+1 I have no idea how this happens in pre-season. |
facebook group, whatsapp group maybe? |
Swim team board member. Drama begins during pre-season setup and start up. By the end of season, people can be downright mean to each other. Parents yelling at Team Admin because they scratch a B meet but then showed up and changed their minds and expect to swim. Or parents yelling at board members because we were visiting team at a Monday night meet and the home team stops the meet 10pm no matter what because of neighbors. Parents upset because their kids didn’t get to swim events. I get it, I was upset too, but not sure what I am supposed to do. Usually the most vocal complainers, are the ones who volunteer the least. |
Fortunately our team doesn’t see any drama like what you described but the bolder part is true for any activity. When people refuse to get involved with their kids’ activities (volunteer? Gah!) they lack full understanding of what’s going on. This is why volunteering (or voluntolding?) is a good thing. People need to get a grip. Not that swim reps can’t go rogue but in most cases, parents either need to step up and volunteer or shut the h3ll up.. |
The drama is real. The parents who get angry their kids are not in an event are hateful. It’s just summer swim. Chill out. You are a LOSER! |
10 pm is really late. We usually end B meets by 8:30, 9 at the latest. |
It’s toxic. Parents always ruin it for kids. |
We had one B meet go until 11:30 by the time we were leaving. It was awful. |
Is this usually a substitute for swimming lessons or do most kids do both? |
Did they continue with loudspeakers? You can only use those to a certain hour. We’ve not finished B meets with larger teams because it’s too dark past about 9 pm or so. |
Thank you! This was super helpful! |
It’s not a substitute for swim lessons. At our pool you have to be able to cross the length of the pool unassisted to do swim team, doesn’t matter how you get across stroke wise. If you join and are unable to meet this requirement, we’ll refund your money. Young kids will take “lessons” in addition to swim team to learn all their strokes, improve technique, etc. |
Once kids can swim a full 25m freestyle and backstroke, they usually join the 8&U and team practice takes the place of lessons. Some kids choose to take extra lessons, but it’s not required. My kids usually do 1 30 min lesson per week if there is a specific skill they want to work on, like flip turns. My kids are not on a competitive team year-round, but they swim 2 days a week during the school year for conditioning. It’s a workout, not explicit stroke instruction. They get pointers, but for technique they would need to take stroke and turn clinics or be in a different program where the goal is to get fast for meets. |
It’s really only 1 month once school is out - but it may feel like 3 months. It’s intense and fun. |
Team rep here. The drama is real. Something always crops up by April or May and then things happen all summer. Always something different each season. We try to obscure it from the general team, but behind the scenes there is always something crazy going on. |