Transferring between swim clubs

[Anonymous]

DD has been swimming for a year with Club A, but wants to transfer to a closer Club B. Club A’s registration deadline for returning members is in June while Club B won’t offer tryouts until July. Is there anyway we can know if Club B has a space for her before Club A’s registration deadline? Can we email Club B’s coach and ask if DD’s times are good enough for them?

[Anonymous]

Absolutely! You can reach out the Club B and let them know your situation. Most likely they'll be willing to meet your DD before the official tryout.

[Anonymous]

You can ask. It will depend on the club, group, etc. DD looked into switching at one point and the new club would not guarantee that there would be space available after current member registration even though her times were in line with the group. They said it was likely, but we weren’t willing to take that chance.

[Anonymous]

Usually you don’t try out to switch clubs. My lesson learned is that you shouldn’t tell your current club that you are not leaving until you are going. They will take it out on your kid.

[Anonymous]

Some clubs will let the swimmer attend a practice and do a tryout that way. Already seen this happen over the past month with our club. However, it depends on the program and sometimes the age group. Unfortunately, in some situations, you might need to register/put a deposit down to have a spot somewhere while you wait on other programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Usually you don’t try out to switch clubs. My lesson learned is that you shouldn’t tell your current club that you are not leaving until you are going. They will take it out on your kid.

I was thinking about the same thing. Since they can find all your times on usaswimming, they can probably determine if you qualify for their team right away.

[Anonymous]

There really isn’t a registration deadline at any clubs that I know of. Do you mean the date when they will open up registration to non-returning families? Are you worried they will fill up at your current club?

[Anonymous]

Simple solution is to name Club B. Other Club B parents will probably know the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Simple solution is to name Club B. Other Club B parents will probably know the answer.

This. Also, the faster your DD is compared to girls her age the better chance she'll have. Particularly how does she compare to the girls her age already on team B? The close to the faster girls she is, the better her chances are. Near the bottom, not so much. This is an easy thing for you to look up yourself and do your own honest evaluation and go from there. Be honest with yourself and with her. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I think that knowing club B matters. Our club holds tryouts for new members after current members register. We are registering current members now and then they have tryouts in June. On the website it is very much this is the way.

That being said, over the past few months we have had a large number of kids transfer from NCAP and FISH. And these kids were now current members to register for next year.

They had the times that the team wanted.

[Anonymous]

I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

The site also matter for RMSC in terms of how many kids they have in their various groups.

[Anonymous]

We switched clubs a little later and the director was a jerk about it. Make sure you follow the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

Starting at what age do times really matter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

Starting at what age do times really matter?

Probably as early as 10. Certainly by 11/12.