"I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I
defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual,
is the ultimate champion." Mia Hamm
The
success of the Marlins program is built upon the efforts of 3 teams. They are
the parent team of volunteers, the coaching team and the swim team. T.E.A.M.
stands for together everyone accomplishes more.
We
are on the D.O.T. (desire, opportunity, and training) with our three teams. The
swimmers provide the desire. The parents provide the opportunity. The coaches
provide the training.
Leadership
by example of parent volunteers sends a strong message to the swimmers that we
as parents are not only community team players, but have an active interest in
our swimmers and what they are striving to accomplish. Without parent
volunteers there is no program.
For
the Marlins championship team, practices and home meets will be held at the
Sendero Springs Pool. The maintenance and developmental or M&Ms
workouts will be held at the Creekside pool. It is very important to be on time
to practice. All swimmers are expected to have a good attitude and good
attendance at practice and at the meets. There will be dry land warm up and
stretching 15 minutes before the water time. The coaches will divide the Marlin
team into the four practice times and the M&Ms into 3 practice times. If
you have old swim fins that no longer fit, we ask that you donate them to the
team for “recycling.”
For
the Marlins, both beginner and veteran swimmers start off the season with no
time or NT. We will have a practice meet May 27th during each
workout time for parents and swimmers to practice stroke judging, timing, etc.
and to record some unofficial times. These times and/or times recorded by the
coaches during practice will be used to get the team started in the first two
dual meets. The coaches will rotate all swimmers through the events in the
first four dual meets. In the fifth dual meet swimmers will pick their own
events. The M&Ms will have the option of attending a practice meet in the
last week of each session.
We are not concerned with point scoring in the dual meets. We focus on
getting a time for all swimmers in each event and then improving on that time.
It is very important to understand and reinforce the concept that we do not win
by beating others. We win by improving ourselves.
In
the Marlin dual meets, focusing on self-improvement allows every swimmer who
beats their own time to get a time improvement ribbon no matter how many other
swimmers there are. When a swimmer puts all their effort into doing the best
that they can, they win and the team improves. Look for and promote each red,
white and blue time improvement ribbon as a personal “world record” victory
celebration.
The
culmination of our season is the divisional championship meet. It is
here that we celebrate the accomplishments of our swimmers and field the
strongest team possible. It is very important that we bring our whole team to
this recital/graduation/championship celebration meet!
Please plan your vacations accordingly.
“Swim Practicing Excellence Every Day because you get good at what you practice.”
Christopher Kjeldsen, Head Coach
