Swim Team Handbook

The Guthrie Center Swim Team is pleased your family has decided to join the team for the 2006 season. We hope this is an exciting season for both new and returning swimmers. The Guthrie Center Swim Team focuses on the personal development of each swimmer through the venue of competitive swimming. You will learn that swimming is more than just water, it's about dedication, determination, discipline, and having fun all at the same time. You will also learn about individuality and teamwork. With everyone working and supporting each other as a TEAM, we are sure this season will be successful!

To be on the Guthrie Center Swim Team you must have a season pass to the Guthrie Center Aquatic Center. The cost is $40.00 for a single membership and $80.00 for a family membership payable to the City of Guthrie Center. The team fee is $15.00 per child payable to the Guthrie Center Swim Team. Your swimmer must be 4 through 18 years of age to swim on the team.

Pictures will be taken at the new Aquatic Center on Thursday, June 8th, 5:00 PM (BEFORE THE FIRST HOME SWIM MEET) for the team pictures and individual pictures will be on Friday, June 2nd at 4:30 PM. Please have your swimmer wear their TEAM SUIT for the picture and if you do not have a team suit please wear a BLACK suit. Individual pictures you may wear your suit, t-shirt, or whatever you choose. Shutters Studio will be taking the pictures again this year.

Every year we have a Swim Team breakfast fundraiser. Again this year it will be a "free will dontation", no tickets needed. Please tell your family and friends to come to the breakfast! We need all the donations possible so we can get new equipment for the team! The breakfast will be held on Sunday, June 4th from 8:00 AM-1:00 PM at the Guthrie Center Fire Hall.

To enable everyone to have a safe and enjoyable season, there are a few rules that must be followed. These rules were made for specific reasons and will not be bent or broken.

--Practice times will be Monday through Friday 12:00 PM-1:00 PM and then again from 5:00 PM-6:00 PM for the Varsity team and for the Jr. team only a 1/2 an hour each day, 4:45 PM-5:15 PM. Practice time for Saturday's will be from 10:00 AM-11:00 AM for the Varsity, and 11:00 AM-11:30 AM for the Jr. team. We DO NOT have practices on the day of swim meets and Sunday's (that pertains to the Varsity and Jr. team). We stress that you attend as many of these practices as possible to benefit yourself and your team members!

--All swimmers must arrive at the pool 10 minutes prior to practice (some exceptions will apply, talk to the coach ahead of time). Please see that your swimmer has 2 pair of fitted goggles for each practice. Should one pair break, the swimmer can finish practice with the second pair. Goggles should be clearly marked each week with the swimmer's name as even permanent marker wears off very quickly in chlorinated water.

--If the coaches feel your child is not progressing past the minimum level of stroke development after a reasonable period on the team, we may recommend or require that your child take additional swim lessons.

Participation in swim meets is highly encouraged. Relays will be determined by the swimmers best time at time trials and/or at their last meet. We will have time trials during the season and will be notified in advance when they will be. If two swimmers have the same time or are extremely close, practice attendance will be the deciding factor. This year we will NOT have swim-offs, Conference is too close to our last meet to change things around. We suggest you try your hardest at EVERY practice for the spot you want. The coaches will keep a daily attendance log for EVERY practice and swimmer. Also, PLEASE DO NOT let your child swim on the day of a swim meet, rest and save your energy!

Your swimmer should have warm clothing to wear between events; a blanket to sit on or wrap up in, the temperature can get cool. Bring SEVERAL towels since one will get quite wet during the meet. We ask that swimmers DO NOT EAT DURING THE MEETS, eat BEFORE you leave your home! Swimmers are allowed to bring water or sport drinks in PLASTIC CONTAINERS only.

If meets must be canceled because of inclement weather, the coaches and parent reps. will start calling, and everyone on the list will be notified to spread the message as efficiently as possible.

If your swimmer is NOT going to be swimming in a particular meet, PLEASE contact the HEAD COACH several days before! If the swimmer is late without prior arrangement with the Head coach, the swimmer will be replaced with another swimmer already present.

All swimmers MUST SIT IN THE DESIGNATED TEAM AREA AT SWIM MEETS. Swimmers leaving the team area must check in with the coaches so that we know where all of our swimmers are.

Each swimmer is responsible for keeping track of THEIR OWN personal belongings, put your name on everything! At the end of the meet EVERYONE needs to clean up our team area, DO NOT leave anything!

This year we will be ordering suits from Action Accents, a nice black and gold one, the same as last year. WE DO prefer the team looking "uniform", but the only requirement is that females compete in a one-piece suit and boys must compete in a competitive suit, please try to make the suit BLACK if you cannot get the team suit. Make sure it is a proper fit, too big will cause "drag"; a tighter suit is better to compete in. We suggest that the swimmer does NOT wear their team suit to practice to pro-long the life of the suit, wear older, everyday suits to practice. Please DO NOT wear a bikini to meets or practices, you must be able to dive in without the suit falling down/off, and no cut-offs for the boys.

The team seeks to encourage and motivate each swimmer to develop his/her individual skills and to enhance self-esteem. The team can only accomplish this through active family involvement. It is critical to the success of the team. It is expected that families will be involved in assisting in the swim meets.

For swimmer/parent communication purposes I have made a family file folder. Ribbons, notices, and important information will be placed in the folders. Be sure to check YOUR indvidual folder DAILY. The coaches will have file folders also. For rapid notification in case of cancellations of practices or meets, a current phone number is a must, please give our current President of the team and myself your current one!

Changes for the 2006 season include a new point system to letter and a Junior swim team for the 4-5-6 year old children just starting out on the team. The point system for lettering will be lowered to 50 points instead of the past 62 points. Included this year in the 50 will be points earned for attending practices and of course, points earned at the meets. The Guthrie All-Stars (100 pts.), MVP (highest points for each age group), and the Conference All-Star points will NOT change, they will still have to earn these points at regular meets.

Must be 4-5-6 year olds that have never been on the team before. Same requirements apply to the Junior team as do the Varsity team listed previously in the handbook. The Junior's will practice 1/2 an hour each day (practice times listed previously) so that way all three coaches will be able to help with them. The Junior's will swim at the HOME swim meets during the exhibition race. When they are more confident and stronger they will be able to swim other races during the home and possibly the away meets for the Varsity team. The Junior team will receive a ribbon for the exhibition event they are in and points for attending practices. At the end of the season they will receive nice certificates and awards just like the Varsity team. This is a GREAT way for them to build confidence and learn swimming skills!