Summer swim team, what are head coach's responsibilities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the above that the head coach coaches the younger coaches. My son qualified for about half of the A meets this summer - was just on the cusp - and I HIGHLY doubt the head coach even knew my kids name. I wouldn’t expect a head coach to personally discuss DQs with each swimmer.

I would. There shouldn’t be many if any DQs at an A meet. Coach absolutely should discuss with swimmer if it happens. B meets are for the teen coaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the above that the head coach coaches the younger coaches. My son qualified for about half of the A meets this summer - was just on the cusp - and I HIGHLY doubt the head coach even knew my kids name. I wouldn’t expect a head coach to personally discuss DQs with each swimmer.

I can't think of a situation where our head coach _wouldn't_ do that. At practices he makes a point of coaching the least experienced kids. He is _always_ on the slowest lane. It's surely great for making sure the fundamentals are coming straight from the top, but it's also great for morale. Plus the assistant coaches get to work with the more experienced swimmers, which is an effective match for any number of reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Each team is going to be different. But I don’t think it’s too much to ask that one coach (maybe not the head coach) address a DQ with a swimmer after a meet. Summer swim is not a great place for one on one coaching though. Each swimmer cannot get a lot of attention given how big teams can be. I’d consider private lessons do work on individual strokes and technique.

Agreed, find out why your swimmer was DQed and then consider private lessons with one of the assistant or junior coaches. Unfortunately, summer swim is not a great place for one on one coaching. It’s such a large group of kids and very fast paced with A and B meets weekly. A few private lessons will do wonders. Many of the assistants are year round swimmers and can provide help with technique and would love some extra spending money.

Team rep and I agree with most of what these two PPs wrote. We track all DQs over the course of the season. The head coach and assistants are making notes poolside during all A and B meets and the team reps are handed the DQ slips so we know as well what happened. They factor that in to practices and what lane to put kids in during practices based on what they need to work on. I sometimes get emails from parents asking for more information about the DQ if their kid couldn't explain it. All of our coaches offer private lessons at the pool if a family wants to work on something in particular.

With anywhere from 150-250 kids on a team it isn't reasonable to expect a ton of 1-1 feedback for your child. Our coaches are really great but practically speaking you have to manage expectations.

[Anonymous]

Our swim team is $150 for almost 8 weeks. That’s less than $20/week per kid. For a team of about 100 kids, expectations for individual attention are way too high. Pay for private lessons if you want more instructions on technique and how to improve. But it comes down to just continuous practice.