Do your summer pools have adult coaches, what about CITs?

[Anonymous]

Tell me about your summer pool coaching staff. We had a long time coach who retired and the team is less cohesive and less fun. It’s coached now by college and high school students who are learning their way in life. CITs do not coach or cheer younger swimmers, they are jr lifeguards for pre-team kids. What is typical? Neighbors say “swim team is mean” and it used to be a social hub. It makes me sad because summer pools should be fun for all.

[Anonymous]

Ours has adult coaches, and college and HS assistant coaches. Our swim team is fun because the coaches and parents and kids make it fun. If you have young coaches learning the way, then why not have parents step in as cheering sections during races? Have parents volunteer to manage pep rallies and work with the coaches to come up with fun games. Help the coaches towards the sort of team you want, and you may find that one of those coaches grows into exactly the sort of long-term coach you love.

[Anonymous]

Ours has adult coaches and then paid and unpaid junior coaches who are all high school kids. They lead the cheers, get in the pool during practice etc.

I am sorry your pool feels that way. Usually swim teams are kind and welcoming places.moreso than we have found in other sports.

Ask around the MCSL. Lots of good models.

[Anonymous]

My kids would be really upset about that, OP. You should talk to the parent managers after the season is over so they can look for better leadership.

I don't think it's an adult v. student issue. Our swim team is led by college students with HS CITs and we couldn't be happier. They are encouraging to all and cheer really loudly at all the meets. Their enthusiasm is catching.

A few years back we had an adult coach, a graduate student who was very smart, organized and a very accomplished swimmer. She also had no passion for the team and she picked certain kids who she thought had potential and favored them while not giving a lot of feedback, help or encouragement to the others. We're talking about kids as young as 5-6. I was thrilled when she moved on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids would be really upset about that, OP. You should talk to the parent managers after the season is over so they can look for better leadership.

I don't think it's an adult v. student issue. Our swim team is led by college students with HS CITs and we couldn't be happier. They are encouraging to all and cheer really loudly at all the meets. Their enthusiasm is catching.

A few years back we had an adult coach, a graduate student who was very smart, organized and a very accomplished swimmer. She also had no passion for the team and she picked certain kids who she thought had potential and favored them while not giving a lot of feedback, help or encouragement to the others. We're talking about kids as young as 5-6. I was thrilled when she moved on.

Agreed. I’e seen all combinations of coaches and assistant/ junior coaches. Right now is probably the best we’ve had. It’s led by an adult who coaches year-round swimming. Two other assistant coaches are college age or older and then a couple of HS members are junior coaches. Our current head coach is wonderful at creating a fun atmosphere, he relies heavily on the teens to lead the cheering and has done a fabulous job of getting them engaged (not just those that are coaches but all of them). I believe he does this very purposefully. In the past, we’ve had adult head coaches who were more reserved and left the cheering and spirit to a younger assistant. That worked too. HS kids need someone directing them. They can be good at implementing and excellent at coaching kids in the water and organizing them in the clerk of course, but the overall tone of the team needs to be set from the top by the responsible adults I think.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Yes, the adult coach with a cadre of college and HD coaches works well—that’s what we had years ago that got the now der kids interested in swimming. We’ve cycled through coaches and the team reflects this. We can’t even get parent volunteers to fill slots for B meets. It’s not about our ranking or division, but I think our uneven team reflects that it’s no longer a neighborhood pool about fun and encouragement for all.

[Anonymous]

OP again, HS for high school not HD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yes, the adult coach with a cadre of college and HD coaches works well—that’s what we had years ago that got the now der kids interested in swimming. We’ve cycled through coaches and the team reflects this. We can’t even get parent volunteers to fill slots for B meets. It’s not about our ranking or division, but I think our uneven team reflects that it’s no longer a neighborhood pool about fun and encouragement for all.

Its pretty normal but the coaches and parent reps make a huge difference. We may leave our team after this year due to how its run. You need a really strong coach and a parent rep who makes it fun and inclusive for the parents too.

[Anonymous]

IME the parent rep is they key. The parent rep is basically the boss of the coach and is the one who recruits the parent volunteers. If she or he is enthusiastic and picks an enthusiastic coach then there will be a lot of team spirit. If she's more focused on other things then you're out of luck. Why don't you volunteer to be one of the team reps?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IME the parent rep is they key. The parent rep is basically the boss of the coach and is the one who recruits the parent volunteers. If she or he is enthusiastic and picks an enthusiastic coach then there will be a lot of team spirit. If she's more focused on other things then you're out of luck. Why don't you volunteer to be one of the team reps?

+1, but we have one team rep and they doesn't allow anyone to do anything except them. There is no team spirit, few social outings and lots of things fall through the cracks. We'll probably find a new team next year. Teams that seem to do best have huge numbers of parents who are active. We don't have a lot of parent volunteers as we are all fed up with the rep.