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Mission
Statement
Our purpose is to provide a positive training atmosphere that will
prepare our athletes both physically and mentally to compete to the
best of their potential. It is our goal to send our swimmers to the
highest possible levels of competition during the USA Swim seasons.
Swimmers are expected to make a full commitment to bettering
themselves as swimming athletes by participating in: dry land
exercises, pool workouts, fine tuning stroke mechanics, and setting
personal and team goals. Through this experience, we wish to
enhance the development of the athlete’s character, including
sportsmanship, commitment, responsibility and
integrity.
Panther Aquatic Club
offers training and practice groups for swimmers of all ages and
ability levels. It is the goal of PAC to offer age specific
training for all of our athletes geared towards challenging each
individual and developing each individual to the best of THEIR
abilities.
ABOUT PANTHER
AQUATIC CLUB
Panther Aquatic Club
(PAC) participates in the CT Swimming Short Course Season from
October to March, and the CT Swimming Long Course season from April
through July. The team primarily practices out of the
Pomperaug High School Pool and uses Ballantine Pool and rented long
course facilities during the spring/summer season.
Participation on this team requires a commitment on the part of
those swimmers who show a distinct desire to become a more
competitive swimmer. PAC is not designed as a
recreational program, but as a serious endeavor to further the
swimmer's abilities. This is an elite program with the time
commitment, ability criterion and discipline requirements that are
expected of such a team
I
INTRODUCTION
Panther Aquatic Club is
open to boys and girls ranging in age from 5 to 21 who meet the
minimum requirements required for participation. Swimmers on the
team will receive instruction in endurance and stroke technique,
while developing confidence and self-discipline over the season as
their abilities improve.
Swimmers, Parents and
Coaches working together are essential for team
success.
Swimmers have an
obligation to each other. They are expected to attend practices
regularly, to show respect, good sportsmanship, and to compete at
meets. Swimmers will be exposed to all strokes at varying distances
to improve their potential.
Parents are
responsible for the business of the team, including participation
in team events, planning activities, and volunteering at
swim meets. Parents are also asked to ensure that their
swimmer is at practice on time, and for making sure that their
child meets team requirements.
Coaches are
responsible for organizing and conducting all practices and for
orchestrating meet entries. Coaches have authority to maintain
discipline at the pool in order to conduct the team in as safe of
an environment as possible.
II
THE SWIMMER
Practice
Groups: A swimmer’s practice group
is determined by the coaches. New swimmers will be evaluated for
skill sets and proper practice group placement. Swimmers may be
moved to and from specific groups at the coaches’ discretion.
Placement in a specific practice group will be based on age,
ability, commitment and attendance. Swimmers must practice in
their designated practice groups.
Practice:
Practice takes place Monday through Friday, and occasional weekend
days, at the Pomperaug High School Natatorium unless there is a
facility conflict. Ballantine pool and rented long course
facilities are also used during the spring/summer season. Swimmers
should be on time for practice and ready to enter the water at
the published start time of practice. Upon arrival, swimmers
should prepare for their practice session to begin. All swimmers
should be equipped with a swim suit, a swim cap, goggles, fins, a
water bottle and a "can do" attitude. The PAC practice schedule
will be posted on the team website under the Practice
Calendar tab. Any changes to the schedule once it is
published will be emailed to the team.
III
PARENTS
PAC utilizes a Parents
Advidory Board comprised of veteran parents who are knowledgeable
about the team and who have expressed interest in becoming active
participants in team administration and in planning team activities
or events. All parents are members of the Panther Parents
Association. Parents’ major responsibilities are to promote
good sportsmanship and a positive training experience while
participating in team activities and meet management as necessary.
It is essential that one member of each family attend all parents
association meetings that are held. Communication is the key to
success for our large swim team and it is the parent’s
responsibility to stay informed.
Practice:
Parents must have swimmers at practice on time. Late arrivals
disrupt practices already in progress. Swimmers should be picked up
promptly after practice has ended. If practice ends at
7 pm, parents should be at the pool promptly at 7 pm.
Parents choosing to stay at the pool during practices may sit in
the balcony area. Please do not speak to your child from the
balcony area. Questions regarding practice or meets may be
directed to a coach immediately following a swim session or via
email. Parents are asked NOT to go on deck while any
practice is in process.
Meet
Attendance: All swimmers in the Senior Elite and
Senior training groups must compete during the season. Swimmers are
strongly encouraged to participate in as many meets as possible and
work toward a championship meet at the end of the season. It
is very difficult for the coaches to measure athlete progress
without seeing them compete. Competition is also a great
opportunity for swimmers to receive feedback about their race
strategy and stroke technique while bonding with their
teammates. Please have your swimmer check in with coaches
upon arrival to document their attendance. Parents are responsible
for signing up their swimmers for each meet in a timely manner once
meet information is available. This is done on the team
website. A swimmer who does not commit (yes or no) to a meet
on the team website will not be entered in the meet. Once entries
have been compiled, parents will be notified of their
swimmer’s events and meet entry fees for the meet will be
due. Once the entry is sumbitted to the host team, there can be no
additions or changes to the lineup.
Work
Assignments: Parents have the responsibility of
volunteering at meets their swimmers attend. Several jobs are
assigned and training will be provided when necessary. These may
include Timer, Marshall, Runner, Reports. Failure to work
when assigned will result in a $50 fine.
Swimmer
Illness Prior to a Meet: If a child becomes ill
and is unable to participate in a meet, parents must notify a coach
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BY PHONE so that lineup changes can be made and
other swimmers are not affected. Please never, ever just not
show! Despite scratches due to illness, meet fees
are still due.
IV
CANCELLATIONS
Practice is canceled
when schools are closed due to inclement weather or by decision by
the Superintendent of Schools.
Notice of other
cancelations will be emailed and posted on the team website in as
timely a manner as possible.
Meet cancelations will
be determined as early as possible and information released in the
same manner.
V
FACILITY USAGE
For security, all
swimmers should enter the locker rooms with a parent, buddy or
coach only from the pool deck. Swimmers must notify coaches in
order to leave the pool deck and enter locker rooms during
practice. Locker room doors are not to be blocked open with any
object for any reason. The back locker room doors at to be closed
at all times.
PAC will not be
responsible for items left unsecured and recommend that belongings
be taken out to the pool deck or given to a parent during practice.
If you plan to use a locker at PHS, please bring your own lock.
Do not leave the lock on overnight.
PAC swimmers and
families are guests of Pomperaug High School,
Ballantine Pool, and any pool that we visit during the season. It
is expected that swimmers exhibit exemplary behavior while on
school grounds, especially in the locker room area. Any
inappropriate behavior will be reported and if necessary, fines
will be imposed.
VI
CONDUCT & DISCIPLINE
All swimmers are
expected to show respect to their teammates, coaches, competitors,
officials and any other individual on the pool deck. Good
sportsmanship is expected at all times. Bullying of any kind will
not be tolerated. Strong disciplinary standards will be enforced
during practice, meets, on the pool deck and in the locker rooms.
Horseplay or inappropriate behavior of any kind will not be
permitted.
The following
disciplinary action will be taken to correct disruptive behavior
that cannot be dealt with on the pool deck:
- First Offense: Verbal
Warning/Notification to Parents
- Second Offense: Verbal
Warning documented by coach to be kept on file and meeting with
parents, coach and Aquatic Director.
- Third Offense: Possible
suspension for the remainder of the season and forfeiture of all
fees paid.
VII
COMPETITION
Invitationals/Age
Group Qualifiers: These meets are hosted by various
Connecticut USA Swim Teams with the intention of qualifying
swimmers for end of season championships. Meets will take
place at the host team’s pool. Meets usually take place over
two or three days. Swimmers are not required to compete every
day of every meet entered. In most cases, swimmers may elect
to swim one or both days and may request to swim a specific event
as discussed with their age group coach. The coach will have
ultimate say over events entered.
Meet
Entries: PAC uses an on-line entry system for
meets. Scheduled meets are found under the EVENTS tab on the
PAC website. Swimmers can open each meet and commit to attending.
If events are listed, swimmers may select their preferred events
for that particular meet, however, the ultimate decision on a
swimmer’s meet entries lies with the coaches. In order to
participate, please be sure to commit your swimmer prior to the
registration deadline for each meet.
Once the lineup is
complete, swimmer’s events will be emailed along with meet
entry fees due. These fees cover the cost of the swimmer's entry in
each meet. At this time, any change of circumstance which
would affect a swimmer’s attendance at the meet must be made
known to the coaches. Once the meet closes and the entry is
submitted to the host team, no changes may be made to the entry and
all meet fees will be due. Meet fees are nonrefundable if a
swimmer must scratch his or her entry due to illness, or if an
event is scratched by the host team due to
oversubscription.
Championships
: To be eligible for Championships, swimmers must
participate in at least 1 meet during the season. Swimmers will
only be able to swim events at Championships that they have swum
legally during the season.
Championship meets are
run at the end of the season and swimmers will be notified of which
Championship meet they will attend. Please plan vacations
around these dates so that your swimmer may compete in their
hard-earned championship meet. All meet information, including
dates and venues, will be posted on the Events tab on the team
website.
VIII
MEET MECHANICS
Meets are conducted in
accordance with the by-laws of Connecticut Swimming Inc. and under
sanction of the United States Swimming Association. Swimmers
compete in the following age groups: 8/Under, 10/Under,
11-12, 13-14 and 15/Over. At times, events may be designated
12/Under and 13/Over, Senior, or Open.
IX
TEAM UPDATES
Parents are asked to
bookmark the following websites as references for everything
swimming:
PAC
Website: www.pacswimming.com
The team website
provides the monthly practice calendar, team news, meet information
and meet signups.
Parents can also contact
the coaches via email from the team website.
Connecticut Swimming
Website: www.ctswim.org
This website
provides:
- links to meet
announcements, which include individual meet details, warm-up
information,
- event schedule,
directions and results.
- a database query link
called FAST, which contains
detailed information on teams, times, and
- championship
qualification for all CT swimmers. The menu enables access to
best times by swimmer, best times by event, the top times in each
event, championship qualification, time standards, and other
pertinent information.
- a link to the USA
Swimming website.
Coaches & team
administrators can be reached via the team email address:
[email protected]
X
Team Administration
The Panther Aquatic Club
coaching staff is one whose vision is to train our athletes to
their highest potential. Combined, their years of swim and coaching
expertise give our club a diverse dynamic of
experience.
Questions regarding all
non-swimming related questions may be directed to our team
administrators or members of the PAC Parent Association via email
or at the pool:
Aquatic
Director: Maria Papiro [email protected]
Registration & Fees
Coordinator: Karen Fimmano [email protected]
Parents Association
President: Brian Keane
XI Fee
Structure & Registration
The following outlines
team fees for the current swim season. Please read all
information carefully.
USA SWIMMING MEMBERSHIP FEE (Check made out to
PAC): - $78.00
United States Swimming
(USS) is the governing body that regulates all USS clubs such as
PAC. The USS fee covers liability insurance for the school,
athlete, and coaches during practice or meets. This fee is
required of all swimmers and is usually payable upon registration
for the fall/winter program.
PAC SWIM TEAM FEE (Check made out to PAC):
- $25
All Swimmers need to
pay these fees every fall.
PAC
SWIMMER REGISTRATION/COACHING FEES:
RRReRFees cover on-deck
coaching time at practice and at meets. Coaches will determine the
swimmer’s practice group based on age, ability and maturity.
Practice group designation and fees may be found under
the Registration tab on the team website.
There will be additional
fees required in the form of meet entry fees for each event a
swimmer enters at a specific meet. These range from $8 to $12 per
event.
FINANCIAL
POLICIES:
Once a swimmer’s registration is processed for the upcoming
season, there will be no prorating of fees or refunds for failure
to practice, unless a valid doctor’s note for a long term
illness or injury is presented. In this case, fees will be
prorated by month for the remainder of the season. A $25
cancellation processing fee will be applied.
PAYMENT METHOD –
CHECK
- If membership fees are to be paid
by check, fees must be paid in full.
PAYMENT METHOD - CREDIT
CARD
- All member families are
encouraged to link a credit card to their account. We do not have
access to this number once it is stored; we are only able to post
charges to the card.
- In order to participate in meets,
a credit card must be on file. The credit card on file will be
charged for meet fees on the day meet fees are posted to the
account.
All outstanding fees must be paid
before a swimmer may be re-registered for the upcoming
season.
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