St. James feedback
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Anonymous
| I am looking for feedback on swimming with St. James. DD (9) enjoys summer swim and generally just wants to get a little faster, but we are not looking for anything too serious. I like that it looks like there are a lot of practice time options and we can start by just committing to fall. Thanks in advance. |
Anonymous
| For 9 with a goal of stay in good shape for summer swim, the St James is fine. |
Anonymous
|
Last year your DD would have been in their Bronze group, which offered 1-hour practice sessions Monday-Friday and some Saturday mornings while serving a wide range of kids (generally 12&u) with similar goals. As you noted, the flexibility of picking your days and sessions/seasons is a major draw especially for kids playing other sports. The Bronze group also had a decent group of coaches last year, so kids who worked hard and wanted to get better did well.
I understand they plan to shake things up a bit this year by switching to an age group model (i.e., 8&u, 9-10 and 11-12 groups vice Bronze C, B, A groups). It's also likely there will be some coaching turnover. Not sure how either of those potential changes will affect the flexibility and quality of the product, but good questions to ask if/when you schedule a tryout. |
Anonymous
| It is fine if you need flexibility and just want your kid to stay in the water. Otherwise, not a great program. We have numerous kids on our summer team that swim there and I have never been impressed. Could be the program or could be that flexibility also means lack of commitment by swimmers. Flexibility means kid of various ages in the same lanes during practice. |
Anonymous
Which summer team are you affiliated with? |
Anonymous
They break them out by age groups for practice, so not entirely true. The issue is that they can't build a program when it is drop in and switch days format. So it is more conditioning than anything else. |
Anonymous
| Ravensworth Farms, Canterbury Woods, Sleepy Hollow B & R, and Forest Hollow have a bunch of St James kids who are excelling in summer league. As others have said, the program is fine for the OP's objectives. |
Anonymous
In summer league in lower divisions sure, but not in real swim. We have been at meets with St James kids and their kids ar never very good/in the fast heats. Again, find just to keep a kid in the water, but don't expect real progress |
Anonymous
Not sure if have an axe to grind here or what, but there are kids swimming at the St James who are making real progress. Two of the five fastest breaststrokers in all of NVSL this summer are St James kids. Guess you missed the heats they were in or just don't know what you are talking about in general. |
Anonymous
what age groups? |
Anonymous
There are kids across all age groups making progress if you care to investigate a bit. Their fastest breaststrokers are obviously in the 15-18 boys group, but they have a strong group of breaststrokers in 11-12 and 13-14 girls. A couple of St James girls will be 9-10 All Stars too. |
Anonymous
OKM too |
Anonymous
|
I'm pretty sure both those teenaged boy breaststrokers are leaving. At least according to the teenaged swimmer gossip mill.
(And both were fast at other teams long before the St James) |
Anonymous
Both joined the St James team in 2021 with a track record of mostly B times in 100 breaststroke. Now they are AA/AAA with an occasional AAAA time. But sure, keep telling yourself they made no real progress in 3 years. LMAO. |
Anonymous
Yep, not limited to mid divisions and Annandale area. Most of the summer teams around West Springfield and Burke have STJ swimmers on their roster. Hunt Valley, NVSL Division 2, has been coached by STJ coaches several years running. |