Weekly Announcements for Week of 10/2-10/8

Dear SBSC families, Practice Schedule Riley HS Group 1 Thursday 6:00-7:15 G1 Elite Wednesday September 5:30-7:15 Group 2 Monday Wednesday, Thursday 5:30-7:15, and Friday 5:00-6:30 Group 3 PM Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 3:45-6:15 and *Friday 5:00-6:30 Group 3 AM Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and *Friday 5:30-7:00 New Prairie HS Group 1 Thursday 5:00-6:00 CST Group 2 Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:00-6:45 CST Group 3 Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:00-7:30 CST Practice Notes: No practice on Tuesday at either location due to our annual Intra-Squad meet being held at RHS. Info below. *We are offering an additional morning practice for Group 3 on Friday. This is because the RHS teams our hosting their annual Port-A-Pit fundraiser and will not be able to make an afternoon practice. Both practices on Friday for Group 3 are identical and our athletes attending other high schools are welcome to attend either one. Riley families please use door #22. This is the door on the northwest corner of the building and faces Fellows Street. If you are planning to stay to watch practice there is a stairwell that is adjacent to this door, and this will lead you to the seating area. New Prairie families use door N18. New Prairie swimmers are welcome to attend their corresponding group's practice at Riley. Entrance Into RHS We have been instructed by the RHS administration we are no longer allowed to prop doors open. This was a directive to all athletic teams and not necessarily at SBSC. We need to remember we are guests in the building and must do what we are asked to do. We are fortunate to have the relationship we have with the corporation. Becuase of this relationship we are able to keep are fees at the same reasonable rates they have been since 2006. I realize this is a slight inconvenience and should not present too much of a problem for our families. This does, however, present challenges for our coaching staff. If you arrive anytime after the start of practice this will require a coach to leave the pool deck to open the door. This is less than an ideal situation. Our attention needs to be with the swimmers in the pool. We have always believed in the importance of punctuallity but it becomes even more so when arriving late keeps a coach from their primary role of coaching our athletes. We also understand sometimes arriving late can't be avoided. In those situations we are asking for your patience because we may miss a call or not be able to leave the deck as quickly as you'd like. If you would like to volunteer to help watch the door so the coaches can stay on deck and coach just let me know. Also, if you have concerns with this policy address them with me. Our assistant coaches have no control over this decision so any issues should be brough to me. Intra-Squad Meet -- Oct. 4 -- Riley High School This is our annual intra-squad meet/pizza party for our swimmers and their families. This meet is for both our RHS an NPHS groups and is being held at Riley High School. The meet is South Bend time. We would like all swimmers to be on deck by 5:30. All of our swimmers are assumed to be swimming at this meet. If your swimmer is unable to make the meet you will need to decline attendance with the "Edit Commitment" button in the OnDeck app or by logging into our website. The meet will last 60-75 minutes followed by a team pizza dinner/potluck in the RHS cafeteria. The club will provide pizzas and drinks. We are asking families to bring their favorite dish to share. Families A-M bring their favorite side dish and families N-Z bring their favorite dessert. This is a team event that requires help from our parent group. We will need help timing, setting up the cafeteria, and most importantly cleaning the cafeteria at the end of the event. Swim-A-Thon -- Oct. 15 -- Riley High School Thank you to the families who have started their fundraising. We currently have just 37 out of our 129 swimmers that have received donations. This is the only fundraising we do for the entire year. We need all swimmers to participate. We are less than two weeks away. Please do your part. RHS Pool Down for Maintenance The RHS pool down for some routine maintenance over the fall break. We will not be offering practices on Thursday 10/20 or Friday 10/21. I was told it will be up and running first thing Monday morning. Volunteer Hours For Group 3 Athletes We are in need of several lifeguards this month at Riley. If you have not volunteered yet please do so. The job sign-up for all volunteering has been set up for Riley. All athletes in this group will be required to volunteer 4 hours between now and the end of the winter season. Due to practices at NP running simultaneously we may not be able to offer volunteer opportunities at that site until high school season begins. USA Swimming Registration This is a reminder all swimmers will need to register their swimmer on the USA Swimming website. Here is a link posted to our website that will give you step by step instructions on how to register. You will be able to access links to our specific USA Swimming memberships from this document. If you have any trouble let me know. USA Swimming Guidelines - MAAPP/Safe Sport USA Swimming issued a directive with regards to electronic communication and social media contact between coaches and athletes. Most of what is being implemented is common sense and falls in line with our club's policies. One new requirement we will need to adhere to is how your minor child communicates with me. For several years I have asked swimmers in Group 2 and Group 3 to text/email me if they would be missing practice. Moving forward, swimmers will be instructed to include a parent on all communication with me.
 If you are the parent of a Group 2 or Group 3 swimmer, and have never sent me a text before, please text me so I have your contact info in my phone. This way if I need to contact your swimmer about missing practice I can be sure to include you. My cell phone number is 574-276-6057.
 I encourage all parents and swimmers to read the full policy. We are required to keep this policy on our website, here is the link. Fall and Winter Meet Schedule/Dates of Meet/Location/Deadline to commit Below is our fall/winter meet schedule. The first date listed is the day(s) of the meet and second date is the deadline to commit. Swimmers wanting to compete will need to commit to those meets. The deadlines are based on deadlines that were set in previous years. They may change once the meet hosts posts the meet information. When committing to multiple day meets if the option to select the days you want is not available, leave a message in the available notes section stating the specific days you would like to attend. Meets marked with an * require swimmers to meet minimum time standards. All pool locations can be found on our website under the "Pools" tab. Intra-Squad Meet/Riley High School/Tuesday October 4/All athletes expected to attend Swim-A-Thon/Riley High School/Saturday October 15/All athletes expected to attend WAR Monster Splash/Warsaw Community High School/Saturday October 29/Next Sunday October 9 NASA Sprint Meet (10 & Under ONLY)/Northridge High School/Nov. 5 & 6/Next Sunday October 9 CON Skypoint Invite (11 & Over ONLY)/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Nov 11-13/Next Sunday October 9 ELK Rudolph Romp/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Dec. 2-4/Sunday November 13 DUNE Rumble IN the Region/Chesterton High School/Saturday Dec. 17/Sunday November 20 IA Tim Welsh Invite/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Jan. 6-8/Sunday November 27 CON IMXtreme Challenge/Concord High School/ Jan. 20-22/Sunday December 18 CON Last Chance Showdown/Concord High School/Feb. 24-26/Sunday January 29 *IN Swimming Divisional Championships/TBD/March 3-5/Sunday February 19 *IN Swimming Senior State Championships/TBD/March 10-12/Sunday February 26 *IN Swimming Age Group State Championships/IUPUI/March 17-19/Sunday March 5 ELK 8 and Under Super Star Championship/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Saturday March 18/Sunday March 5 *USA Swimming Speedo Sectional Championship/IUPUI/March 23-26/Sunday March 5 As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. -- John VanDriessche Head Coach South Bend Swim Club South Bend Riley High School (574)276-6057 www.southbendswimclub.com #SBSCForLife