D1 sucks. No teams should be forced in/forced to stay against their will. |
It feels great as a parent to be able to complain about it, but nobody is forced in or to stay. The team, through their reps, get to provide input to the NVSL on anticipated roster changes, strength of swimmers rising, and how they enjoyed their season among other factors. This is the system and the teams choose to participate. It isn't fun to lose every meet convincingly and that's true in d1 as well as d5 and d12. It only sucks for a team that feels like they can't compete at the highest level and isnt having fun in the process. The last team to rise up through the divisions was OKM and they have been doing very well--good swimmers, fun parents, and great spirit. There was a lot more parity this year. OKM beat Overlee, Overlee beat Chesterbrook, Highlands nearly beat Tuckahoe. The meets are about swimming with the best and having fun. While DR finished at the bottom this year, they have phenomenal swimmers and the meets are always a blast. Their neighborhood restrictions make roster depth a challenge, but thats their choice. They have a good developmental program synced with swim farm and lots of potential for the future. DR has a team that would crush any team in any other division. They've only been in d1 for the past five years, but we have always enjoyed swimming with them. With the exception of Overlee, teams will come up and down in D1 based on the ebbs and flows of their rosters over the years. There are instances, like Langley, of a team coming up after losing half their roster and not being competitive, but for the rest it is a good match even if the outcome can be predicted in advance. It's summer swimming. Nobody is forcing anyone to be here and if you aren't having fun, maybe you should try soccer. |
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Coaching at DR is fine, Coach Phil is terrific It’s jack@SS parents who care about themselves more than kids has led to a lot of athletic kids leaving swim and many on this year’s team not really caring anymore Parents want to drop to D3 so their kids can hoist a trophy they can post on instagram, it’s gross behavior |
Wow. I cannot believe people care this much about a summer suburban swim league. |
You got that right there are some amazing athletes that don't even swim all year round and still do pretty well in D1 Meets. |
DR will be just fine staying in D1. They have had exactly one down year since moving up and have a TON of Club swimmers and a huge swim team. The HOA complaints are rediculous. |
I disagree Dr has alot of seniors leaving. Also not soo many club swimmers, but some great athletes. How can you say the HOA has no impact? Dr can't recruite like the others? |
The other teams aren't recruiting. The issue is the HOA boundary lines. If the HOA votes to open it to outside swimmer (outside of the HOA) that is probably something that could be done, depending on how the bylaws read for who can be members of the swim club. If they want to expand then the HOA Board should discuss the topic. |
Thank goodness there are 15-ish divisions in NVSL. |
OKM here. Honestly, we may be in the same general league as DR next season. We are losing swimmers and a large number of our swimmers will be at the bottom of the age bracket next year. Fast but young. While we don’t have an HOA or a waitlist, we haven’t gained a new club (or otherwise talented) swimmer since 2023. We do get the occasional military family (and once in a blue moon it comes with a junior national swimmer), but being a military-heavy club also works against us. I really enjoyed DR and hope they stay! But we empathize with DR’s wishes, at least us regular Joes with no seat at the seeding table, because many of us wanted to stay in D2. |
Awwww, thank you! This season was tremendous fun. Close meets are so much better than being defeated before the breaststroke events even start. 😂 D1 has been welcoming, even if there were some growing pains. |
Not all d1 teams recruit. Doesn’t DR have about 200 swimmers on the team? They are drawing from an area that is at least as wealthy as the neighborhoods that other pools draw from, and have a large team. Those two factors are what add up to a strong swim team at any pool. Size and family resources. |
Maybe not all teams recruit, but Tuckahoe definitely does. |
Haha ok - here we go again. |