It's been a great first week of practice so I want to thank all of you for making that possible!  I would also like to think that all of my emails are read and important (j/k); however, this is one of the more important ones so please read the bullet points below.

• For the swimmers in the first group:  Next week (probably Wed) we will have the swim test.  The swimmer will have to swim one length of the pool (or pretty close) unassisted to remain on the team.  With the number of children we have, it becomes a safety concern if we have to have one of our coaches fully dedicated to a single swimmer.  If your swimmer doesn't make it there are two options.  1.  You can get a refund.  2.  You can apply your payment to swim lessons.  The assistant coaches agreed to teach 5 30min lessons to any swimmer who doesn't make it.  If you have any questions about this please let me know.
• Our first meet is one week from next Tuesday:  Last year we began changing the way meet entry was handled by pushing everyone to the website.  This year we are continuing this trend.  YOU MUST SIGN UP YOUR SWIMMER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL MEET BY THE FRIDAY PRIOR TO THE MEET.  If you don't they will not be put into the meet.  It's a pretty easy process and takes less than five minutes for all the meets.  This allows me to know who will be at the meets and who wont.  It will also allow me to set up the relays appropriately.  When you log into the website click the "swim meet" or the swim meets on the right side of the home page (under upcoming events).  Next to each meet you will see a green box that says "meet entry".  Click on that box.  It will open up and you will see all of your swimmers.  Click the "edit" button and then from the pull down select whether your swimmer will be eligible for the meet or not.  If they are eligible it will allow you to select which events they would like to swim.  Pick two events and write any comments you feel are necessary. We will do our best to get them into those events.
• Job Signup:  When you sign up for the meet there is also a box for job signups.  Unless you opted out of volunteering, you should volunteer for at least one job (and more if you would like!).  There should be a list posted of job responsibilities.  It may seem overwhelming but the more volunteers we have the easier and it...and we truly cannot run these meets without our volunteers.

That is long enough for now.  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.  Once again thanks for a great first week.  I'm really looking forward to this season.

Jason