Author: greenmountainswimteam

BIG BUDDY / LITTLE BUDDY PROGRAM

We are excited to continue our Big/Little buddy program.  The purpose of the Big/Little buddy swim program is to help younger swimmers transition into becoming Gators and to help them navigate swim meets.  The program also fosters team spirit, family and camaraderie by connecting the older swimmers with the younger ones.  Big buddies are generally 11&older while Little buddies are 10&under.  This partnership should focus on team unity, spirit and sportsmanship.  The buddy program is not about elaborate gifts-it is about being a supportive teammate! 
There is no requirement that swimmers participate in the buddy program but we strongly encourage everyone to participate.  The coaching staff will organize the buddy program and pair swimmers together.  Once buddies are assigned, we expect the Big buddies to introduce themselves and get to know their buddy.
Responsibilities of buddies include but are not limited to:
  • meeting your buddy and introducing yourself
  • greet your buddy at each meet
  • Big buddies help Little buddies at meets with event numbers
  • Create something for your buddy:  write a note, draw a picture, make a friendship bracelet
  • CHEER, CHEER, CHEER, CHEER and CHEER!!!
  • Congratulate your buddy after their swim
All kids under the age of 11 will be assigned a big buddy. ALL KIDS OVER 11 YEARS OF AGE NEED TO TELL COACH EMMA IF THEY WANT TO BE A BIG BUDDY.  Please let Emma know by this weekend (Sunday 6/9).

WEEK OF JUNE 3RD

Night Practices: will start for “real” this week as long as the weather holds. Between bad weather and the instrasquad rescheduling, we never got off the ground last week.  8:00pm-9:00pm for Upper Divison swimmers.  Lower Division swimmers can attend only with the approval of Coach Ben.

Results and Qual Times:  We had a slight technical screw up last week. We had 2018 Qual Times in our system to start this season. We will get them changed this week and post updated Top Times.  Please note that there will be a few of you that qualified for League or State but didn’t actually make it based on the 2019 standards.  Updated results coming soon. (So Sorry!!)

Saturday 6/8 Meet at 5Parks  See the “Next Event” section on the right side of the blog for more information.

Sunday 6/9 FREESTYLE FRENZY:  This is an optional meet (hosted by GMST + our competitors in the Foothills Swim Association) for swimmers that have a “B” time or better in any freestyle race.  Swimmers will swim in all 4 events at the meet which include: 
Upper Divison:  200 free, 100 free, 50 free, 25 fun free
9-12 year olds: 200 free, 100 free, 50 free, 25 fun free
8 and unders:  100 free, 50 free, 25 free, 25 fun free
Swimmers must tell their Coach if they want to swim on Sunday. There is no paper sign up on the board. They must talk to the coach.

INTRASQUAD MOVED TO THURSDAY EVENING

Given the weather forecast, the decision has been made to move the Intrasquad from Wednesday evening to Thursday evening.

Some swimmers, families, and volunteers probably cannot make the meet now.  Others who couldn’t on Wednesday, can attend now.  We apologize for the short notice, but this seems to give us our best chance to actually let the swimmers swim.

Volunteers, if this affects your availability, please visit the Signup Genius and modify as needed: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D4DABAC28A1FF2-intrasquad6

Now let’s hope for some normal summer weather!

Big Week! Please Read Through

We are starting off the Gator summer season with a BIG WEEK!
Monday (5/27):  Memorial Day – no practice
Tuesday (5/28): Register by Tuesday if you want to participate in the Intrasquad / Night Practices Start
Wednesday (5/29): Intrasquad Meet at 5:30 pm / We need volunteers for every meet! Please sign up on the blog under the Parent Volunteer section.  MOVED TO THURSDAY!
Thursday (5/30): LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR THE SUMMER SEASON. Please tell your Gator friends to get it together if they want to join the team 🙂

Intrasquad Meet at 5:30 pm / We need volunteers for every meet! Please sign up on the blog under the Parent Volunteer section.

Friday (5/31): Tie-Dye/Ice-cream Social + Parent Meeting – starts at 5pm
Saturday (6/1): First home meet @7am, warm up at 6am — Jolyn Trunk show / We need volunteers for every meet! Please sign up on the blog under the Parent Volunteer section.
Sunday (6/2): rest

Details:
Practice Times:We may have to shift the age groups around for practice times based on the number of swimmers in each age group. We want your swimmer to have the best experience possible. Please do your best to bring your swimmer at the time allotted for their age group. STAY TUNED FOR ANY CHANGES.

Registration: If you have not registered for team yet, you need to do it ASAP. All swimmers must be registered and in our computer system before they can race in a meet. The absolute last day cutoff is Thursday, May 30th. Please register before then if possible. We need time to import your swimmers into our system and do 20 things behind the scenes to make them eligible. Thanks!!

Intrasquad Meet:  This is our first meet at the pool and it is against our team only.  The times your swimmer receives are qualifying times for League and State.

Tie-Dye /Ice cream Social / Parent Meeting: Please bring a white colored item (shirt, socks, towel, pillow case, etc) to tie-dye in team colors or you can purchase a gator shirt / tank top to tie dye so your swimmers can represent the team all season.  Event starts at 5pm / Ice Cream at 5:30 pm and Parent Meeting at 6:00 pm.  All swim team families are welcome.

Parent Volunteers:  The Gator team is one of the last remaining teams that does not charge you $$ or keep meticulous notes on volunteer hours per family.  We would really love to keep it that way!!!  All families are expected to volunteer at the meets. If you don’t know how to do something, don’t worry. It’s both simple and the veteran Gators will show you how to do it!  There is a sign up genius created for every event this season. Please sign up.

Night Practices: Night practices will be held on Tuesdays / Thursdays from 8:00pm – 9:00pm starting on 6/4. These practices are for upper division swimmers (13 years and older) or for younger swimmers at the discretion of the coach.  If your swimmer is younger than 13, you will need to get approval from Coach Ben to attend the night sessions.  ** All night sessions will be dependent on the weather and attendance. **  Please contact Coach Ben if you have any questions.

Team Swim Suits:  If you would like to get a team suit for your swimmer (not required) you should order it this week at the latest. They do take 1-2 weeks to get delivered and our swim season is only 10 weeks in total.