Swim team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swim meets mean lots of time sitting around _outside_ the water being wet. Trunks are really uncomfortable under those circumstances (wet, cold, floppy fabric sloshing around your legs?), so jammers will likely feel a lot better really fast. Plus team uniform, so it is about fitting in for the team picture, etc.

PPs are right that the intergenerational nature of summer swim is one of the things that makes it really special. I want my DCs to become the kinds of teenagers who are leading them at the pool: the kids from ages 8 to 18 literally play together outside of practices while the families laugh and talk next to the pool. It's like some kind of dream world.

+1 to all of this. Both my boys (10 and 8) now prefer jammers to trunks!

The intergenerational connections in summer swim are truly magical. My older son really connected with a teenage coach who, like him, is the middle child in the same family constellation - that relationship meant a lot to him. We've also found positive benefits related to school transitions, e.g., my DD had a lot of friendly faces from the pool when she started middle school last year, older girls who could show her the ropes and just generally be reassuring. I know summer swim can get a lot of flak on this board, but I love the intensity of it all. It's short, but so sweet!

Intergenerational connections are awesome. And....

Some of the pools have had hazing issues. When the kids age into 13+, they get hazed by the older teens. For sure, this doesn't happen everywhere but I would always just keep your eyes open and ask a lot of questions.

I’m disappointed to hear this. I’m not so naive that I think summer swim is some sort of utopia, but I’ve never heard of hazing in summer swim. On the contrary, my own experience and those of most with whom I’ve spoken is that the inter-age group camaraderie is what makes it so special. Further, the older kids see themselves as mentors/leaders/protectors of their younger teammates and the team fosters this (especially because unlike in other sports, the younger kids on the team can score just as many points as the older; they’re not lower on the pole contribution-wise). Anyway, I certainly hope that summer swim hazing by older kids is an extreme exception (of which we should all still be mindful of course).

Now, as another poster mentioned, the introduction of phones sucks and is a disruptor among peers. I’d love to see the older kids role modeling positive social media behavior to their younger teammates.

My son does community theatre. The directors hold a meeting with parents and kids and specifically prohibits phones around kids under 12. The director instructs the older children about what topics are off subject in mixed-age company, and will not ever let kids 13+ be alone with kids 12U, and won’t let the few 9Us be alone with any older children. I wish all mixed-age groups had this type of meeting at the beginning of any season or activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swim meets mean lots of time sitting around _outside_ the water being wet. Trunks are really uncomfortable under those circumstances (wet, cold, floppy fabric sloshing around your legs?), so jammers will likely feel a lot better really fast. Plus team uniform, so it is about fitting in for the team picture, etc.

PPs are right that the intergenerational nature of summer swim is one of the things that makes it really special. I want my DCs to become the kinds of teenagers who are leading them at the pool: the kids from ages 8 to 18 literally play together outside of practices while the families laugh and talk next to the pool. It's like some kind of dream world.

+1 to all of this. Both my boys (10 and 8) now prefer jammers to trunks!

The intergenerational connections in summer swim are truly magical. My older son really connected with a teenage coach who, like him, is the middle child in the same family constellation - that relationship meant a lot to him. We've also found positive benefits related to school transitions, e.g., my DD had a lot of friendly faces from the pool when she started middle school last year, older girls who could show her the ropes and just generally be reassuring. I know summer swim can get a lot of flak on this board, but I love the intensity of it all. It's short, but so sweet!

Intergenerational connections are awesome. And....

Some of the pools have had hazing issues. When the kids age into 13+, they get hazed by the older teens. For sure, this doesn't happen everywhere but I would always just keep your eyes open and ask a lot of questions.

I keep my eyes open plenty - I’ve worked professionally with CPS, so I know better than to assume it would never happen to my kids. I’m also not so naive as to let my 13 year olds do a lock-in with 17 year olds and zero adults (actual adults) present. Stuff like this doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Warning signs of this kind of stuff: coaching at the extremes (entrenched leaders who have been there forever or ones who turnover constantly, with little authority), general culture of winning at all costs, general culture of cliquishness (bc not all pools have them). These aren’t all, but are some of the bigger red flags.

You sound defensive almost. It's not an indictment on you personally. It's not CPS worthy. It's more about older kids low-level humiliating younger kids and younger kids feel like they have to laugh/go along with it to be accepted. Also sexual innuendo that's inappropriate and general language that's inappropriate. Teens also find a way to drink alcohol when they are determined. There are actual adults in this world who don't think this stuff is a problem. They think it's "bonding" and "part of the team culture".

It's naive to think that a bunch of 16-18 year olds are always using their best judgment with younger kids OR that adults know everything that's going on all the time. Not stating there are typically bad intentions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swim meets mean lots of time sitting around _outside_ the water being wet. Trunks are really uncomfortable under those circumstances (wet, cold, floppy fabric sloshing around your legs?), so jammers will likely feel a lot better really fast. Plus team uniform, so it is about fitting in for the team picture, etc.

PPs are right that the intergenerational nature of summer swim is one of the things that makes it really special. I want my DCs to become the kinds of teenagers who are leading them at the pool: the kids from ages 8 to 18 literally play together outside of practices while the families laugh and talk next to the pool. It's like some kind of dream world.

+1 to all of this. Both my boys (10 and 8) now prefer jammers to trunks!

The intergenerational connections in summer swim are truly magical. My older son really connected with a teenage coach who, like him, is the middle child in the same family constellation - that relationship meant a lot to him. We've also found positive benefits related to school transitions, e.g., my DD had a lot of friendly faces from the pool when she started middle school last year, older girls who could show her the ropes and just generally be reassuring. I know summer swim can get a lot of flak on this board, but I love the intensity of it all. It's short, but so sweet!

Intergenerational connections are awesome. And....

Some of the pools have had hazing issues. When the kids age into 13+, they get hazed by the older teens. For sure, this doesn't happen everywhere but I would always just keep your eyes open and ask a lot of questions.

I’m disappointed to hear this. I’m not so naive that I think summer swim is some sort of utopia, but I’ve never heard of hazing in summer swim. On the contrary, my own experience and those of most with whom I’ve spoken is that the inter-age group camaraderie is what makes it so special. Further, the older kids see themselves as mentors/leaders/protectors of their younger teammates and the team fosters this (especially because unlike in other sports, the younger kids on the team can score just as many points as the older; they’re not lower on the pole contribution-wise). Anyway, I certainly hope that summer swim hazing by older kids is an extreme exception (of which we should all still be mindful of course).

Now, as another poster mentioned, the introduction of phones sucks and is a disruptor among peers. I’d love to see the older kids role modeling positive social media behavior to their younger teammates.

My son does community theatre. The directors hold a meeting with parents and kids and specifically prohibits phones around kids under 12. The director instructs the older children about what topics are off subject in mixed-age company, and will not ever let kids 13+ be alone with kids 12U, and won’t let the few 9Us be alone with any older children. I wish all mixed-age groups had this type of meeting at the beginning of any season or activity.

Yes, it has to be this intentional.