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Physical Development
Parent Tip of the Month Parenting My
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Fueling for Performance
(a guide to good
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Friendly Rivalries
From School to the Pool
Improvement
Moving up to the next training
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Getting Parents on the
Team
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NOVA Team
Handbook
A Club Directory is available only to Logged in team
members
NOVA Organizational
Chart updated 2/09
Swimmer Code of
Conduct
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| Part I. The NOVA
Organization
| Part II. Practice Groups
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Team
Philosophy
History
NOVA Team Accomplishments
Other NOVA Programs
NOVA’s Board of Directors
The Facility
Coaching Staff and Contact Information
Business Manager Information
Communication
Weather Policy
| Group
Descriptions
Policy for Group Move Up
Equipment List for Groups
Swim Practice Rules and Guidelines
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| Part III. Swim
Meets
| Part
IV. Role of the
Parent
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Importance of Attending Meets
Long Course versus Short Course
The A, B, Cs of Time Standards
How to Sign Up for a Swim Meet
Going to a Swim Meet - What to Expect
Swim Meet Rules and Guidelines
Championship Meets
Team Trips
| Volunteer Requirement
General Guidelines
Swimmer Nutrition
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"The Darkside of
Pride"
A must read for all parents and
coaches
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The latest communication from the Board of
Directors
December 30, 2008
Dear NOVA Families,
With the Short Course season well
under way, the Board of Directors wants to let you know about some
of the new things going on at NOVA and some ongoing issues that are
important to our operations.
Congratulations! Congratulations to our coaches and swimmers
on a fantastic swim season. NOVA has had a
tremendous season and it shows no signs of slowing. Both on
the road and at home, swimmers have been qualifying for
championship meets in record numbers and bringing home new time
standard improvements and impressive wins. Check out
Noteworthy News for all of the particulars.
Financial
Issues: The current economic
situation has prompted the Board and the staff to take a number of
steps to promote fiscal good health. Our swimmer numbers have
stabilized at a number that is below our budget projection for the
year. The influx of new swimmers we typically experience in
November did not materialize this year. As a result, the Board
and the staff are working together to identify things we
can do to reduce our expenses and increase our revenue. In
addition, we have secured our money at separate institutions in
order to be FDIC insured.
New Board
Members: As you may already know, the
following persons were elected to the NOVA Board at the annual meeting in
October: David Martin, Anne Madden and Bridget
Cuthbert. To ease turnover, these new members are shadowing
the Board during November, December and January and will officially
join the Board effective February 1, 2009 and we look forward to having them
join us. The Board would also like to recognize and thank the
Board members whose terms will end at that time: Kevin Bailey, Brent Holsten and Diana Barden. Serving on the NOVA Board is a time-consuming (and
rewarding) experience and the hard work done by these individuals is very
much appreciated.
Staffing: We would like to
welcome Allison Poehler who joined the office staff as NOVA’s Administrative Assistant in
October. We know you and all of our customers enjoy hearing a
real voice on the other end of the phone. Allison is also
assisting Scott with billing, coordinating Scrip and she can answer
your general NOVA questions.
Team Travel and Away Meet
Fees: In order to provide more
consistency and more fairly and appropriately allocate costs to the
families participating in team travel and away meets, the Board and
staff have approved a change to our current travel policy
effective January
1, 2009.
Currently for team travel meets,
some of the expenses associated with the coaches’ and
chaperones’ travel, such as lodging and transportation, are
included in the fee that each swimmer is charged. Under
the new policy, all the coaches’ travel expenses will be
included in the trip cost billed to the swimmers. At no
time will this allocation of coaches’ expenses increase the
trip charge by more than $25. This will provide a cap
for meets when few swimmers attend but costs are very high, such as
Far Westerns, Junior Nationals, or the Olympic
Trials.
Currently for away meets, the
coaches’ travel expenses are charged to the NOVA travel budget, which is funded by
all NOVA
swimmers whether they
participate in away meets or not. Under the new policy,
a pro rata portion of the coaches’ expenses will be passed on
to only those swimmers that participated in the away meet, in the
form of an Away
Meet Fee. This fee may vary from
very minimal for single day or local meets, to a more significant
charge in the $10 – 20 range for each swimmer participating
in a longer meet that involves a hotel stay for the coaching
staff. This fee is also capped at $25 per meet per
swimmer.
Special Thank
You’s: We thanked a host of
NOVA helpers at the Annual Meeting and
thought it was worth repeating:
·
A special thank you to
our meet officials. They spend time getting trained both in
class and on deck to ensure our children experience a fair and
smooth running meet. Please take time to thank an official at
your next meet.
·
A specific thank you to
some special volunteers:
o
Susan Smithwick, Mike Mackey, and Sr. Swimmer West Cuthbert
– our representatives to VA Swimming
o
Susan Smithwick – Peanut Sale Coordinator
o
Crystal Aiken
– Holiday Project
Coordinator
o
Suzanne Martin –
Meet Bid Process Coordinator
o
Will Bassett - Officials
Coordinator
o
Tom Elliott & Kathy
Nunn - Referees
o
Betsey Poehler - who no
longer has a swimmer in the program but continues to work every meet!
We couldn’t do what we do
without each of you along with the many parents who volunteer at
each meet and throughout the year! Your time and expertise is
very much appreciated! We are always looking for volunteers in
any capacity – please be generous with your
time.
Volunteers: NOVA continues to be run by a volunteer
parent board of directors and needs the hands of many to accomplish
its mission. Please check the website often or contact
Carolyn Elgin
at celgin@verison.net to see how you can get
involved. It takes 250 volunteers to run a home meet in
addition to the committees and other opportunities that provide
value to NOVA’s programs. While timing
may not be your thing – make a suggestion on how you can get
involved using your expertise and interests. We have a wide
range of opportunities available that usually get scooped up before
we even get them posted. These volunteer efforts become even
more important as we deal with budget issues. We
especially thank all of you who give continuously long after your
volunteer requirement is fulfilled!
Travel Safety
Guidelines: Anne Madden has
worked extensively with the coaches and
the Board to develop Travel Safety Guidelines for all of
NOVA’s travel. These
guidelines include planning information, chaperone guidelines,
hotel and transportation requirements as well as safety
requirements and procedures. These guidelines have been in
place since the fall season. If you would like to see a copy
of the full plan document, please see Anne Madden.
Summer League
Swimming: We need your help
promoting NOVA to your summer league
teams. Our winter/spring clinics will begin in March and run
through May. Ask Drew for information. The
Swim Shop is prepared to order your team’s suits or place
special orders on shirts, towels, bags or goggles. Tell them
what you need and they will take care of it. Support
NOVA and get the merchandise and customer
service your team deserves.
Sponsorships/Fundraising: This is a new era
in NOVA’s history. We have grown
to over 600 swimmers. We are one of few teams in the country
that owns its own water. We are consistently ranked in the top
5 in the country, we have banners that grace our walls for winning
numerous regional level meets and we have one of the best coaching
staffs in the country. All of this comes at great monetary
costs and we need help keeping the costs to our families at a
reasonable level. Keeping costs down takes contributions,
donations and sponsors and we need your help in expanding our
contributors. We are always looking for new and
creative ways to raise money but for now Banners can be purchased,
Heat Sheet Ads can be placed, equipment can be donated, and digital
advertising may soon be available. Do you work for a company who may want to
sponsor NOVA? Please see Brent St. Pierre
for a copy of our media package.
And, as we continue to think about
expanding and adding new facilities, we will need corporate
partners to help us achieve those goals. Please think about
your contacts and who you know that NOVA should contact about forging such a
relationship. These continued efforts will be even more
crucial as we continue to operate under difficult economic
conditions. Any leads should be communicated to Bridget
Cuthbert.
Holiday
Project: Thank you to Crystal Aiken for coordinating our 6
families we sponsored for our Holiday Project. This is a very
important opportunity for NOVA to make a real difference in the
lives of some worthy families in our community.
Food
Bank: Please keep in mind the food
collection barrels in our lobby. Contributing food to the
barrels is an easy way all of us at NOVA can help people in our
community. Thank you to Katie Bailey and Debbie Dunham for
coordinating this effort.
Alumni: NOVA will host its first Alumni Holiday
Gathering on January 2nd. We are hoping to rekindle
friendships as well as involve them in our plans for the
future. Our alumni will play an important part in NOVA’s future and we welcome any
information you have on the whereabouts of any of our NOVA families.
Website: The website is a
continuous work in progress. David updates
information daily to keep you well informed. If you have
suggestions about layout or information you would like to see,
please let a coach or board member know. New email
addresses have been established for all of the NOVA staff. Watch the website for
this new contact information.
Scrip and
Kroger: What a great way to add
to NOVA’s bottom line without costing
you anything. We hope that each of you will take the
opportunity to shop for Scrip through the NOVA website. If you have questions
on how to purchase a gift card, contact Allison Poehler at info@novaswim.org or call the office at
754-3401. Reloadable Kroger cards are available in the swim
shop. They cost $5 each and any amount can be added to the
card in the Kroger store before you check out. Have a travel
meet coming up? Consider getting Scrip to pay for your hotel
or your Subway run. Plan to eat at restaurants who accept
Scrip when dining out. Thank you for your continued
support!
Swim-A-Thon: Please mark your
calendar for February 7, 2009. Drew and his committee of
parent volunteers are starting to make plans and this
year’s SAT will be a celebration to
remember.
Swim Shop: The plans for the new
swim shop are currently working their way through the approval
process at Henrico County. We will keep you updated as we
prepare for construction to begin. Thank you for your
continued support of the swim shop as we stock new
merchandise. Please visit the swim shop to see all of the
new NOVA
items including our own
Christmas ornament.
Cell Tower: We have been
working with AT&T for several months
regarding the placement of a cell phone tower in front of
the NOVA
facility. AT&T
is currently responding to concerns raised by some of our neighbors
as part of Henrico County’s approval process. We are
still optimistic about having the cell phone tower on our property,
but the process is taking longer than expected. Several
parents have questioned the rezoning sign in the front of
NOVA. The rezoning sign pertains to
the cell phone approval process. The monthly income
from the cell tower lease would help us meet our costs as we
continue to expand and upgrade our facility.
Audit: The Board approved a full audit of
NOVA’s financial records to be done this
fall. This is a first for NOVA, and it
has been a time consuming and difficult process. However, the
Board believes this is a necessary step if NOVA is going
to continue to grow and prosper. The audit has been performed
by Goodman & Company. The audit has been completed and we received an
unqualified opinion with the exception of the beginning shop
inventory (since the auditors were not there to observe the counts
last year). We will be sharing the full report in our next
Board Letter.
Marketing Committee: The marketing committee continues
to work on several issues. Marketing materials for
new members, new advertisements, prospective members, summer league
coaches and NOVA’s programs are all being
developed. Thanks to all of the parents who have volunteered
to help with this committee.
We wish all of our families a happy and safe holiday
season.
Sincerely,
The NOVABoard of Director
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