Differences between NVSL divisions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Larger pools tend to be in higher divisions because there is a larger pool of talent and more competition. It is still fun outside of D1 where it’s extreme. In lower divisions there can still be good swimmers but overall there is more room for summer swimmers since meets are the same size. It’s difficult at big pools to switch pools easily as they often have waiting lists.

This pretty much nails it. It’s all about depth. Some teams in Division 13 can hang with Division 3 teams in a single age group but the Division 3 team will have depth to be much stronger across all age groups; hence their respective seedings to be paired up with similar peer teams for more competitive meets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We joined our NVSL team when it was D14 and now it’s D1. I don’t notice much of a difference except that I hear one benefit in being at a more competitive division pool is being able to go to all star relays for example - the higher division team, the more teams have many good swimmers to
likely qualify etc.

It always seemed fairly competitive to make A meets at our pool even in the lower divisions - I guess because we were rising.

We have had the same (particularly good) leadership on the team the whole time, and I can imagine leadership makes a difference.

This is our neighborhood pool so we would be at it at any division - the most important thing to me is all of the kids friends from school being there.

Serious Q…has it been demoralizing being crushed in all the meets so far this summer? Or everyone is having fun and no one cares?

[Anonymous]

We used to be at a D8-11 pool. My kid joined swim team first year and was swimming some A meets. Parents were still intense and a lot of the dynamics were similar. There are obnoxious and intense people in any environment and then normal people.

We moved to one of the top three D1 pools and the main difference is past 8 and under, all the year in and year out A meet kids are year round swimmers. It’s much more difficult to be a casual swimmer in that environment and do well.

The team coaches and reps says all the right things to be inclusive but the kids can be cliquey when they have so much success together year in and year out and all see each other at winter swim meets. The divide in the team gets noticeable as they are older.

[Anonymous]

We are in division 16 and I wouldn't have it any other way. We don't have any drama. Almost all the kids get to swim in A meets, whether in their age group or swimming up. It's low-pressure and a lot of fun. I hope we never move up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in division 16 and I wouldn't have it any other way. We don't have any drama. Almost all the kids get to swim in A meets, whether in their age group or swimming up. It's low-pressure and a lot of fun. I hope we never move up.

You wouldn’t feel this way if you had a really good swimmer. But I get this mentality.

What’s too bad is families can’t self-select with these pools based on skill level and interest like rec sports vs travel. Some kids just want the experience and some kids really want to compete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in division 16 and I wouldn't have it any other way. We don't have any drama. Almost all the kids get to swim in A meets, whether in their age group or swimming up. It's low-pressure and a lot of fun. I hope we never move up.

You wouldn’t feel this way if you had a really good swimmer. But I get this mentality.

What’s too bad is families can’t self-select with these pools based on skill level and interest like rec sports vs travel. Some kids just want the experience and some kids really want to compete.

True, I don't have "a really good swimmer," though I do have year-round swimmers. But we have several All Star swimmers on our team and their parents have been happy enough to stay at the pool for years. Just based on that, I'm not sure it's a universal truth that parents of really good swimmers prefer the faster divisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in division 16 and I wouldn't have it any other way. We don't have any drama. Almost all the kids get to swim in A meets, whether in their age group or swimming up. It's low-pressure and a lot of fun. I hope we never move up.

You wouldn’t feel this way if you had a really good swimmer. But I get this mentality.

What’s too bad is families can’t self-select with these pools based on skill level and interest like rec sports vs travel. Some kids just want the experience and some kids really want to compete.

True, I don't have "a really good swimmer," though I do have year-round swimmers. But we have several All Star swimmers on our team and their parents have been happy enough to stay at the pool for years. Just based on that, I'm not sure it's a universal truth that parents of really good swimmers prefer the faster divisions.

Its a complicated question. I slightly question the statement that you have 'several all star swimmers' I skimmed through the all star results and I didn't see any division 16 team that had more than 2 swimmers, a few had none.
skimming through div 16 results- some of those 1st place times are nearly 10 seconds slower than what was an all-star cut last year. When my kids were younger I often wished that we were at a less competitive pool and my kids could have more success. But now that I have a kid who desperately wants to make all-stars, and is on the cusp of doing so, I think they are benefiting from being in a higher division and having to push so much harder and having better competition. You swim faster when there is someone next to you who is nearly the same or ideally slightly better. Anyway, I agree its not a 'universal truth." Certainly our choice of pool has everything to do with our neighborhood and team culture and really nothing to do with what division we are in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in division 16 and I wouldn't have it any other way. We don't have any drama. Almost all the kids get to swim in A meets, whether in their age group or swimming up. It's low-pressure and a lot of fun. I hope we never move up.

You wouldn’t feel this way if you had a really good swimmer. But I get this mentality.

What’s too bad is families can’t self-select with these pools based on skill level and interest like rec sports vs travel. Some kids just want the experience and some kids really want to compete.

Well, actually they can if the pool has no boundary or HOA restrictions. We left a low performing team for a very high performing team so our child could swim with club teammates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We joined our NVSL team when it was D14 and now it’s D1. I don’t notice much of a difference except that I hear one benefit in being at a more competitive division pool is being able to go to all star relays for example - the higher division team, the more teams have many good swimmers to
likely qualify etc.

It always seemed fairly competitive to make A meets at our pool even in the lower divisions - I guess because we were rising.

We have had the same (particularly good) leadership on the team the whole time, and I can imagine leadership makes a difference.

This is our neighborhood pool so we would be at it at any division - the most important thing to me is all of the kids friends from school being there.

Serious Q…has it been demoralizing being crushed in all the meets so far this summer? Or everyone is having fun and no one cares?

I’m not PP but we are on OKM. Honestly, we begged the seeding committee to take Crosspointe instead of us. Are we having fun? Yes. The culture hasn’t changed. Our kids are swimming quite fast. And many of our swimmers are in their down year. Just look at our 9-10 girls, who qualified a fraction behind LRR in the medley at 5th with three nine year olds, while T, O, and CB had 1 or 2. A 7 year old broke our 8U fly record. A good number of our A meet swimmers aren’t club swimmers. On the other hand, one of our swimmers went to Trials but still made it back, with one day in between, to swim in his summer league meet. That speaks to collegiality. Still, we hope we go back to D2 next year. I think the better team to ask your question is DR or Highlands.

[Anonymous]

Crosspointe doesn't want to go to div 1 either. That'd be horrible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d love to get out of D1, I can tell you that much. A couple of the teams are toxic to a degree that is hard to believe until you see it.

Agreed. Let the 3 who have parity with each other form D1 and just rotate who swims each other twice. Let the rest of us go down.

I’d be happy with that solution! DR and Highlands are both great teams with strong communities and terrific swimmers but it does get tiring. Tuckahoe already tried to recruit one of our top swimmers 🙄.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crosspointe doesn't want to go to div 1 either. That'd be horrible

LOL they definitely do. They wanted to go this year with OKM. They'll get it next year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crosspointe doesn't want to go to div 1 either. That'd be horrible

LOL they definitely do. They wanted to go this year with OKM. They'll get it next year

I believe OKM reps tried to argue that CP beat OKM at All Star Relays, so they should go up, to which the NVSL President rolled eyes.

[Anonymous]

Hmm they so didn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d love to get out of D1, I can tell you that much. A couple of the teams are toxic to a degree that is hard to believe until you see it.

Agreed. Let the 3 who have parity with each other form D1 and just rotate who swims each other twice. Let the rest of us go down.

I’d be happy with that solution! DR and Highlands are both great teams with strong communities and terrific swimmers but it does get tiring. Tuckahoe already tried to recruit one of our top swimmers 🙄.

How does that work with a 10 year wait list? 😉