Swim & Dive Team "Gala"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recently moved from up-county MoCo, and in our community, the swim team kids and parents were involved in a lot of social events -- cookouts, dinners, and for the parents, happy hours and cocktail parties. The parents sometimes spent more time at social activities together than the team members, and those who are not involved with the swim team are not invited, although they may live right next door and know everyone who is at the party. It is like a high school clique.

Oh my goodness, that's what this is about? Some other parents were having dinner at the pool and that's a problem?

Actvities other than practices/meets are not at the pool; the parties all take place at homes. And for the record, my kids were on the team briefly, and I did go to a few of these parties. But I didn't enjoy the feel of the whole thing.

What do you expect a lot of stay at home moms with older children to do over the summer?

[Anonymous]

Do not agree with poster that the best swimmers parents are not part of it. Some are, some are not. Seems to me to be more related to the desire to be part of a social scene for the parents, which sometime happens even with the good ones. The top family with 3 great swimmers (who are also great at others sports) and were clearly always winners. The parent do not participate in the clique at all, just friendly to everyone and normal. But some of the others with good swimmers are truly pathetic. No, have not seen this in other sports because it is about the sport and the kid and not social weirdness. Now the other sports may have more competitiveness (which can be cutthroat) from the parents but certainly not the parent social oddities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The swim team subculture is weird. My son was involved for a few years, and I was relieved when he moved on to other sports.

Yessssss.

Please tell me about the subculture, we are thinking about joining our neighborhood pool next summer to do the swim team thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is DILF

HAHAHAHA -- DILF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe I have never heard that, now MILF that has been around for years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, btw, all the boys (I do not have any) looked adorable -- collared shorts and dress pants and hair combed. And PP is correct, it is only the swim team parents and the kids from 6-18 on the team, so not a lot of exposure but still so strange.....

The age range is the problem here. What is appropriate party dress and party activities for that matter for 15-18 year olds, is not what is appropriate for kids 6-10. There should be a kid end of year blow out party and a teen Gala, if a Gala needs to happen. 14+ for the Gala if need be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, btw, all the boys (I do not have any) looked adorable -- collared shorts and dress pants and hair combed. And PP is correct, it is only the swim team parents and the kids from 6-18 on the team, so not a lot of exposure but still so strange.....

The age range is the problem here. What is appropriate party dress and party activities for that matter for 15-18 year olds, is not what is appropriate for kids 6-10. There should be a kid end of year blow out party and a teen Gala, if a Gala needs to happen. 14+ for the Gala if need be.

That is the beauty of summer swim -- the 6 year old is just as important as the 18 year old and they make up one team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, btw, all the boys (I do not have any) looked adorable -- collared shorts and dress pants and hair combed. And PP is correct, it is only the swim team parents and the kids from 6-18 on the team, so not a lot of exposure but still so strange.....

The age range is the problem here. What is appropriate party dress and party activities for that matter for 15-18 year olds, is not what is appropriate for kids 6-10. There should be a kid end of year blow out party and a teen Gala, if a Gala needs to happen. 14+ for the Gala if need be.

That is the beauty of summer swim -- the 6 year old is just as important as the 18 year old and they make up one team

+1 totally agree. To see teenagers connecting with the younger kids teaching them how to swim and cheering them on at the meets is why I love swim team. It is very unique and refreshing to see when so many other sports are so competive and tnot as supportive of other team members,

[Anonymous]

I seriously doubt that whatever this group of girls was wearing had anything to do with the swim team or a swim team "subculture." I bet they just got ready together, at the most permissive household of the group, and encouraged each other to wear short skirts and make up. It might be cliquish behavior, but it's not swimming-related.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, btw, all the boys (I do not have any) looked adorable -- collared shorts and dress pants and hair combed. And PP is correct, it is only the swim team parents and the kids from 6-18 on the team, so not a lot of exposure but still so strange.....

The age range is the problem here. What is appropriate party dress and party activities for that matter for 15-18 year olds, is not what is appropriate for kids 6-10. There should be a kid end of year blow out party and a teen Gala, if a Gala needs to happen. 14+ for the Gala if need be.

That is the beauty of summer swim -- the 6 year old is just as important as the 18 year old and they make up one team

+1 totally agree. To see teenagers connecting with the younger kids teaching them how to swim and cheering them on at the meets is why I love swim team. It is very unique and refreshing to see when so many other sports are so competive and tnot as supportive of other team members,

Sure, it's great for swim team. But what is an appropriate party for a 6-10 year old is very different from what is appropriate for an older teen. An appropriate party for the younger group would be a family event, something so lame that the older kids would roll their eyes at being expected to make an appearance! Having a fancy dress up Gala with teen girls in revealing dresses is not appropriate for the younger kids. That's where the difficulty is coming from.

Have a family party and remind kids to dress appropriately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, btw, all the boys (I do not have any) looked adorable -- collared shorts and dress pants and hair combed. And PP is correct, it is only the swim team parents and the kids from 6-18 on the team, so not a lot of exposure but still so strange.....

The age range is the problem here. What is appropriate party dress and party activities for that matter for 15-18 year olds, is not what is appropriate for kids 6-10. There should be a kid end of year blow out party and a teen Gala, if a Gala needs to happen. 14+ for the Gala if need be.

That is the beauty of summer swim -- the 6 year old is just as important as the 18 year old and they make up one team

+1 totally agree. To see teenagers connecting with the younger kids teaching them how to swim and cheering them on at the meets is why I love swim team. It is very unique and refreshing to see when so many other sports are so competive and tnot as supportive of other team members,

Sure, it's great for swim team. But what is an appropriate party for a 6-10 year old is very different from what is appropriate for an older teen. An appropriate party for the younger group would be a family event, something so lame that the older kids would roll their eyes at being expected to make an appearance! Having a fancy dress up Gala with teen girls in revealing dresses is not appropriate for the younger kids. That's where the difficulty is coming from.

Have a family party and remind kids to dress appropriately.

You have no clue what you are talking about. The OP is the only poster who said their swim team had these girls who caked on the makeup and wore false eyelashes. every other psoter who attended a swim team gala said yes, the older kids wore short dresses but not all the makeup. At our swim team banquet, the younger and older kids all dressed up and enjoy celebrating together their successes as a team. Many teams, including ours, puts together a video of the season. After the younger and older kids dance. They have a blast and no parent is sitting their saying that the younger kdis shouldn't be there because teenagers are wearing short dresses.

All of those objecting need to get out and participate instead of criticizing from the outside. Maybe if you involved in your kids in activities which you did not try to control everything, your kids woudl learn to enjoy something just for the experience and the fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, btw, all the boys (I do not have any) looked adorable -- collared shorts and dress pants and hair combed. And PP is correct, it is only the swim team parents and the kids from 6-18 on the team, so not a lot of exposure but still so strange.....

The age range is the problem here. What is appropriate party dress and party activities for that matter for 15-18 year olds, is not what is appropriate for kids 6-10. There should be a kid end of year blow out party and a teen Gala, if a Gala needs to happen. 14+ for the Gala if need be.

That is the beauty of summer swim -- the 6 year old is just as important as the 18 year old and they make up one team

+1 totally agree. To see teenagers connecting with the younger kids teaching them how to swim and cheering them on at the meets is why I love swim team. It is very unique and refreshing to see when so many other sports are so competive and tnot as supportive of other team members,

Sure, it's great for swim team. But what is an appropriate party for a 6-10 year old is very different from what is appropriate for an older teen. An appropriate party for the younger group would be a family event, something so lame that the older kids would roll their eyes at being expected to make an appearance! Having a fancy dress up Gala with teen girls in revealing dresses is not appropriate for the younger kids. That's where the difficulty is coming from.

Have a family party and remind kids to dress appropriately.

You have no clue what you are talking about. The OP is the only poster who said their swim team had these girls who caked on the makeup and wore false eyelashes. every other psoter who attended a swim team gala said yes, the older kids wore short dresses but not all the makeup. At our swim team banquet, the younger and older kids all dressed up and enjoy celebrating together their successes as a team. Many teams, including ours, puts together a video of the season. After the younger and older kids dance. They have a blast and no parent is sitting their saying that the younger kdis shouldn't be there because teenagers are wearing short dresses.

All of those objecting need to get out and participate instead of criticizing from the outside. Maybe if you involved in your kids in activities which you did not try to control everything, your kids woudl learn to enjoy something just for the experience and the fun.

you have no idea what you are talking about. I bet your daughter was one of the ones dressed appropriately. And OP's kid was there too but didn't need to control kid like you to live out your social scene because you cannot do it without going through your kid. You are the control freak.

[Anonymous]

My kids are HS and college varsity soccer players, but they did summer swim team for years (one of them also coached). It was really fun and friendly -- no cliques (though there were a few excessively officious parents here and there, but not more than you see in other kids' activities in this area. As for the end-of-season dinner, it's low-key and sweet -- the kids just really enjoy one another so much. Some of the tween/teen girls wear cute sundresses, but no make-up or heels -- it's at the pool, so flip-flops rule.

[Anonymous]

News Flash -- 13 year olds wear short dresses and they wear makeup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:News Flash -- 13 year olds wear short dresses and they wear makeup.

news flash, we are talking 10 year olds with high heels and fake eyelashes. And my DD won't be dressing like a hooker at 12 although yours might.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are HS and college varsity soccer players, but they did summer swim team for years (one of them also coached). It was really fun and friendly -- no cliques (though there were a few excessively officious parents here and there, but not more than you see in other kids' activities in this area. As for the end-of-season dinner, it's low-key and sweet -- the kids just really enjoy one another so much. Some of the tween/teen girls wear cute sundresses, but no make-up or heels -- it's at the pool, so flip-flops rule.

Well, then that is family friendly and age appropriate for the younger kids, for sure. And not what OP seems to be talking about.