PAC that practices our of Fairland. We did 2 other teams before settling in with PAC. It was prefect for my kids who liked to swim, but also had other interests/sports. They even let one kid go 'on leave' (not pay dues) for the month when they were the lead in school musical and wasn't going to make any practices (they have evening practice.)

https://pac.venitsports.com/

Anonymous wrote:We are not at Burke, but at our NCAP site there is a Gold 3 program for HS swimmers that offers 6 practices a week but you are by no means required to attend that many practices (3-4 is what is expected). That group is geared toward HS kids who play other sports and/or do not want to commit 6 days a week to swimming.

And NCAP has Gold Prep at Tysons, which is only 4 days/week (three evenings and Saturday morning…and one of the evenings is dropped during HS swim season).

We are with the St James and appreciate that there's the flexibility for 2-3 practice times per day. Our age group can go morning, early afternoon, or 6-7pm and change based on what works for you that day. Kids really enjoy the small team vibe and coaches and have seen a lot of time drops this year. VLAC also practices here and seems to have a similar approach/vibe. The only downside is parking at the St. James is the worst and being a member doesn't help on weeknights when they don't have a separate member lot.

St James and VLAC look like good options! We’re in Fairfax, Virginia.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are not at Burke, but at our NCAP site there is a Gold 3 program for HS swimmers that offers 6 practices a week but you are by no means required to attend that many practices (3-4 is what is expected). That group is geared toward HS kids who play other sports and/or do not want to commit 6 days a week to swimming.

but you are paying for 6 days, though?

Not really, the cost is almost $1k less for G3 than the groups where 6 days per week are expected.

Anonymous wrote:We are not at Burke, but at our NCAP site there is a Gold 3 program for HS swimmers that offers 6 practices a week but you are by no means required to attend that many practices (3-4 is what is expected). That group is geared toward HS kids who play other sports and/or do not want to commit 6 days a week to swimming.

but you are paying for 6 days, though?

We are not at Burke, but at our NCAP site there is a Gold 3 program for HS swimmers that offers 6 practices a week but you are by no means required to attend that many practices (3-4 is what is expected). That group is geared toward HS kids who play other sports and/or do not want to commit 6 days a week to swimming.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure your wishlist works with pool availability here. The number of swimmers compared to lane space in the DC area make your wishlist unreasonable. Your child who doesn't want to commit full time to swim (which is reasonable) is taking away lane space from a child who does want to commit full time to swim.

There are areas of the country where you can find a team that meets your wishlist. Are you willing to move to find this team?

“Your child is taking Swabian’s space.” “Are you willing to move to find this team?” Are you serious? I hope not. There are quite a few smaller clubs around here that don’t require full-time swimmers. Hopefully we’ll hear some responses about the options, communication, and culture there.

You don't mention where you are. It makes a difference. Someone in Annandale, VA isn't going to drive to Germantown, MD during the week for practice.

So, without that information, you are wasting people's time and aren't going to get any meaningful feedback.

Using only context clues, so I could be wrong, the author describes her/his/their impression of Makos. So I’m guessing somewhere close to Makos.

NCAP Burke has afternoon practices, and it has groups for all levels of talent and commitment. You won’t get feedback unless you ask for you.

but NCAP burke only has min 6 x a week for HS- no lesser option

OP both Machine and Mako have lesser day options for all ages? How could they only pay attention to fast swimmers if they have different ability groups? In my experience as both a coach(of another sport) and parent, the coaches in most groups pay attention to the kids who want to be there and are coachable. The ones who listen and don't goof off or talk when the coach is instructing. Has your child asked for feedback? After a cool down, do they check in with coach at meets to see if they have feedback on their events? Do you sit and watch practice and actually see some kids favored and others ignored? Not saying you are wrong, just want to point out some possiblities. Some coaches are better than others. But in the lower volume groups, it is usually the coachable kids getting the attention.

As for communication, I've had kids on 2 diff club teams in the area. Both lacked for communication, and neither emailed parents personalized emails. From what I understand, this really doesn't happen anywhere and they could all improve there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure your wishlist works with pool availability here. The number of swimmers compared to lane space in the DC area make your wishlist unreasonable. Your child who doesn't want to commit full time to swim (which is reasonable) is taking away lane space from a child who does want to commit full time to swim.

There are areas of the country where you can find a team that meets your wishlist. Are you willing to move to find this team?

“Your child is taking Swabian’s space.” “Are you willing to move to find this team?” Are you serious? I hope not. There are quite a few smaller clubs around here that don’t require full-time swimmers. Hopefully we’ll hear some responses about the options, communication, and culture there.

You don't mention where you are. It makes a difference. Someone in Annandale, VA isn't going to drive to Germantown, MD during the week for practice.

So, without that information, you are wasting people's time and aren't going to get any meaningful feedback.

Using only context clues, so I could be wrong, the author describes her/his/their impression of Makos. So I’m guessing somewhere close to Makos.

NCAP Burke has afternoon practices, and it has groups for all levels of talent and commitment. You won’t get feedback unless you ask for you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure your wishlist works with pool availability here. The number of swimmers compared to lane space in the DC area make your wishlist unreasonable. Your child who doesn't want to commit full time to swim (which is reasonable) is taking away lane space from a child who does want to commit full time to swim.

There are areas of the country where you can find a team that meets your wishlist. Are you willing to move to find this team?

“Your child is taking Swabian’s space.” “Are you willing to move to find this team?” Are you serious? I hope not. There are quite a few smaller clubs around here that don’t require full-time swimmers. Hopefully we’ll hear some responses about the options, communication, and culture there.

You don't mention where you are. It makes a difference. Someone in Annandale, VA isn't going to drive to Germantown, MD during the week for practice.

So, without that information, you are wasting people's time and aren't going to get any meaningful feedback.

Hydrosonic Tiburones!

St. James and VLAC have flexible options for practices, don't have to go all year etc