Responsibilities

The other members of the team have the right to expect that you will do your job well and you have the right to expect that they will also do their job well.

Behavior and doing your job:

• Respect:
• Respect for self- taking responsibility for one’s own behavior and learning
• Respect for one’s teammates- contributing to the good of the whole team
• Respect for your coaches- listen and learn
• Respect for the other team
• Respect for the rules and the officials who uphold them
• Be where you are expected to be not sitting in the hot tub or in the locker room longer than necessary when you are supposed to be swimming. 
• Listen to instructions. In each practice, we try to stress something a little different and give you some important pieces of information.
• Have basic good manners- no pushing, pulling, shoving, splashing, handstands, etc.
• Arrive at the correct time with all necessary equipment for a practice or meet. 
• Swim whatever you are assigned without complaining. Pick another time to tell the coach what stroke you would really like to swim, if possible.
• Stay with the team during a meet. Let a coach know if you need to leave the area for the bathroom or to talk to your parents.
• Listen for your name to be called for races. We don’t have time to chase you all over the club. That’s why you need to stay with the team!

You are an important part of the team, as you serve as the link between home and the coaches.

• We hope that you will give us vital information. We are not just curious or prying, but we can do a much better job if you will let us know if your child has challenges. Remember, this is a learning situation just like school and any learning or physical disability can be better handled if we know it exists.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions – but please do it after practice, after a meet, or by email.
• Realize that when a coach makes suggestions, it is for your child’s benefit and not meant to be a negative reaction at all. All coaches are trained to be positive in their feedback to swimmers as they help them learn strokes and techniques, and have their best interest in mind.
• We hope that you will accept the responsibility of studying this booklet and discussing it with your child at whatever level is best suited for them. We feel that the swim team is an excellent preparation for life, for learning to discipline oneself, to take and give directions, to experience leadership, and to learn responsibility and improve interactions with others.
• We hope that you will help your child accept defeat, learn from errors made (without overemphasizing winning, losing, or tactical errors), and also to learn one's own limitations after trying really hard.
• We hope that you will help us stress that winning third place is just as important as first place since it means points your team is awarded. But more than winning, we respect a job well done. In fact, getting a personal best –the purple ribbons- is the most commendable of all, for it shows individual improvement!
• We hope that you will reinforce the idea that teammate participation is the most important element.  Cheering on your teammates and providing support is a vital part of the competition.