Hi Team-

I have a few details to draw your attention to in this weekly update. It is long, get your reading glasses out and settle in. 

Meets:

We are getting excited for the Winter Classic at UVAC this weekend! I am so excited to be bringing a full squad of 44 swimmers. Thank you parents for dedicating your time and your precious weekend hours to carting your swimmers back and forth to the pool at UVAC. Coach Kari, Taylor, and I love lots of company and appreciate a big crowd of swimmers around us. It makes our hearts really full!

Please sign up for the January 5th UVAC meet, it's a short 1 day, 3 session meet. In practice the other night we had quite a few 11-12 year olds potentially interested in the 500 freestyle (that is offered in the lunch time session). This meet is a great meet to try new events, like the 500 free or 100 or 200s of stroke. It is also the last chance for making Bronze and Silver Cut times. So if you have not gone to a meet at UVAC this year, please make this one your priority and sign up by this Sunday December 8th by 8pm. I can always add people last minute but I really need a basically complete draft of entries to send to Mary at UVAC next Monday December 9th. So don't be afraid, commitment is not binding. I would love to get as many kids as we can to at least one session of Bronze Champs to give them a good introduction to the championship swim meet experience. 

Please sign up for our next home meet on next Saturday, December 14th from 9am ~12pm. I have called it our "December Freeze Meet" on the sign-up calendar. I did at least wrestle up some outside competition for us and some Addision Otters swimmers will be joining us. Your swimmer is allowed up to 4 individual events and I will put everyone in the freestyle relay at the end of the meet. This is another good chance to try challenge events in a low-key environment. This meet, like summer meets, requires many parent helpers so please sign-up for a job on the job sign-up.

Gear:

The first round of gear orders are in and I am working on getting another round opened on the team store. So if you missed the first order, stay tuned, I hope to have ordering options available next week sometime. Also we are working on getting t-shirt available to commemorate this inaugural season with the Sturgeons. Everyone on the team will get one at no additional cost. 

We do have non-monogramed plain CVSA caps available for purchase for $10, you can give me cash or even easier Venmo. See my QR code below. I got a CVSA Venmo! Whohooo!

My last two points are in the spirit of giving and thankfulness. 

St. Michael's College is hosting the Special Olympics swimming qualifier this Sunday from 12-4pm at our home pool. If you are not at the UVAC meet with us and have some free time please consider stopping by and cheering or volunteering. The St. Michael's College swim team, including our 3 St. Michael's swimmer/coaches will be there helping as well. They are always looking for meet helpers at these things. The story of all swim meets, no matter how big or small. So consider helping out if you are around and able.

My final update is focused on thankfulness and being so incredibly grateful to St. Michael's College for offering us space in their pool. Also I am so thankful to the group of parents who made this partnership possible. 

I have sad news to share regarding a swim team of my childhood friend Katie Chevalier of the Lake's Region Wavemakers. Their pool facility was recently burned to the ground in a fire. Luckily no one was hurt but they now find themselves with no pool to train at. 35 kids in Meredith, NH now are looking around for a new place to call home and there are precious few options. They also have no money as their registration fees have already been captured. I am sharing this as they are trying to negotiate a long term rental at Plymouth State College and they are coming up against a brick wall and a firm no. This story just made me really so grateful to you all and St. Mike's. Sadly, pool space is so hard to come by in New England. 

Also I am going to share a link to donate. Please don't feel any pressure, I am doing this so I can feel like I am helping a lifelong friend. If you feel yourself with an extra few dollars and wouldn't mind donating here is the link to their website. Check it out and donate if you feel so inclined. 

Alrighty, I think I have more than covered all my bases here. I hope you all give yourselves a big pat on the back for making it through this email with me. Thanks for reading and thanks for being part of this journey with me. Go Sturgeons!

See you all at the pool!

Coach Hilary