PST Parent Meeting Fall/Winter 2017/2018
Coaches Report September 26, 2017
Welcome & thank you for attending the annual parents meeting
Sue & Mary head coaches this is our 6th year as head coaches. We share the duties of head coaching job from coaching age group swimmers to the organization, management and communication of the entire team.
What’s new for the 2017-18 season
Home meet on Oct. 22nd - This will be NE/Swimming/USA Swimming Official sanctioned meet and all times will be entered into the SWIMS database. We want all our swimmers & parents to attend and volunteer at the meet.
Coaches worked hard to make this happen-
Administrative Official certification-Mary
Meet Director certification-Sue
Coaches Natalie & Lexy attended a coaching clinic with Guy Edson from ASCA and received their Coaches II certification.
Lane space- same as last year, although we did gain an extra lane on Friday.
Juniors II group-we added an extra day/ one hour practice. They have 4 days/7 hours per week
TSSA League & Champs: Mary & Sue continue to be League presidents for the 2017-18 season. Champs date is March 23-25 @ UNH. There are 7 teams in the league
Added a few new meets at SOLO @ Haverhill High School and we will be attending the Exeter Sprints this year
Our season - 27 weeks
11 Regular season meets including TSSA Champs
6 Qualifying Championship meets (qualifying times needed)
Coaches: we are very proud of our coaching team
All our coaches are USA Swimming certified coaches
Any questions from parents should be emailed to Mary or Sue.
Mary and Sue co/head coaches. This is our 6th year as head coaches. Mary Mitchell- All groups. Coaching for PST for 16 years. Coaches PHS as well
Sue McNamara- All groups and Dryland coach. Coaching for PST for 11 years. Coaches PHS
Vadim Rumeyker- Junior/Senior Coach. This is Vadim’s 5th year with PST.He is a master coach with over 30 years of coaching experience from Preteam to Olympians. He has coached many of our local swimmers to national level swimming.
Lexy Van Binsbergen: Coaching Preteam to Jr. II groups. She has been coaching for PST for over 15 years and also teaches lessons at the Portsmouth Indoor Pool.
Natalie Gould- Will be coaching preteam & AG II & III, and also teaches lessons at the Portsmouth Indoor Pool. 2 years
Robina Mitchell: Will be coaching on the weekends and at swim meets. She is a former PST and college swimmer and also has experience coaches the Portsmouth High School Swim Team; she is a weekend coach
Goals for the year
To promote and develop a strong team that encourages team unity, good sportsmanship and the love for swimming.
Improve our Parent volunteers & parent involvement
The goal is to have more parents volunteer as officials, planning and organizing the team and swim meets. We would like to run more home meets.
What we need
Apparel (??) organize ordering for team apparel & towels (25% discount)
Locker Room volunteer to monitor the locker room
Banquet- assist with the banquet and fundraising, and help at home swim meets.
Colorado Timing System- need someone to learn how to run (Mike Bailey will train)
Meet Manager-Learn to run Meet Manager, the computer system that runs the meet
We need officials!!! We had several officials leave over the past year. We need officials to help out at the Regional, Silvers and TSSA champs meet as well as any of the Seacoast meets we attend. 1/10 ratio is expected for officials. We do give a generous discount for parents who complete the certification process and become certified officials.
Officials clinic will be offered 9/30 at UNH
Fundraising- Need volunteers To keep cost down for team dues and pool time. Megan Luce has done a great job implementing fundraisers:
Past Fundraisers: Penguin Plunge, Raffle and silent auction, Flat Breads fundraiser, Seacoast Half
Continue to improve overall team attendance and performance for swim meets and practices and have our whole team at the TSSA Championship meet.
We track swimmer’s attendance, require Jr/Sr to attend at least 5 practices a week,and if they are a High School Swimmer, to attend 3 practices per week. We require all AGI and above swimmers to attend all swim meets.
We implemented test sets throughout the season to track and improve performance throughout the year.
Last year we came in 2nd place at the TSSA Champs; we had 111 swimmers attend The previous year we came in 3rd place and had about 100 swimmers attending
Have more swimmers qualify for Age Groups, Silver Meet and Regionals.
Last year we had 58 swimmers attend Regionals (more qualified but didn’t attend) 44 attended last year, 19 attended Silvers ( last year 29), 12 attend Age Groups, (18 last year)
Expectations for Swimmers
Be on time for practice/ have a good attitude, be there to swim!
Attend practice regularly to build endurance
Good sportsmanship
3 meet mandatory participation for all swimmers/ HS swimmers 2 meets
Respect and listen to your coaches
Respect and encourage your teammates
Bring all of your own gear on deck to each practice. Parents, make sure they have fins, paddles,goggles, cap, water bottle
Expectations for Parents
Have your swimmer on time for practice
Volunteer for home meets / Volunteer to help out the team
Sign up for swim meets/ look at the schedule and plan (encourage your swimmers to take interest in the PST website. Older swimmers need to have their email addresses on your team webpage so they receive communication directly
Stroke and Turn Officials needed this is a great way to be on deck
Promote good sportsmanship,Praise you kids, Leave the coaching to the coaches
Help to keep the locker rooms in good order. (Parent volunteers needed to make sure that swimmers keep showers brief and leave the locker rooms in good order.
Pick up your swimmer on time so that coaches do not have to stay!
New Parents
Explanation of Age Groups ∙
PreTeam: 45 minute practice, 2 day per week. Generally first time swim team swimmers, work on stroke technique with the 2 main strokes freestyle and backstroke. In addition,starting to work on fly and backstroke,starts,turns, lane etiquette. We encourage preteamers to attend the home meets and any dual meet.
AG III: 1 hour practice, 2 days per week. Main focus is on developing good stroke technique, in all 4 strokes, starts & turns, using the clock , lane etiquette, legal strokes. We encourage attendance at all home meets and dual meets.
AG II: 1 hour practice 3 days a week. Focus is on stroke technique of all the strokes, endurance building, use of clock and intervals, flip turns, open turns and starts some sprinting and racing. We encourage attendance at all meets.
AGI: 1.5 hour practice 3 days a week. Requires more commitment. Focus on technique, endurance, racing technique, sprinting using clock and intervals. We require attendance at all meets. Swimmers are automatically signed up. It is your responsibility to decline them if needed.
Junior II: 2 hour practice 3 days per week, with 1 hour on Saturday. Requires more commitment to the team.This is an intro into the Jr/Sr group with less pool and dryland training time. Focus on technique, endurance, and aerobic training ,race technique. We require attendance at all meets. ∙
Junior I/Senior: 2 hour practice 5-6 days a week with 2 days of dryland practice. Swimmers are committed to swimming as their sport. Work on technique, endurance, aerobic and anaerobic sets, racing technique, sprinting, building yardage, dryland training, Building team spirit, and mentoring younger swimmers.
Team Building:
Fun Fridays, Holiday Themed Days, Mentor Day, Challenge Days/ Team Records
Scope of Season
Sept-Nov: Building Phase: Work on technique, build endurance, learn swimming terminology, pool rules, team building. Nov-Jan: Quality Phase: Continue to work on technique, swimmers get into the routine, and endurance is increased as the pace picks up . More swim meets will take place.
Jan-March: Technique, focus on racing skills, Regionals, Silver meet, Age Groups, and Champs Meet.
Explanation of Meets:
● Swim meets can be competition against one team or many teams; it depends on the level of the swim meet. Swimmers compete in their respective age group and achievement level. The faster their time is for an event the better the heat and competition. Age group levels are usually 8 under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18. Some meets will have senior events which are 13 & OVER.
● Swimmers compete in their own age group and swim to improve their times
Qualifying times for meets are based on NE swimming and USA Swimming and are posted on their website. Dual Meets: Compete against one or two other teams, are 3 to 4 hours in length, a good meet for new and experienced swimmers/ For all team swimmers Preteam and up.
USS Meets/ SSA meet: High level meets, demanding level of competition competing against 10-15 other teams from the NE area, usually 2-3 day meet with multiple sessions. Swimmer can swim in as many days/events as they choose. Meet Fees are charged to your account per swimmer and event.
Regional Meet: Must have qualifying times to attend meet/ higher level of competition from around the NE region. Requires travel and hotel which are the responsibilities of the family. Meet fees are charged to your account per swimmer and event.
Silver Meet: A higher level of competition than the Regional meet. Qualifying times will be needed to attend this meet. Requires travel and hotel which are the responsibilities of the family. Meet fees are charged to your account per swimmer and event.
Age Group Championship Meet: Harder to make with faster qualifying times, Very high level of competition, Travel required and meet fees and travel are the responsibility of the family.
Sectionals/Zones/Senior meets: Top level meets with top NE times needed to attend meet. Requires travel and hotel which are the responsibilities of the family. Meet fees are charged to your account per swimmer and event.
National & Jr. Nationals: Top swimmers in the US attend these meets. Requires travel and hotel which are the responsibilities of the family. Meet fees are charged to your account per swimmer and event.
Signing up for a Meet
Login to the PST website, click onto Team Events, click on the name of the event, click on attend or decline, sign up, events and information about the meet are usually listed or attached to the posting; the coach can choose the events, swimmers can make requests; leave a message if you need to (on the website). The 3 day meets you do not have to attend all days, just leave a message (on the website) and let the coaches know which days you would like to attend.
If you can not make a swim meet and you have signed up, it is very important that you tell a coach by email, text or phone call. A lot of planning goes into setting up the swim meets.
Please email Mary if you have any questions on meet entries
Practice Time & Gear
Swimmers need to bring the following gear. All Age Groups should have fins. Age Group I and above should have pull buoy, paddles, and water bottle to practice Gear can be put in lockers, but if your swim bag does not fit into a locker, please bring it on deck during practice time. (If you don’t have goggles, you can purchase them from a coach and it will be charged to your account). In addition we have bungee cords for sale as well
Swimmers need to shower before each practice. You should be wet head to toe!
You can order team suits and apparel at any time from the PST website under team store. (Any parent that is interested in helping with apparel is welcome to talk to either Mary or Sue)
Personalized team caps will arrive within about 4 weeks of practice beginning. Hopefully most of you have caps to keep you going until yours arrives.
We have ordered extra Team PST Caps for anyone who needs to purchase one (if you haven’t ordered a personalized team cap.)
MAKE SURE YOU REGISTER WITH THE PORTSMOUTH INDOOR POOL ASAP. IF YOUR CHILD ISN’T REGISTERED THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SWIM AFTER SEPTEMBER 28TH. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PST. IT IS A CITY POLICY.
