MBII Blue Dolphin – FAQ
Sheet
Dear
Prospective MBII Blue Dolphin,
Should
you still have questions, please contact the MBII swim team chairs (Lisa Theis, Chereena
Silver, & Julie Vallo) or co-chairs.
The
Basics:
The
MBII swim team is one of 23
The
purpose of the NPDSC to provide an activity that encourages the involvement of
both parent and child where every swimmer participates and will gain a sense of
accomplishment. This enables the swimmer to feel good about themselves,
develop good sportsmanship, and provide an opportunity to enhance their
competitive swimming abilities.
MBII
swim team objectives are to:
·
Participate in a
healthy, fun activity with family and friends
·
Build on the
swimming skills learned in swimming lessons
·
Gain
satisfaction from personal improvement and achievement
·
Develop
self-confidence and responsibility to meet new challenges
While
this is a competitive program, MBII’s emphasis is on skill development and
fun. Our team’s motto is “Swim for fun and your personal best!” We award ribbons for every race at every
meet. In addition to ribbons, we have incentives
to acknowledge ‘personal best time’ achievements.
MBII
has five requirements for swim team membership:
·
Membership is
open to current MBII bondholders and summer members.
·
Each family must complete all
registration forms and pay all fees.
·
Each swimmer must meet the skill
requirements for new swimmers (see below).
·
Parents must
sign up for six (6) work sessions (see below).
·
Each family must contribute to
the food concessions (see below).
Minimum
Swimmer Requirements:
The
NPDSC requires that each swimmer can complete a race using the correct
stroke. For swimmers ages 8 and under,
the races are 25 yards (one length of the pool). Swimmers ages 9 and over swim 50 yards (two
pool lengths) for most races.
Prior
to becoming a member of the swim team, each swimmer must be able to swim the
width of the pool (15 yards) without assistance using any stroke. The swimmer may make several attempts to meet
this requirement. The swimmer can
schedule a tryout with the head coach at any convenient time (during adult
swim, at the stroke clinic, at a practice time, or after swim lessons). If unable to meet this requirement by June 30th,
the swimmer will not be eligible to be a swim team member and the dues will be
refunded (less the park district insurance fees).
If
you child has not been a member of the MBII swim team and you are unsure
whether he of she can meet the 15 yard qualification, we recommend that you
schedule a tryout with the head coach at one of the stroke clinics during the
first week of the season (before school ends).
If the tryout goes well, then you can complete the registration with the
swim team chairs and your child will not miss any practices or meets.
The
swim team expects your child to continue to swim lessons through Group 5 to
learn the fundamentals of swimming. Swim team practice is not a substitute for
swim lessons. Swim team practice is
intended to develop the strength and conditioning needed to be a competitive
swimmer. Swim lessons teach the
strokes. In general, the more time spent
in the water (be that time spent at practice or at swim lessons) the better the
swimmer will become.
Swim
Meets:
The
swim team coaches prepare the line-ups for each swim meet. The NPDSC limit each swimmer’s participation
to three individual events and two relay at each swim meet. At the swim meets, children are divided by
age group and gender. Ideally, every
child will have at least one opportunity to swim every stroke in competition
during the season.
Swim
meets are held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. NPDSC requires each team to participate in a
minimum of eight (8) dual meets. Most
teams schedule between 10 and 12 dual meets each summer. Dual meets last about 3 ˝ to 4 hours.
Swimmers
should arrive at the pool for swim meets by:
At
registration, you will fill out a swim meet attendance form. This is used to tell the coaches when your
child will not be at a swim meet. It is
very important that you correctly fill out this form and update it if your
plans change. If you child is scheduled
to swim a relay and missed the meet, three other children miss the opportunity
to swim the relay also. So please take
care to update your child’s attendance form.
There
are two championship meets at the end of the season. The Classic meet has about eight (8) teams
and every child is welcome to swim at the Classic meet. The City meet has swimmers from every team
competing. There are minimum
qualification times for each event at the City Meet. A swimmer making a ‘City Time’ has earned the
opportunity to swim against the very best swimmers in our conference. Swimmers at both meets are awarded big fancy
ribbons when they place in the top eight in each event.
Practices:
Practices
are held each weekday. Older swimmers
practice early in the morning, younger children practice later in the
morning. Specifically:
Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (after the end of school):
·
Swimmers aged 13
and Over 6:45 to 8:00 a.m.
·
Swimmers aged 11
– 12 7:30 to 8:45 am
·
Swimmers aged 9
– 10 8:20 to 9:30 am
·
Swimmers aged 8
and younger 9:20 to 10:15 am
Friday
Practice Schedule (after the end of school):
·
Swimmers aged 11
and over 7:20 to 8:20 am
·
Swimmers aged 9/10
8:20 to 9:20 am
·
Swimmers aged 8
and younger 9:20 to 10:15 am
The
first ten minutes of practice are meant to be spent stretching before getting
in the water.
Swimmers
are expected to attend practice at the scheduled time for their age group and
to attend at least four (4) practices per week.
Some of the older swimmers who also swim long course (USS Swimming) in
the summer may choose to practice with the long course team instead of
practicing with MBII.
Time
Trials:
MBII
usually conducts a time trial on the first Saturday after school is
dismissed. Time trials are considered a
practice meet. This gives the swimmers a
chance to establish a base personal time for each event with blocks, lane
lines, a starter and the whole swim meet feel.
Team
Gift:
Each
season, the swim team committee decides on a team gift. This is usually an article of clothing with
the team logo on it that is given to each team member. Costs for the team gift are included in the
swim team membership fees. Should you
have a suggestion for a future team gift, contact the swim team co-chairs and
it will be considered for next year.
Team
Suits:
Every
other year, MBII will select a team suit.
The local swim suit retailer, Kiefers Swim
Shop, will be at our registration to take orders for the team suit. Suits ordered at this time will include any
team logo added to the basic suit.
Swimmers
are not required purchase the team suit or to wear the team suit to practice or
wear it to the meets. However, most
members do purchase the suit at registration, and wear it for the swim meets.
Other
Merchandise (Sweatshirts, Polo Shirts, Swim Caps, Etc.):
The
MBII swim team may be fortunate enough to have clothing with the team logo
available for purchase at the registration night. This clothing is usually sold at or near
cost. Purchase is entirely optional. When available, one single order will be
placed after registration night (costs are reduced with larger orders) and no
additional orders will be placed during the season since it is usually not
possible to meet the minimum order requirements.
Fees:
A
nominal fee is charged per swimmer for participation in the MBII swim team. This fee covers the insurance premium required
by the NPDSC as well as the costs for the ribbons, and other operating costs
incurred by the MBII swim team. For 2008
the fee is $95 per swimmer for the each of the first two swimmers in each
family. The third swimmer is $85. Additional swimmers (four or more) will be
charged a fee of $60 per swimmer.
The
Splash News Letter:
MBII
swim team publishes the Splash Newsletter bi-weekly during the season. Starting in 2004, it will be published
electronically and posted on the http://www.mb2pool.com/
web page. This is being done to save on
the printing costs and to be sure it doesn’t get lost between the pool and
home. For those families who prefer to
receive a paper copy of the Splash news letter, at registration we will ask
that you note on the registration form that you desire a paper copy. Families who elect to receive the paper copy
will receive a labeled copy as they have in years past. Hopefully, everyone will be satisfied and we
can save a few of your dollars and a tree or two.
Team
Photos:
Each
summer, the swim team arranges to bring in a photographer to take a team
photograph and individual photographs of each child. This are offered for sale by the photography
company. Parents are not required to
purchase photographs.
Concession
Donations:
A
group of hardworking parent volunteers operate the “Blue Dolphin Diner” which
is also known as the concession stand at all home swim meets. The purpose of the Blue Dolphin Diner is two
fold. First, it provides a convenient
diner for the weekday swim meets and a convenient breakfast on Saturday
mornings. Second, the proceeds earned
from the operation of the Blue Dolphin Diner help offset the cost of running
the swim team. The Diner has a
reputation for serving good food at reasonable prices. There are many instances of MBII pool members
who are not swim team members eating diner at the diner on Tuesday or Thursday
evenings just because the food is good.
To
make this work, each family is expected
to contribute to the concession during the season. Contributions include pop, bottled water,
cookies, brownies, cupcakes, fruit, veggies, condiments, etc. as listed on the
sign up sheets posted by the concession stand committee at registration. Please, do not forget to bring what you
signed up to bring, your friends and teammates are counting on you.
Parent
Work Assignments:
Swim
meets require considerable effort to conduct.
This necessitates the active participation of our parents and
family. Each family must volunteer for 6 jobs over the course of the season. Chairing or co-chairing one of the many
committees will satisfy this requirement.
The volunteer requirement (an oxymoron?) applies even of your swimmer is
not yet eligible to swim in a swim meet.
Sign up for jobs at registration.
Should you be unable to make the
meet you have signed up to work, it is your responsibility to trade with
another person.
The
jobs available to sign up for are:
·
Clerk of Course
– Under the direction of the chair of the clerk of course committee, the clerk
of course volunteers will line the little MBII swimmers up for each race and
get them marched to the right place behind the blocks. Clerk of course volunteers know when their
child is swimming. Key qualities include
the ability to read names, ask children what their name is, deduce who is not
in place yet, and yell for the tardy swimmer to come to the clerk of course. By the end of the meet, you will know all of
the children aged 12 and under (the 13 and over swimmers usually do not need
much contact from the clerk of course staff.
·
Concessions –
Under the direction of the members of the concession committee, parent
volunteers will serve food, collect money, cook on the outdoor grills, perform
set-up and clean-up duties and run errands before the meets to purchase food. Concession volunteer works allows breaks to
watch your child swim. Signing up with
the concession group places you in an elite category of volunteers, much
appreciated by all those you help feed.
·
Timers – Timers
start a stop watch when the starter starts the race and stop the stop watch
when the swimmer finishes. Key skills
include the use of your index finger, and being able to determine how many
lengths of a 25 yard pool it takes to swim a 50 yard event. Timers time for the entire duration of the swim
meet and can watch every swimmer compete.
·
Ribbons – Under
the direction of the ribbons/timer committee chair, attach the pre-printed
finish labels to the correct color ribbon and file the ribbons in the
appropriate swimmers envelope. This job
requires the ability to identify the following colors: (blue, red, white,
yellow, green and purple) and the ability to read names. The work happens at the swim meets and allows
for breaks to watch your child swim.
·
Runners – This
person will collect the time cards from the timers and the disqualifying cards
from the officials and deliver them to the scoring table. This job requires the ability to walk,
collect time cards from each lane, and to see when an official is holding a
pink card. Each team provides one runner
at each dual meet and the runners work for the entire length of the meet. Runners can easily watch their child swim.
·
Scoring – Under
the direction of the chair of the scoring committee, the scoring people will
input the times into the scoring database program and print out the awards
labels. Scoring duties usually lasts
until about 30 minutes after the last event finishes and it is easy to take
five minutes to watch your child swim.
Basic computer skills (data entry) are helpful, but not required.
·
Officials –
Officials attend a mandatory training class before the season starts and serve
as starter, stroke judge or turn judge at each meet. MBII provides one turn judge, one stroke
judge for all meets. For home meets, we
also must provide one starter/referee.
Officials never miss seeing their child swim. If you know swimming and wish to become
trained as an official, contact the swim team chairs or co-chairs. MBII is always anxious to have as many
trained officials as possible.
Classic
and City Meet Volunteers:
Just
like at the dual meets, the Classic and City Meets need volunteers to run the
meet. Parents of children going to either Classic or the City meets will be
asked to volunteer for the specific jobs assigned to our team for the meet your
child is participating in. These
jobs will be identified in late June and usually only last for half of the
meet. The chairs or co-chairs will
approach you to work these jobs in early July, once the jobs are known.