Reply to MCSL rule changes for summer 2026

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Parents who don’t want club swimmers in summer leagues, start new league for teams that don’t allow club swimmers, problem solved[/quote]

No one is saying that.  But attendance at a certain number of practices in order to be able to participate in a meet or game is not uncommon in sports.  Club swimming parents just feel their kids should be exempted from anything like this, which I find interesting.[/quote]
Honestly, having the club kids at practice takes up lane space from the kids that only practice with the summer team. This is why our team doesn’t care if the club kids don’t come to summer practice. The practices are crowded enough as it is, you don’t need to make it worse when the club kids are already practicing elsewhere. [/quote]

And do the kids even know this issue exists?  The club swimmers are mainly swimming A meets anyway, so the kids that only swim B meets are unlikely to overlap with those swimmers.[/quote]

I think that is the rub.  They don't see any problems with not going to the crowded practices. "It's too crowded anyway you should appreciate us not bringing our kids", which by the way we do appreciate.  But then, they crowd out the recreational swimmers from the A meets by taking lanes and not leaving any, which we don't appreciate.[/quote]
It would be one thing if there were no B meets and the summer only/frequent practice attendees were not able to compete because of the club kids taking all the A meet slots, but everyone is getting a chance to compete. Whether you swim in an A meet or B meet is dependent on how fast you are, and for the club swimmers there is no correlation between attending summer practices and how fast they swim at meets. What you really want is club kids to be banned from summer swim so that the summer only kids have the chance to swim in A meets. I really would be fine if my kid wasn’t allowed to do summer league, it won’t take up my Saturday mornings anymore and no more volunteering, but you’re going to be hard pressed to have enough people to work automation, serve as the meet referee, and serve as S/T judges because most of us are the parents of club swimmers. [/quote]

It's just that B-meets are so limited.  [b]Last year like 2 out of five were canceled by rain.  This year there were two canceled by rain. [/b] We ended up having an intrasquad make up.

Yes, the club kids should be somewhere else nine times out of ten.  You just don't understand how underwhelming it is to see kids swim year-round with professional coaches, compete (and lose often times) to summer kids.  Oh, we've got a ribbon.  It's one thing if it's like a rec basketball team and everyone is in the same class and they are all friends, but in our summer league team that isn't the case.  [b]The A-team kids clearly don't want to associate with the "B-team" kids(except the ones that are club swimmers, but don't have the times.)[/b].[/quote]

So the weather is the fault of club swimmers?  As for not wanting to associate with the "B-team" kids, this makes no sense.  Rather, it sounds like there is a bit of resentment of the parents of club swimmers don't want to associate with the parents of non-club swimmers.

What this really comes down to is that parents of summer-only swimmers want their kids swimming in A meets because they go to summer practices.  If that's what they want, then go ahead and "ban" club swimmers if they don't attend X number of practices.  MCSL will collapse, teams will fold, and pools will all close for lack of revenue.[/quote]

Dramatic much?  Our coaches already encourage ALL summer swimmers to attend practices.  Is everyone attending every day?  Of course not.  But I'm having a hard time thinking of anyone on our team who is literally only showing up on Saturday mornings an no other times.  You sound entitled.[/quote]
DP, this varies by team. Our coach encourages the club swimmers to just go to club practice so that they can focus on the summer only kids during summer practice. The club kids all go to the social events, pep rallies, help with junior coaching the little ones, etc. but they are only rarely at summer practice. [/quote]

DP. The PP didn't address the underlying point.  Namely, it's the summer swim parents who want their kids to swim in A meets on Saturdays because they show up to summer swim practices. But just showing up isn't how the world works. Attendance is irrelevant to performance [/quote]

Yes, your kid can swim all year round and still lose to summer league swimmer, my daughter beat many club swimmers this summer.  The parents still aren't fun to be around.[/quote]

The parents who are complaining are those whose kids don't get to swim in A meets because there are club swimmers on the team who are faster. Not everyone in club swim is fast, but many are because they swim all year round (4+ times a week).  If your kid doesn't want to do that, and only wants to show up for summer swim practices, they'll swim B meets for the most part. Complaining about this as somehow being unfair is a waste of time.

The parents of club swimmers are generally very nice, but they take swimming very seriously. As such, they may prefer to spend time with other parents who feel the same (I.e., compare notes, shared experiences, etc).  That said, there are some insufferable club swim parents, but they're rare and their kids often drop swimming as they get older.[/quote]

I agree. People with similar experiences tend to hang out with each other. It’s a natural phenomenon and not exclusive to swimming.

Most parents of faster club swimmers are pretty chill when it comes to summer swim as USA swim meets are more important. There is something unique about summer swim that is very different culturally from club swim. Swimmers love the atmosphere and ability to join their friends that may do other activities and sports during the remainder of the year. It would upset many club swimmers if they were excluded from summer swim. [/quote]

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