NVSL Division 1 won’t be all Arlington/McLean next summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So interesting that Overlee gets so much hate and its the same parents (Nottingham) getting hate over on the APS board.

Or they are jerks and people from all walks of life do not like the privilege...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did OKM move up so quickly in both swim and dive? What happened over the past 2-3 years to achieve this? Did they recruit families?

Their team rep is amazing and good coaching. But it is the membership of the pool mostly. The surrounding neighborhoods had a huge turnover so lots and lots of families with KIDS moved in as empty nesters moved out.

It's also the closest NVSL pool for a lot of the Burke Centre families so it's pulling from a pretty large area.

[Anonymous]

Keep this thread going…you’re all making travel baseball parents seem perfectly sane

And, go OKM!

- a fellow West Springfield but not a swim team family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did OKM move up so quickly in both swim and dive? What happened over the past 2-3 years to achieve this? Did they recruit families?

Their team rep is amazing and good coaching. But it is the membership of the pool mostly. The surrounding neighborhoods had a huge turnover so lots and lots of families with KIDS moved in as empty nesters moved out.

It's also the closest NVSL pool for a lot of the Burke Centre families so it's pulling from a pretty large area.

Also, lots of year round options nearby, easy for young kids to get excited in summer swim and continue in winter/year round. NCAP is 5 min, MAKO 15, STJ 15.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did OKM move up so quickly in both swim and dive? What happened over the past 2-3 years to achieve this? Did they recruit families?

I think it might be a combination of having a quality team rep and coaching.

A “quality” team rep cannot affect how fast children swim but sure, keep patting yourself on the back there, mom.

The simple answer if you look at their top swimmers is they have two large families with several all-star quality swimmers each. Combine that with some fortunate late age membership (the top time in 15-18 boys freestyle this year is an OKM swimmer who didn’t join until high school) as well as some other good swimmers to round it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did OKM move up so quickly in both swim and dive? What happened over the past 2-3 years to achieve this? Did they recruit families?

Their team rep is amazing and good coaching. But it is the membership of the pool mostly. The surrounding neighborhoods had a huge turnover so lots and lots of families with KIDS moved in as empty nesters moved out.

DP
We are in W Springfield and our neighborhood has done the same thing. Lots of new families and a ton of kids over the past few years. Club membership is up but the swim team has actually become a bit smaller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the way out to Burke even.

Now, what about those t-shirts? Anyone?

They weren’t awful just will stick out like a sore thumb in D1. Patriotic riff….kinda looked like a Blue Lives Matter shirt.

I believe then, the shirt in question says Osprey Nation with Osprey being the team mascot. I don't personally find that questionable.

I just looked at the pictures on Instagram, and the OKM kids all seem to be wearing red tank tops that say:

Old Keene Mill
Ospreys


Seems beyond unobjectionable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the way out to Burke even.

Now, what about those t-shirts? Anyone?

They weren’t awful just will stick out like a sore thumb in D1. Patriotic riff….kinda looked like a Blue Lives Matter shirt.

I believe then, the shirt in question says Osprey Nation with Osprey being the team mascot. I don't personally find that questionable.

I just looked at the pictures on Instagram, and the OKM kids all seem to be wearing red tank tops that say:

Old Keene Mill
Ospreys


Seems beyond unobjectionable.

Agreed. Maybe the person who questioned their appropriateness thought it was something else (an American eagle attacking something?). Not sure what the issue is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently Overlee, Chesterbrook, and Tuckahoe parents have gone into full defense mode here.

I am a Dominion Hills parent and have posted that I think some of you are a bad look. We are also in Arlington and D8. No one at our pool thinks about these teams or cares and we know many of the families and kids at both DR and Overlee.

Different DH parent and my kids’ friends swim for Overlee, Tuckahoe, and High Point (D3). They are elementary age and do not think about or care about any teams outside our division. They don’t understand why their friends don’t swim Saturdays - and it’s only come up at all because we had to decline a few Friday night sleepover invites.

[Anonymous]

OKM team is deep and talented. Good for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OKM team is deep and talented. Good for them.

I don’t think anyone would disagree with that statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the way out to Burke even.

Now, what about those t-shirts? Anyone?

They weren’t awful just will stick out like a sore thumb in D1. Patriotic riff….kinda looked like a Blue Lives Matter shirt.

I believe then, the shirt in question says Osprey Nation with Osprey being the team mascot. I don't personally find that questionable.

I just looked at the pictures on Instagram, and the OKM kids all seem to be wearing red tank tops that say:

Old Keene Mill
Ospreys


Seems beyond unobjectionable.

Asked and answered.

Agreed. Maybe the person who questioned their appropriateness thought it was something else (an American eagle attacking something?). Not sure what the issue is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of over the top swim team parents and coaches at Overlee. One of the people running for the board made some statement about fixing the waitlist or our days as a division 1 team are numbered. Like a threat, as if it’s the worse thing possible. On my way out the night before a meet I saw an overlee swim team spirit sign and it’s resemblance to a penis could not have been accidental.

I went and looked up the statement after I saw this. I think you are taking it out of context. I know that individual, and would not classify him as a gung ho swim parent at all. I think it is more stating the problem that the Overlee waitlist is so long- it means that new families to the neighborhood and young families can never get in. That has an adverse impact on the swim team b/c they are not bringing in new younger swimmers, etc.
It amazes me that Overlee has competitive board elections- we have to beg people to join our pool board- there is no competition for slots

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Keep this thread going…you’re all making travel baseball parents seem perfectly sane

And, go OKM!

- a fellow West Springfield but not a swim team family

Ha! I'm so surprised to read that swimming is as crazy as travel soccer. I always pictured it a calm thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of over the top swim team parents and coaches at Overlee. One of the people running for the board made some statement about fixing the waitlist or our days as a division 1 team are numbered. Like a threat, as if it’s the worse thing possible. On my way out the night before a meet I saw an overlee swim team spirit sign and it’s resemblance to a penis could not have been accidental.

I went and looked up the statement after I saw this. I think you are taking it out of context. I know that individual, and would not classify him as a gung ho swim parent at all. I think it is more stating the problem that the Overlee waitlist is so long- it means that new families to the neighborhood and young families can never get in. That has an adverse impact on the swim team b/c they are not bringing in new younger swimmers, etc.
It amazes me that Overlee has competitive board elections- we have to beg people to join our pool board- there is no competition for slots

Except that’s what the guy said in his statement. We need to resolve the waitlist issue or our days as a D1 pool are numbered. He goes on to say the 8 and unders at the other powerhouse D1 pools are much larger. I read the whole thing too. It didn’t read well.

Most people at that pool are not on swim team and do not give a hoot about D1 status.