Looking way ahead: Wharton HS has accepted an invitation to join us for our November 14 Time Trials. Let's plan to set up and get warmed up in time to start the high school racing at 9:00 a.m. If all goes as planned, the junior high events should begin around 11:00 a.m. and wrap up around noon.
Splash-n-Dash
Once we've got our junior high group prepped for this big event, we'll schedule the annual Splash-n-Dash.
Now, back to the week ahead. It's going to be a busy one!
We're starting our regular high school practice schedule, hosting a tri-meet Tuesday (Brazosport & Sweeny), the BCJH program starts up on Wednesday, the Aquacats are having a meet Thursday evening, and we're having our second Saturday morning high school workout of the season.
Throw in some weather changes, Halloween, and the end of a grading period...and we may hit a stress level of 11...on a scale of 10!
Monday
8th period - Issue parkas and take extras to the pool
There's a lot to unpack here, so let's get started!
First, we've been going in a lot of different directions lately. Let's standardize the way we'll make our communications work going forward so we can all be on the same page.
The last item on your "Swimming/Diving: #TBW" handout says:
Be whereyou're supposed to be whenyou're supposed to be there doing whatyou're supposed to be doing!
I'd like to think we're all doing that, but I cannot be in multiple places at once to monitor y'all when you're unable to be with our group.
From here on out, if you need to miss things like a swim practice for physics tutorial, robotics meeting for a swim meet, swim practice for a soccer game, a band practice for a diving competition, etc.:
YOU need to communicate schedule conflicts to your teachers, sponsors, and/or coaches in advance,
YOU should politely ASK permission to alter schedules and/or attend the higher-level event (competitions over practices/meetings), and
YOU should politely ASK that the teacher, sponsor, and/or coach send notification on your whereabouts (written note, text, or email).
We have not been keeping Coach Williams informed. I should be letting him know when one of his players misses a basketball practice to work on his diving. That's got to change on our end, right?
On the other hand, J.D.P. brought me a written message from a teacher Friday that noted where he'd been and why he was late for practice. Bravo! That's the way it's supposed to be done!!
Let's make sure we work with all our school's teachers, sponsors, and coaches! We've got to make certain each knows how much we value their efforts and cooperation.
This Week
We are still in the "Make three (3) practices per week," early part of our training season, but are offering five (5) practice options for those who want more. We'll start the "Make five (5) practices per week," regular training season soon, but will offer a Saturday option for those who want still more.
Monday
8th Period - A Day Dryland
After School - Swim/Dive to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday
8th Period - B Day Dryland
After School - Swim/Dive to 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday
8th Period - A Day Dryland
After School - Swim/Dive to 4:30 p.m.
Thursday
8th Period - B Day Dryland
After School - Swim/Dive to 4:30 p.m.
Friday
8th Period - A Day Dryland
After School - Swim/Dive to 4:30 p.m.
Looking Ahead
We'll start our junior high kiddos the last week of this month. I'll work with our J.H. coordinators to figure out a practice schedule that doesn't interfere too much with basketball practices. All athletes need to be "green" in RankOne before they "splash"!
We'll be hosting Brazosport & Sweeny on Tuesday, the 27th. Both our girl and boy teams enter the meet with 4-0 records.
We'll try to get diving completed earlier than last time, since neither visiting team will have divers. The start time for swimming has been moved up to 5:00. We're hoping that will keep us from swimming the 400 free relay in the dark!
We have an early out day on Friday, November 13. I'll have to check with our administrators to see if/when we'd be able to practice that day.
On Saturday, November 14, we'll have another Time Trial event. We'll go through our high school events from 9:00 to 11:00 and swim junior high events from 11:00 to noon. Van Vleck is hosting a meet starting at 2:00, so we'll need to clean up and be out of their way before they arrive to set up.
Finally, watch Lily King go 1:03.16 in the 100 SCM Breast:
When the Button's moved up to the DFW area, we taught/coached in Mansfield ISD at Timberview HS.
I had to veto putting the names of the other three high schools on the piggies' briefs.
One of our swimming Wolves was Mayrena Hernandez. She's working on her doctorate up in Wisconsin. Read more about her here
Mayrena is a first generation Mexican-American student who has
first-hand experience of the impact of health care inequities in our
country. Through personal and educational experiences, she decided that
she wanted to come to UW-Madison to merge her love of both athletic
training and public health with her passion for youth sport research.
She lifts, she runs, she swims, she bikes...and yes, she does Ironman Triathlons!
Foller her on IG here. Tell her Bobby's dad sent ya!
We had a very long conversation with Dave Wharton last month via Skype. Dana edited it waaay down to under an hour. Really! There are a couple of spots where the language nearly entered the "colorful" region, but I hope y'all won't be too offended.
Many thanks to Dave for joining our kids via Zoom last month and via Skype for this episode of SwimTalk A2B:
As has often been the case this school year, we have had a few plan changes! Thanks for your patience and understanding!!
Important paperwork went home Saturday. Most brought back the signature page today. Thank you! We still have a few that need to pick up paperwork and return the signature page. Thanks in advance for taking care of this ASAP.
To make up for missing some of this week's work, we'll have an optional Saturday morning workout this week from 8-9:30. Hope to see a large group there!
We've missed too many early season practices. Starting next week, we'll begin our regular practice schedule - about a month early. Since many are involved in other activities, we'll still continue with the three per week requirement that was originally scheduled in the handbook. We'd just like to have those swimmers and divers who can, to take advantage of the extra offerings. We'll stick with a 4:30 finish, but go Monday through Friday.
Next, our regular practice schedule was to begin on October 26. Those practices go until 5:00. That's also when we'll add an optional Saturday morning workout to the schedule. Again, we will continue with the five per week requirement that is in the handbook, but would like those who can, to take advantage of that extra offering.
Van Vleck has indicated they'd like to participate in some of our Saturday time trial events this season. We'll try to work something out with them.
Our junior high season is still "on", I'm just not sure what we're going to do for competition. I've not heard from other coaches but am hopeful we'll be able to get at least a few meet in for our kids.
The meet schedule in the handbook is still being edited. I sent Mrs. Leissner the latest edition today and will get that out once she's put it into a more presentable format.
Let's all hang in there and keep taking care of business.
We have a great group of very "coachable" kids and we're going to have some outstanding swims this season.
The teachers, coaches, and administrators are working harder than ever to keep things moving forward.
Parents, it's going to be a challenge for all of us to keep our student/athletes on track, but we can do it!!!
