Welcome to the Tiger Sharks Swim Team!

This handbook has been prepared to give you and your family information that is needed to know throughout the swim season.  Please read it carefully especially if you are a new member of the team. You will find information about the coaches and practice sessions as well as the procedure for letting the team know whether your child will be swimming in the meet.  If you have any questions, ask the Swim Team Rep or Head Coach.

The swim team’s goal is to provide the support our swimmers need, to help them have a completely enjoyable and rewarding experience, and to learn the four competitive swim strokes.  Swimming is a life skill that each person should master for safety’s sake.

The residents of the Lookout Canyons subdivisions organized the Tiger Sharks Swim Team in 2016.  The team is a member of the Maverick Summer Swim League (MSSL) which organizes the summer swim program for 26 swim teams from all over the greater northern San Antonio and outlying areas. 

We are excited to have you and your family as members of the Tiger Sharks Swim Team, and we look forward to an exciting and fun summer swim season.

Team Goals:
The goal of the Tiger Sharks Swim Team is to provide our neighborhood youth, ages 5 – 18, with a high-quality summer-swim program.  The team provides a program in which swimmers improve their aquatic skills, promote teamwork and good sportsmanship, and most of all have lots of fun with people from the neighborhood!

Season Overview:
The program will last 8 weeks, beginning on Tuesday, May 6 with swimmer evaluations.  These evaluations are done simply to give the coaches an idea of a swimmers abilities and to gauge what strokes they already know (if any but not required.) Practices will begin the following day.  Practices will take place in the evening while school is in session and shift to morning when school releases for summer break. Practices will focus on improving strokes and building endurance. It is important that swimmers attend as many practices as possible in order to prepare for meets.

An end-of-the season team and family pool party celebration will be held.

Eligibility:
Swimmers are eligible to join the team if they are 5 to 18 years of age (or their summer immediately following high school graduation whichever comes last) as of June 1st of the current year. To join the team, a swimmer must consistently swim the following distances without holding onto the sides of the pool or lane lines (unless the swimmer is 6 or younger) or touching the bottom of the pool until the required swim distance has been completed. Swimmer evaluations are held at the first practice. The coaches will determine each swimmer’s ability for practice times and if a swimmer meets the requirements. If a swimmer is unable to meet the requirements, a full refund will be made (see Refunds) and swim lessons will be suggested.

- Ages 5 - 10 - Must be able to swim one stroke for 25 yards/meters.  Note: Freestyle means any means of swimming across the pool to include “doggie paddle” for the youngest swimmers ages 5-6.

- Ages 11 & Up - Should be able to swim any two strokes for 50 yards/meters or 2 lengths of the pool.

Registration Fees:
The fees to join the team are as follows:

• First swimmer in a family       $125
• 2nd  swimmer in a family       $115
• 3rd  swimmer in a family        $115
• Additional swimmers in the same family may register for $115 each. 
• Swim caps and team shirt are included with your swimmer's registration fees.

A parent must complete a registration form, pay the fee, and sign a MSSL insurance waiver form before attending a practice.

Late Registration:
Swimmers may register late, or even after the regular season has begun.  No swimmers will be added after the 1st week of meets.

Refunds:
A full refund will be given only if a swimmer drops off the team at the Friday of the first week of practices.  A partial refund is given through the second Friday practice, but no refunds are given after that date. NO exceptions.

PRACTICES:
Practices are Important! Swimmers benefit greatly from regular attendance to practice sessions. At practice swimmers receive instruction in the four competitive strokes, racing dives, flip turns, and are given the opportunity to build physical endurance.  Regular attendance at practice also helps the swimmers and their families keep up with what is going on.

In an attempt to maximize the benefits of the practice sessions, each coach is assigned the responsibility for a particular age or ability group.  This enables the coach to get to know the swimmers better, to identify their strengths, and to work on their weaknesses.  The coaches are then able to place the swimmers in the appropriate events for swim meets.

Be On Time:
Swimmers should be at the pool and ready to swim 10 minutes prior the time their practice session is scheduled to begin, get ready for stretching exercises, and check their name off on the attendance roster.  When the practice is overall older swimmers should promptly leave the pool area.  Younger swimmers should stay with an adult, team rep, or coach until his or her parent has arrived.

Practice Dos and Dont's:
All of our activities take place at our community pool. We are given special permission to use the pool by our homeowner’s association board.  Swimmers are expected to obey all normal pool safety rules during practices and meets.  Disruptive behavior not only wastes the coaches’ time but also may jeopardize future use of a pool by the swim team. If necessary, a swimmer will be asked to leave the pool area. Parents who are present during practice are asked to help keep swimmers in order and to enforce pool rules.

Swimmers and their siblings are not allowed to play in the Baby Pool during swim practice or meets.   As no lifeguard is on duty for the baby pool during practices or meets, it is a safety risk to the team, the POA, and the league which secures the liability insurance for all teams.

Need to Speak With a Coach?:
The coaches are responsible for a large number of swimmers during practice sessions, and a lot must be accomplished at the practices.  For these reasons, please do not hold conferences with the coaches during scheduled practice times.  If you need to speak with a coach, please try to do so before or after the practice session. If you have any concerns about a coach or swim instructor, please contact the swim team rep, Ashlie McKenzie at 832-423-6014.

Swimsuit Requirements:
Team suits are required for meets. For practices, boys may wear their normal suit, but girls are asked to wear a 1 piece suit to practice.  Two-piece suits are not recommended for diving practice and may create embarrassing situations. Team suit details can be found on the Team Suit Page. 

PARENT PARTICIPATION:
Because a swim team is run by volunteers—with the exception of a highly qualified, paid coaching staff—parent participation is essential at every swim meet.  The Tiger Sharks Swim Team must furnish volunteers for both home and away meets, although more volunteers are required to host a home meet.

Each family is expected to volunteer 2-3 times during the swim season.  At registration, parents are given the opportunity to sign up to work in various positions at meets.  Please be on time for your job.  If you have a schedule conflict or must be absent, it is up to you to schedule a replacement.  If you become unavailable at the last minute please, contact Aubree to assign a substitute in your place. 
No Experience Needed! There are many easy jobs to fit everyone’s skills or abilities.  Even mothers with small children can bake for the concessions stand or do other odd jobs like labeling and sorting the place ribbons alphabetically after a meet for the team.  Each job is important and can be fun!

Below is a list of jobs which are necessary to run a swim meet.  Please sign up to work as a starter or stroke and turn judge, starter, or meet referee if you have a competitive swim background from summer league, high school, or college level.   

Equipment Set-up and Take-down workers set up equipment before meets and pack equipment after meets (both home and away).  They also coordinate clean up of the pool area and parking lot after home meets. 

Concession Workers aid in setting up the concession stand, selling refreshments, and cleaning up the concession stand at home meets.  Bakers will also be needed to provide muffins, cookies, or cupcakes for sale at the stand.

Team Ready Bench Parents call swimmers to the ready area and help the coaches get swimmers lined up for the next events and maintains order in the ready area.  The assistant coaches and sometimes the older swimmers take the youngest swimmers to the starting block area.

Timers use stopwatches to time and record the time on the lane timer sheets.  Each lane has three timers—one is in charge of the clipboard and legibly writing down the watch times, a second timer watches to ensure the times are correctly transcribed, and the third timer asks the swimmer his or her name to be sure the correct swimmer is in their event, heat, and lane.

Runner collect lane timer sheets and disqualification slips from timers and judging officials and delivers them to the scorekeeper’s table.

Ribbon personnel takes the teams’ printed labels with each swimmer's results (recording the swimmer's name, event, and time) AFTER the meet and attaches it to the appropriate place ribbon and sorts them for the coaches to pass out at practice.

Positions requiring training at a free, annual MSSL clinic include the following:

MEET REFEREE: has complete responsibility for a speedy and impartial conduct of the competition, knows the MSSL and swim stroke rules, is familiar with the whistle start procedures, inspects the pool and equipment, and conducts an officials’ meeting before the meet begins. The Meet Referee usually has worked as a stroke & turn judge for at least one swim season and could be, but DOES NOT have to be a nationally certified official.

STARTER:  primary job is to ensure all swimmers have a fair and equitable start, knows the MSSL rules and how they are applied, and is familiar with the whistle start procedures.

STROKE AND TURN JUDGE: observes the swimmers in their assigned lanes, makes disqualifications when applicable, and understands the MSSL and swim stroke rules and how they are applied.

SCOREKEEPER: captures the Dolphin stopwatches’ data files and inputs it into the Meet Manager software.  He/she also double checks the Dolphin watch data against the times written on the lane timer sheets.  The scorekeeper prints the ribbon labels at the end of the meet.  He/she creates the final score report and asks the Referee and 2 head coaches to sign it.

Note: Only new scorekeepers need to attend a software clinic.  If a scorekeeper wants a refresher course he/she can attend as well but is not required to.