If you were going to jump clubs...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were in AAC. Take a look club. it is not Safe Sport certified anymore, and it shows with the treatment of their athletes.

???

AAC has a long history of not treating boys well in almost all their competition groups. They seem to not want to develop their male swimmers and give up on them. Someone told me in their top groups it is 70% women and 30% men which is an issue and not typical of a club.

I wonder if it the Huske effect. They had one Olympian who was a late bloomer by swimmer standards so they got her where she needed to be and the success was great and now they want to recreate it. But, in reality by not investing in their boys they are letting them fail. Boys keep growing through college so they should really be working with them. But they tend to focus on the early blooming boy and then he peaks out and who knows all the talent that they let slip through the cracks because of it.

Several years in a row the top boys jumped to NCAP. Rumors are out that their boys are jumping to York. They do not have a lot of boy talent, minus a coach's son.

[Anonymous]

AAC is an excellent club. There is a parent on this thread and the other one whose kid probably didn’t get the recommendation they wanted and is now making it their mission to sully the name of AAC. But it’s an excellent club with very good coaches that prioritizes the right things. The only thing I’ll give that PP is that there have been a couple of surprising choices for next year’s groups that overlap with some board members’ children. But children of other board members were appropriately placed so the board membership overlap may be a coincidence.

[Anonymous]

What do you not like about your current club? Or what more are you looking for?

[Anonymous]

I don't have a bone in this as my kids are with a different club. But there are always people who are dissatisfied with this and that. Both corners (people having a good experience and those having a bad experience) can be true at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were in AAC. Take a look club. it is not Safe Sport certified anymore, and it shows with the treatment of their athletes.

???

AAC has a long history of not treating boys well in almost all their competition groups. They seem to not want to develop their male swimmers and give up on them. Someone told me in their top groups it is 70% women and 30% men which is an issue and not typical of a club.

I wonder if it the Huske effect. They had one Olympian who was a late bloomer by swimmer standards so they got her where she needed to be and the success was great and now they want to recreate it. But, in reality by not investing in their boys they are letting them fail. Boys keep growing through college so they should really be working with them. But they tend to focus on the early blooming boy and then he peaks out and who knows all the talent that they let slip through the cracks because of it.

Several years in a row the top boys jumped to NCAP. Rumors are out that their boys are jumping to York. They do not have a lot of boy talent, minus a coach's son.

He is going to NCAP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAC is an excellent club. There is a parent on this thread and the other one whose kid probably didn’t get the recommendation they wanted and is now making it their mission to sully the name of AAC. But it’s an excellent club with very good coaches that prioritizes the right things. The only thing I’ll give that PP is that there have been a couple of surprising choices for next year’s groups that overlap with some board members’ children. But children of other board members were appropriately placed so the board membership overlap may be a coincidence.

I love the AAC Coaches and have no complaints. But the Boosters Board and their kid placements are very well known and an inside joke which is sad. There have been Booster Boards member kids in the Senior and Senior Prep that should be in Excel and Challenge and everyone knows it. They are given preferential treatment. Because their kids are not placed in the correct groups, these groups (even though they have outstanding coaching) are not treated the same by the Boosters in benefits extended. They should all get travel opportunities and great meets to attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were in AAC. Take a look club. it is not Safe Sport certified anymore, and it shows with the treatment of their athletes.

???

AAC has a long history of not treating boys well in almost all their competition groups. They seem to not want to develop their male swimmers and give up on them. Someone told me in their top groups it is 70% women and 30% men which is an issue and not typical of a club.

I wonder if it the Huske effect. They had one Olympian who was a late bloomer by swimmer standards so they got her where she needed to be and the success was great and now they want to recreate it. But, in reality by not investing in their boys they are letting them fail. Boys keep growing through college so they should really be working with them. But they tend to focus on the early blooming boy and then he peaks out and who knows all the talent that they let slip through the cracks because of it.

Several years in a row the top boys jumped to NCAP. Rumors are out that their boys are jumping to York. They do not have a lot of boy talent, minus a coach's son.

He is going to NCAP

The one good one?

[Anonymous]

I would sell York in a minute as a great club if the pool works. They have Matt Wolf and he is amazing. Loves the kids, positive, super energy. York does some great travel meet and team building retreats for its teenagers. The whole team is not just about swim, but about community.

Excellent coaching and just an amazing club. No drama either. Our big drama was last year and that was not York, that was an internal member making external drama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAC is an excellent club. There is a parent on this thread and the other one whose kid probably didn’t get the recommendation they wanted and is now making it their mission to sully the name of AAC. But it’s an excellent club with very good coaches that prioritizes the right things. The only thing I’ll give that PP is that there have been a couple of surprising choices for next year’s groups that overlap with some board members’ children. But children of other board members were appropriately placed so the board membership overlap may be a coincidence.

I love the AAC Coaches and have no complaints. But the Boosters Board and their kid placements are very well known and an inside joke which is sad. There have been Booster Boards member kids in the Senior and Senior Prep that should be in Excel and Challenge and everyone knows it. They are given preferential treatment. Because their kids are not placed in the correct groups, these groups (even though they have outstanding coaching) are not treated the same by the Boosters in benefits extended. They should all get travel opportunities and great meets to attend.

How does that play out put when the kid is placed in a high-performing group that they can't keep up with? Does the kid know that? At the teen stage, kids know who the imposters are, including if it's themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a bone in this as my kids are with a different club. But there are always people who are dissatisfied with this and that. Both corners (people having a good experience and those having a bad experience) can be true at the same time.

Every club has good and bad points. There is no one perfect club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would sell York in a minute as a great club if the pool works. They have Matt Wolf and he is amazing. Loves the kids, positive, super energy. York does some great travel meet and team building retreats for its teenagers. The whole team is not just about swim, but about community.

Excellent coaching and just an amazing club. No drama either. Our big drama was last year and that was not York, that was an internal member making external drama.

York parent here who would have left in HS if the old coach was still there. Sticking around with Matt. Can't wait for my swimmer to join him next season.

[Anonymous]

York parent here. My swimmer has had an incredible run overall and this year with Matt Wolff at Yorktown was the best yet.

York as an organization values community, the person behind the swimmer and a balance of the athlete and developing a human being. Retreats (Senior Retreat for 13+ in the Spring), social events (Lock Ins), "fun" meets (Swim and Rock and Senior Relays) and Senior-focused recognition series (Senior Dinner, Senior Speeches, etc) even out the hard work they do in the pool.

You'll see York kids at meets talking, laughing, cheering and supporting each other which matters to me as a parent, and I think means more long term success in the long run.

Swimming is an absolute grind. Go where you feel supported, where you can be your best and where the coaches will help you meet your own goals.

[Anonymous]

What groups does Matt Wolfe coach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a HS swimmer and I have very little substantive interaction with their coach. What exactly are you trying to discuss with them that they are not responsive to? If you have a D1 prospect swimmer, I would say your options are limited to NCAP and AAC. If your kid isn’t looking swimming past HS, the range of options is larger.

I would say that York and Hydra are also options for D1 swimmers. I think on reputation I would choose York and the new coach there, coached for years at AAC but he has done some amazing things with the group this past year. They had some boys make some great commitments and overall did well over AAC and Hydra.

NCAP will always be in a league of its own and makes it hard for any Virginia club to compete with them.

Hydra for D1? No. Unless you mean D1 in NVSL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAC is an excellent club. There is a parent on this thread and the other one whose kid probably didn’t get the recommendation they wanted and is now making it their mission to sully the name of AAC. But it’s an excellent club with very good coaches that prioritizes the right things. The only thing I’ll give that PP is that there have been a couple of surprising choices for next year’s groups that overlap with some board members’ children. But children of other board members were appropriately placed so the board membership overlap may be a coincidence.

I love the AAC Coaches and have no complaints. But the Boosters Board and their kid placements are very well known and an inside joke which is sad. There have been Booster Boards member kids in the Senior and Senior Prep that should be in Excel and Challenge and everyone knows it. They are given preferential treatment. Because their kids are not placed in the correct groups, these groups (even though they have outstanding coaching) are not treated the same by the Boosters in benefits extended. They should all get travel opportunities and great meets to attend.

How does that play out put when the kid is placed in a high-performing group that they can't keep up with? Does the kid know that? At the teen stage, kids know who the imposters are, including if it's themselves.

I would assume that the kids would know they are imposters. It just is messy because the other kids literally name these kids by name as to the floor to times for the group. No one is slower than X. They also frequently say they are only in that group because of their parent. These kids would be much better off in the appropriate group. They end up never making the cut times etc. so they are swimming in other meets without the group.