Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isca allowed non qualifying swimmers at their senior meet in march and age group meet in april. Again, if the teams were returning participants. They took another 18 15+ swimmers in march, so you can add that to the 26 age groupers who went. The senior cup meet was over the fcps spring break. The age groupers did need to miss school.

Was this change (non-qualifying athletes) due to low attendance numbers? So they felt the need to open it up?

No. It is a massive, well attended meet.

Then that makes no sense to allow non-qualifying athletes to swim since it slows the meet.

$$

Yep. I know of one local team that sent a bunch of BB-time swimmers to the under-14 ISCA who did NOT make the cuts for any individual events. For some reason, ISCA accepted those swimmers.

The only cuts that are BB are the 9 year old cuts. The rest are A or faster. Our team required swimmers to have at least one cut in their age group to attend.

I was bored over lunch and looked at the meet mobile for ISCAs 14 and under and there were definitely multiple local clubs who sent kids who did not have a single cut. I’m sure some clubs still required their swimmers to have a cut, but some definitely didn’t.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:York has fun social events that other teams may lack. For 11-12, they have a Halloween party and team bowling. They also do a travel meet to PA that is a lot of fun.

Once they are 13 & over, they have a senior lock in, Hokie travel meet, senior retreat - all lots of fun if your kid has friends on the team.

All kids can participate in these events regardless of their swim times.

Probably a lot of teams are similar. FISH age groupers just got back from ISCA (St Pete), there is bowling and a few other events.

Isca is not really the same. That’s a very competitive meet with difficult time cuts. (York went there too). The meet pp referred to is a much more casual fun meet with no time cuts. York does a big team dinner and the kids have a ball playing with friends in the hotel.

For teams who have done the meet before, any of their swimmers can do 50s and 100s of every stroke + relays at ISCA. It’s a lot of fun for the kids: team dinners, beach day, etc.

I don't think you are understanding. ICSA is a competitive meet with cut times to enter. So not every swimmer is getting in and not a BB swimmer. Although ICSA is not as competitive as NSCA (which is for faster swimmers) it is still not a meet for everyone. Most meets are fun (at least for my kids) and competitive meets tend to be really fun to motivate.

YOU don’t understand. If a team has done ISCA in the prior years, the meet is open for all of their swimmers for 50s, 100s and relays. Said another way: if a team did ISCA last year, they can bring all swimmers who have made zero cuts and they can swim:
50 free
50 back
50 fly
50 breast
100 back
100 free
100 fly
100 breast
100 IM
Every relay

This is literally in direct contradiction with the meet info page:

BONUS EVENTS
For 1 or more qualifying times ............. You earn 4 bonus events
Bonus events must be entered with a time. NT will not be accepted. EVENTS OVER 200
YARDS MAY NOT BE USED AS BONUS EVENTS.


INDIVIDUAL ENTRIES: Entries should use a time in the national database that is faster than
the qualifying time and achieved during the qualifying period. Swimmers may enter using an
“Override Time” for times that are not in the nationaldatabase. Override times must include
the meet name and date. Override times that cannot be proven by the Entry Coordinator
during the entry process will not be seeded in the meet. Times that are missing from the
National Database should be requested through the host LSC National Times Coordinator of
the meet at whichthe time was achieved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isca allowed non qualifying swimmers at their senior meet in march and age group meet in april. Again, if the teams were returning participants. They took another 18 15+ swimmers in march, so you can add that to the 26 age groupers who went. The senior cup meet was over the fcps spring break. The age groupers did need to miss school.

Was this change (non-qualifying athletes) due to low attendance numbers? So they felt the need to open it up?

No. It is a massive, well attended meet.

Then that makes no sense to allow non-qualifying athletes to swim since it slows the meet.

$$

Yep. I know of one local team that sent a bunch of BB-time swimmers to the under-14 ISCA who did NOT make the cuts for any individual events. For some reason, ISCA accepted those swimmers.

The only cuts that are BB are the 9 year old cuts. The rest are A or faster. Our team required swimmers to have at least one cut in their age group to attend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isca allowed non qualifying swimmers at their senior meet in march and age group meet in april. Again, if the teams were returning participants. They took another 18 15+ swimmers in march, so you can add that to the 26 age groupers who went. The senior cup meet was over the fcps spring break. The age groupers did need to miss school.

Was this change (non-qualifying athletes) due to low attendance numbers? So they felt the need to open it up?

No. It is a massive, well attended meet.

Then that makes no sense to allow non-qualifying athletes to swim since it slows the meet.

$$

Yep. I know of one local team that sent a bunch of BB-time swimmers to the under-14 ISCA who did NOT make the cuts for any individual events. For some reason, ISCA accepted those swimmers.

We are happy at York with an 11 year old BB/A swimmer. He does two other sports as well, so the 3 x 90 min a week practices are perfect. We didn’t want a team that required 4-5 at 11/12.

The senior (& senior prep) groups at AAC DO have morning practice (5-7 am, approximately). Also, afternoon practices for those groups are more like 2.5-3 hours, not 2 hours. Right now, the practice schedules are wonky due to repairs at Longbridge, but the website should tell you the usual practice times for each group.

Back to the original question....

As you age up with AAC, when we were there practices were only offered in the afternoon/early evening and they are at Long Branch (this would definitely be the case for your 11-12yo). Beautiful facility, but it's a grind with traffic depending on your location and if you have to stay/have a carpool, etc. As you get into the Senior Groups, you are expected to be there 5-6 days a week. The Senior Group practices 4-6pm, so there is not a morning practice option, which a lot of clubs move to as you get into High School, etc. (This may have changed since we left, but I think because it's an Arlington County facility, it may not open for those 4:30a/5a practices....). If you're into "soft" things, we didn't really feel a sense of team. Cost is subsidized by Arlington County, which is a huge savings. They typically have a "tryout" once a year (it may have already happened. spots fill up FAST - see note about cost) and if they have room for you given skill set/age/group, they will offer you a spot. If not, you get on a waitlist.

York has more to offer when it comes to practice groups, times and locations. You can start at 2x/week and go up to 6, so a wide range and they are a bit more accommodating as your swimmer advances (or not), meaning if your kid wants to stay swimming but isn't the fastest, there's a place for them. There is definitely more of a focus on fun and feeling part of a team, or so we have felt.

As others have said, I'd pick the one closest to you. Or one where there's a friend and you can carpool.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isca allowed non qualifying swimmers at their senior meet in march and age group meet in april. Again, if the teams were returning participants. They took another 18 15+ swimmers in march, so you can add that to the 26 age groupers who went. The senior cup meet was over the fcps spring break. The age groupers did need to miss school.

Was this change (non-qualifying athletes) due to low attendance numbers? So they felt the need to open it up?

No. It is a massive, well attended meet.

Then that makes no sense to allow non-qualifying athletes to swim since it slows the meet.

$$

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isca allowed non qualifying swimmers at their senior meet in march and age group meet in april. Again, if the teams were returning participants. They took another 18 15+ swimmers in march, so you can add that to the 26 age groupers who went. The senior cup meet was over the fcps spring break. The age groupers did need to miss school.

Was this change (non-qualifying athletes) due to low attendance numbers? So they felt the need to open it up?

No. It is a massive, well attended meet.

Then that makes no sense to allow non-qualifying athletes to swim since it slows the meet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isca allowed non qualifying swimmers at their senior meet in march and age group meet in april. Again, if the teams were returning participants. They took another 18 15+ swimmers in march, so you can add that to the 26 age groupers who went. The senior cup meet was over the fcps spring break. The age groupers did need to miss school.

Was this change (non-qualifying athletes) due to low attendance numbers? So they felt the need to open it up?

No. It is a massive, well attended meet.

Anonymous wrote:Isca allowed non qualifying swimmers at their senior meet in march and age group meet in april. Again, if the teams were returning participants. They took another 18 15+ swimmers in march, so you can add that to the 26 age groupers who went. The senior cup meet was over the fcps spring break. The age groupers did need to miss school.

Was this change (non-qualifying athletes) due to low attendance numbers? So they felt the need to open it up?

Isca allowed non qualifying swimmers at their senior meet in march and age group meet in april. Again, if the teams were returning participants. They took another 18 15+ swimmers in march, so you can add that to the 26 age groupers who went. The senior cup meet was over the fcps spring break. The age groupers did need to miss school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:York has fun social events that other teams may lack. For 11-12, they have a Halloween party and team bowling. They also do a travel meet to PA that is a lot of fun.

Once they are 13 & over, they have a senior lock in, Hokie travel meet, senior retreat - all lots of fun if your kid has friends on the team.

All kids can participate in these events regardless of their swim times.

Probably a lot of teams are similar. FISH age groupers just got back from ISCA (St Pete), there is bowling and a few other events.

Isca is not really the same. That’s a very competitive meet with difficult time cuts. (York went there too). The meet pp referred to is a much more casual fun meet with no time cuts. York does a big team dinner and the kids have a ball playing with friends in the hotel.

For teams who have done the meet before, any of their swimmers can do 50s and 100s of every stroke + relays at ISCA. It’s a lot of fun for the kids: team dinners, beach day, etc.

I don't think you are understanding. ICSA is a competitive meet with cut times to enter. So not every swimmer is getting in and not a BB swimmer. Although ICSA is not as competitive as NSCA (which is for faster swimmers) it is still not a meet for everyone. Most meets are fun (at least for my kids) and competitive meets tend to be really fun to motivate.

YOU don’t understand. If a team has done ISCA in the prior years, the meet is open for all of their swimmers for 50s, 100s and relays. Said another way: if a team did ISCA last year, they can bring all swimmers who have made zero cuts and they can swim:
50 free
50 back
50 fly
50 breast
100 back
100 free
100 fly
100 breast
100 IM
Every relay

What you are saying contradicts the isca meet announcement.
https://iscaart.sirv.com/wp/meets/23-sc-east-elite/ISCA%20East%20Elite%20Showcase%202023%20Meet%2003.9.23-min.pdf

Isca is fairly generous with allowing bonus events, but to swim in an individual meet you need to have at least one qualifying time. The time cuts appear to be between a-aa times which means to swim in that meet you are in the top 8-15percent of swimmers in at least one event nationally.

Comparing isca to the Lititz meet York attends is just silly. Even setting aside the time cuts (which is a sig barrier) Lititz is a couple hours drive on a weekend, open to the whole team, and a ton of swimmers go(approximately 140 this year). Isca is in Florida requires plane tickets and a willingness to pull your kids out of school for a week. Looks like fish took 26 kids to isca this year and York took 44.

You guys are actually both right.

You are each talking about a different ISCA meet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:York has fun social events that other teams may lack. For 11-12, they have a Halloween party and team bowling. They also do a travel meet to PA that is a lot of fun.

Once they are 13 & over, they have a senior lock in, Hokie travel meet, senior retreat - all lots of fun if your kid has friends on the team.

All kids can participate in these events regardless of their swim times.

Probably a lot of teams are similar. FISH age groupers just got back from ISCA (St Pete), there is bowling and a few other events.

Isca is not really the same. That’s a very competitive meet with difficult time cuts. (York went there too). The meet pp referred to is a much more casual fun meet with no time cuts. York does a big team dinner and the kids have a ball playing with friends in the hotel.

For teams who have done the meet before, any of their swimmers can do 50s and 100s of every stroke + relays at ISCA. It’s a lot of fun for the kids: team dinners, beach day, etc.

I don't think you are understanding. ICSA is a competitive meet with cut times to enter. So not every swimmer is getting in and not a BB swimmer. Although ICSA is not as competitive as NSCA (which is for faster swimmers) it is still not a meet for everyone. Most meets are fun (at least for my kids) and competitive meets tend to be really fun to motivate.

YOU don’t understand. If a team has done ISCA in the prior years, the meet is open for all of their swimmers for 50s, 100s and relays. Said another way: if a team did ISCA last year, they can bring all swimmers who have made zero cuts and they can swim:
50 free
50 back
50 fly
50 breast
100 back
100 free
100 fly
100 breast
100 IM
Every relay

What you are saying contradicts the isca meet announcement.
https://iscaart.sirv.com/wp/meets/23-sc-east-elite/ISCA%20East%20Elite%20Showcase%202023%20Meet%2003.9.23-min.pdf

Isca is fairly generous with allowing bonus events, but to swim in an individual meet you need to have at least one qualifying time. The time cuts appear to be between a-aa times which means to swim in that meet you are in the top 8-15percent of swimmers in at least one event nationally.

Comparing isca to the Lititz meet York attends is just silly. Even setting aside the time cuts (which is a sig barrier) Lititz is a couple hours drive on a weekend, open to the whole team, and a ton of swimmers go(approximately 140 this year). Isca is in Florida requires plane tickets and a willingness to pull your kids out of school for a week. Looks like fish took 26 kids to isca this year and York took 44.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:York has fun social events that other teams may lack. For 11-12, they have a Halloween party and team bowling. They also do a travel meet to PA that is a lot of fun.

Once they are 13 & over, they have a senior lock in, Hokie travel meet, senior retreat - all lots of fun if your kid has friends on the team.

All kids can participate in these events regardless of their swim times.

Probably a lot of teams are similar. FISH age groupers just got back from ISCA (St Pete), there is bowling and a few other events.

Isca is not really the same. That’s a very competitive meet with difficult time cuts. (York went there too). The meet pp referred to is a much more casual fun meet with no time cuts. York does a big team dinner and the kids have a ball playing with friends in the hotel.

For teams who have done the meet before, any of their swimmers can do 50s and 100s of every stroke + relays at ISCA. It’s a lot of fun for the kids: team dinners, beach day, etc.

I don't think you are understanding. ICSA is a competitive meet with cut times to enter. So not every swimmer is getting in and not a BB swimmer. Although ICSA is not as competitive as NSCA (which is for faster swimmers) it is still not a meet for everyone. Most meets are fun (at least for my kids) and competitive meets tend to be really fun to motivate.

YOU don’t understand. If a team has done ISCA in the prior years, the meet is open for all of their swimmers for 50s, 100s and relays. Said another way: if a team did ISCA last year, they can bring all swimmers who have made zero cuts and they can swim:
50 free
50 back
50 fly
50 breast
100 back
100 free
100 fly
100 breast
100 IM
Every relay