Nov 19 Practice

Hello Parents and Swimmers

Another good practice for the Swimming Eagles, with 80 swimmers participating throughout the two sessions. We are still looking to add some 15 and older boys and girls to the team, so if you know of any, please invite them down. My thanks again to all the parents who continue to volunteer on the pool deck as well as helping out with the distribution of the t-shirts and collection of the swim suit orders.

A few updates...

Turkey Challenge
Our first in-house meet will be this Monday, Nov 26. This is not an official CYO meet, it is more of an intramural meet, where our swimmers will be competing against their teammates. We will start at 6:45, so please be on the pool deck by 6:30. I'll have the younger swimmers swim first, starting with the U6 swimmers, who will kick board their way across the pool in what should be their first competition. I am very excited for them. The older kids should also arrive by 6:30. Anyone who has to arrive late due to other commitments - no worries. We'll get you into a race, even if against older swimmers. The idea here is for the individual swimmer to get competition experience. I will be asking for 6 volunteers to time the lanes, 2 at the scorers table, 4 (2 for each "team") to get the kids up to the starting blocks and 1 to "judge" the order of finish.

T-Shirts
We distributed our team t-shirts on Monday. If you were not there, you can still pick them up next Monday or the Monday after that. If you did not have a proper size for your swimmer, please e-mail me the size you need and we will order more.

Swim Suits
When sizing your swimmer, the size we need is on the gray bar next to TYR. It is numbered 22-38 or 22-40. I would recommend going to Goldman Bros or a similar store for better sizing, as I do not have samples. Since the suits will be customized with the team name, they are not exchangeable.

Many have asked if the team suits are required. By CYO rule, all suits must be the same type and similar coloring. Personally, I would prefer all swimmers have the same suit. However, if you already have a Holy Family suit from a prior year or have a competition style suit with black and blue coloring, that will be fine. Keep in mind the suits run small but tend to expand when they get wet.

Please note that swim suit orders are due by Monday December 3rd, so that we will have enough time to have them delivered by our first meet (some time in early January).

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the suit, please speak with me. While it is important to show team unity by way of the suits, it is more important the the swimmers are comfortable and enjoying their time in the pool.

Swim Caps
Swim caps are required for girls (unless their hair is very short) and not for boys (unless their hair is very long). The league is more strict with the swim caps. Since they cannot bear the logo of another swim club or the "logo only" of a manufacturing (i.e. TYR or Speedo), I ask that all swimmers who will be using a bathing cap order the team cap, which will be emblazoned with the Holy Family name.

CYO Rules Pertaining to Meets
I will be distributing a short informational package detailing the rules as set forth by CYO of Nassau Suffolk as well as some in-house requirements. I anticipate having these for this coming Monday and will also post them on the website for future reference. Please keep in mind that some of these in-house requirements are guidelines. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to bring them to my attention.

On behalf of my family - Ginny, Katelynn, James, Kelly, Kyle and Jillian - we wish you all a warm, healthy and happy Thanksgiving Day! Enjoy the long weekend and we'll see you all on the 26th.

Go Swimming Eagles!!

Coach Carroll (Kevin)