Hi Team- 

Happy Monday! We have some swimmers heading to Age Group Championships the next 2 weekends. Way to go Sumi Koerner, Alissa Pavlov, and Mavis Gurry! Great job making those very challenging time standards. We are so proud of you!

Our next meet as a team will be our home scrimmage, the Cupid's Cup, on Tuesday February 18th. Warm-ups are at 5:30pm and then we will start the meet at 6:00pm. Please sign your kid up to swim and yourself up for jobs. I have Jess Workman, a New England Swimming Meet Referee to help us, so I can coach and not be the starter. 

How can we host more of these meets? Sign up to become a stroke and turn official (wet side) or administrative official (dry side/computer side). Mary Gentry of UVAC is one of the only certified Administrative Officials (AO) in Vermont and she is in her 60s. You need a certified AO to hold sanctioned meets. We are in desperate need of an AO. Jess Workman, will stay after the meet (~7:30pm) to answer any questions on how to become an official and what it is like being an official in New England swimming, if you are interested and I hope you are. 

If you want to get the ball rolling before Tuesday, log into your US swimming account, click on the education tab, and select stroke and turn official certification course or administrative official certification course. Take the online course and the open book test, then sign up to shadow 4 sessions under a qualified official at a swim meet. We have 2 officials on our team that just completed their training. I am sure they would be happy to talk about their process. 

If you want to ensure we can offer home meets or meets can be offered for your kids in general then this is the single most important thing you can do. For times to count and meets to be sanctioned, we need to have the required number of officials. Reach out if you have questions, be a hero today.

Ok, moving on. I need you all to consider the entries I sent out for New Hampshire State Championships at UVAC, on the afternoon of Friday March 14th and all day Saturday March 15th (entry file attached below). I currently have 62 swimmers signed up and no one has opted out yet. Here is the meet information sheet, look it over and let me know if it is a go for your family or not. My default as of now, is if you are on this team you are in meet. It is going to be so much fun and a great end of the season meet for the whole team!

Other upcoming dates: 

Friday March 7th (11-12, 13-14, and 15-18) and Saturday March 8th (10&Unders), I am working on getting all the local teams together at St. Mike's with us hosting! So get excited! I am working on getting this meet sanctioned, so times can count. Look for more details this week or next.  

Friday March 28th Swim-athon at St. Mike's during practice time.

Saturday March 29th Banquet 6-9pm at Pizza 44 on Pine St. in Burlington. 

Friday April 4th last practice for Winter season. 

April 28th- May 30th Spring Practices. I will get organized and send out registration details for this session in the coming weeks. 

Thank you all for having patience with me as I navigate my first year as a Head Coach. I have done a lot of growing and learning myself. Next year should be smoother as I work out all the details in advance and have a system in place. That said, I am so proud of the work I have done this year as your leader and am so grateful for this privilege. Let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, etc. As I tell the kids, I try to have a champions mindset, to welcome growth, and never stop striving to do better. 

Alright! See you at the pool!

Coach Hilary