Help me find a new club

[Anonymous]

Trying to keep this anonymous so please bear with the vague details.

DC is currently with a smaller club in Northern VA and has been for several years. DC is good but not a superstar (BB to AA times). Swimming will probably be DC’s primary sport though DC plays others now. DC loves current team because DC has made great friends. From my end, the parents are also great and I enjoy them very much. So what’s wrong?

DC’s friend group will likely split up at the end of the year as many parents are sick of paying $$$ for no coaching and minimal communication. DC’s lane(s) are super crowded with one coach half paying attention. DC and others receive virtually no stroke instruction, race pointers, and/or discussion about goals. The superstars receive a bit more attention but less than you’d expect.

Where friends end up and practice location will be significant drivers for us, but if you could pick any club in NOVA, which one would you pick and why? Looking for solid coaching & communication and a place where kids can develop. Probably prefer smaller to mid-size clubs.

[Anonymous]

We have friends with the Marlins. They are a small club and are putting out some solid swimmers with those times. The owners would definitely focus on a kid with AA times.

The parents tell me that there kids get lots of attention and coaching tips. As a club they are a little different. They are really into pushing IMX unlike most clubs and I don’t think they do elite patches like other clubs. They do some odd travel meet choices as well that are not as competitive but I think they do that to boost their swimmer self esteem.

If you had an AAA cut swimmer I would not recommend them. They do not do the bigger/harder meets.

[Anonymous]

OP what are you looking for in a club? Close to home? Super competitive? More attention?

Each club has a personality and a philosophy. There are pros and cons to all of it.

[Anonymous]

I respect your desire to be vague, but can you tell us where you are willing to drive? Even just “Fairfax” is huge, let alone NoVa. Would you go to Loudoun? PW?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to keep this anonymous so please bear with the vague details.

DC is currently with a smaller club in Northern VA and has been for several years. DC is good but not a superstar (BB to AA times). Swimming will probably be DC’s primary sport though DC plays others now. DC loves current team because DC has made great friends. From my end, the parents are also great and I enjoy them very much. So what’s wrong?

DC’s friend group will likely split up at the end of the year as many parents are sick of paying $$$ for no coaching and minimal communication. DC’s lane(s) are super crowded with one coach half paying attention. DC and others receive virtually no stroke instruction, race pointers, and/or discussion about goals. The superstars receive a bit more attention but less than you’d expect.

Where friends end up and practice location will be significant drivers for us, but if you could pick any club in NOVA, which one would you pick and why? Looking for solid coaching & communication and a place where kids can develop. Probably prefer smaller to mid-size clubs.

In addition to the other things other posters have asked, DS age would bee useful in providing meaningful feedback.

[Anonymous]

I would try out with several teams within driving distance and see which teams and coaches your DC likes. Start narrowing it down from there.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

Location: closer-in Fairfax County. Reston probably as far west as we would go regularly.

Age: 11-12 but would prefer not to club hop for older age groups, if possible.

Wish list: 1. attentive coaches willing to offer pointers, cheer on swimmers, make recommendations on stroke tweaks based on what they are seeing in practice or meets. Not looking for dedicated stroke instruction like you’d get from private coaching. Don’t need coddling and understand the superstars will get the most attention.
2. Competitive program that offers a good meet schedule but don’t need kill or be killed. Nice kids who are supportive but push each other. Parents willing to hang out and have a drink at out of town meets or socially (we have the latter two in spades currently).

I have a good handle on the programs that exist—looking for direct feedback from those who have been at one or a few.

[Anonymous]

We are happy with Mason makos. They are smaller compared to ncap and machine. We’ve been happy with coaches, stroke technique and feedback, nice facilities, team culture, close and well run meets. Easy to make friends. Sometimes I wish there was more communication from coach(es), but I think this is typical unfortunately given there are just so many swimmers.

[Anonymous]

We have liked Makos too. Agree on coach communication. It is lacking. Also in Junior Blue the lanes tend to be crowded.
Fairfax Foxes practice at the same time as Makos. They might be a good option as well.

[Anonymous]

Question. We have a 9 yr old BB swimmer. Friends with kids in travel soccer talk about having conferences with their coach once or twice a year (done for every player, parents meet with Coach for feedback).

Does this happen in some swim clubs? We get no feedback ever on meet performance or anything. DC says occasionally a coach will offer broad feedback to the entire group: everyone's turns weren't great at the meet, we will work on that.

[Anonymous]

We like a lot about Makos but in Jr Blues there is no coach communication whatsoever. We have a stronger swimmer who has made big gains this year, to include qualifying for the more selective meets and have been totally on our own to figure it out. No one flagged DC had qualified, suggested they enter etc.

Maybe that's normal but for the amount of money we pay, expected some degree of Hey congrats kid, you made the time cut for XYZ, here's what you need to do to enter etc.

[Anonymous]

Friends with kids in travel soccer talk about having conferences with their coach once or twice a year (done for every player, parents meet with Coach for feedback).

Our NCAP coaches did this - we were in Alexandria pre-Covid. Kid’s had to list two or three goals every session and Coach talk to them about goals afterwards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Friends with kids in travel soccer talk about having conferences with their coach once or twice a year (done for every player, parents meet with Coach for feedback).

Our NCAP coaches did this - we were in Alexandria pre-Covid. Kid’s had to list two or three goals every session and Coach talk to them about goals afterwards.

We are also with NCAP (not Alexandria) and the kids meet individually with their coach at the beginning of the season to discuss goals and they get feedback after every meet on their performance, what to work on, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Friends with kids in travel soccer talk about having conferences with their coach once or twice a year (done for every player, parents meet with Coach for feedback).

Our NCAP coaches did this - we were in Alexandria pre-Covid. Kid’s had to list two or three goals every session and Coach talk to them about goals afterwards.

My kid swims with NCAP in Tysons. Her group has no formal conferences, but the coach does ask them to do goal setting at the beginning of the season and is always open to discussions about performance, etc. throughout the year. DC checks in after every race at a meet and gets feedback in real time plus the coach is very responsive to questions on deck after practice or via email. This coach is 100% why we’re still there, since York and Machine are both closer to home and practice in nicer facilities.

[Anonymous]

I agree on Makos. I also have a swimmer that has qualified for multiple events. I haven't heard anything even after emailing the coach. It is frustrating because I don't know much about swimming.