these negative actions taking place in the future, they have at least 3 good options.  1 - walk away so you are not associated with the negative behavior.  2 - if you are friends with the kid making bad choices, let them know to stop, that is not who we are.  3 - tell a trusted grownup/coach, including me, and I will leave the pool deck and address the misbehavior - helping kids to be our best selves is more important than the race in the pool at the moment.  

I let the kids know that ALL of us have had moments in our days/weeks/years where we don't make the best choices.  And that we are here, as coaches & grownups, to help the kids be their best selves, as people & athletes, and that if they did have a bad day/moment/choice, that the very next day, they will have a fresh start and we will support them to being the best kid they are.  

Moving forward - as the season progresses - the referees will get more and more strict - we had zero DQ's during Time Trials & Meet 1 (this was per request of both head coaches).  Last night, we had a handful of DQ's (disqualifications) for things like early relay takeoff, 1 hand touches on fly/breast, flipping on turns instead of touching, illegal breaststroke / fly kick, turning onto tummy on backstroke finish.  These are very common, but fixable errors.  Things like early take offs, staying on your back for backstroke, 2 hand touches are immediately fixable - we perform how we practice.  Getting your breaststroke kick legal (the most common error) and keeping feet together and synchronous on butterfly) are the 2 hardest things to fix but all of our swimmers are capable of 4 legal strokes & turns and coaches will continue to work on getting our kids as strong, fast, efficient and legal as possible.  

Looking forward to Week 7!

Have Fun, Race Hard, Do Your Best, Go Poolsharks!

- Beth