Good afternoon Shark Family,

I am so excited for the 2021 season!! I know that this will not be a “fully normal” season, but I can’t wait for the kids to see each other and get back in the water!

This e-mail is LONG but please read through it in its entirety as it has very important information about the season. Don’t hesitate to reach out if there is anything you have a question on that I did not address in this e-mail.

Meet the Coaches

• Please take a moment (with your swimmers) to visit https://alpharettasharks.swimtopia.com/coaches and read about your coaches this season! We all coach every age group and are looking forward to an awesome season.

Private Lessons

• Private swim lessons are a great supplement to joining the Sharks if you want your child to get more one on one help with their strokes. Because of the nature of the season, coaches cannot be as hands-on this year. They will only be getting into the water with 6 & unders as needed.
• Please visit https://alpharettasharks.swimtopia.com/private-lessons to see who is offering lessons this summer, cost, and availability.
• Private lessons should not take place at Wills Park Pool. Please arrange to have lessons at another location.

Practice Logistics and Safety

• Practices begin May 12^th. Schedule and drop off information is found below.
• Swimmer-Coach Interactions will be very similar to last summer. Swimmers 7 and older MUST be able to swim for the duration of their practice without assistance in the water. Coaches will coach from the side and will NOT be in the water with swimmers.
• In normal times we can help the swimmers learn new skills by being hands-on (moving their arms and adjusting their heads). All instruction this summer will be given from the side of the pool deck. The coaches will try their best to verbally explain and demonstrate changes.
• Coaches will not be wearing masks during practice but will remain at least 3 feet away from swimmers.
• We will utilize all 10 lanes with no more than 4 or 5 swimmers in each lane. The pool deck will be marked with tape to ensure that swimmers are 3 feet apart when out of the water.
• Swimmers will be placed in assigned lanes based on ability. This will help to run an efficient practice, while also allowing for contact tracing, if needed.
• We will be using May 12^th – 14^th to determine ability and begin our assigned lanes on May 17^th. If you are unable to be at practice on any of those days, please let me know as soon as possible so that I can make sure everyone is in the appropriate lane.
• We will utilize kickboards and sanitize them between each practice. Swimmers are also welcome to bring their own kickboard if they are not comfortable using ours.

Pick up and Drop off Information

• If you cannot pick your tag up at the meet and greet tomorrow, you will be able to do so during drop off on the first day of practice.
• Swimmers should arrive with bathing suit on, ready for practice. Coaches can assist with caps and goggles, if needed.
• Bathrooms will be available for emergency use only, so please make sure your swimmer uses the bathroom at home prior to arriving at the pool. They cannot use the bathroom to change before/after practice.
• No one will be allowed to park in the pool parking lot for the safety of our swimmers entering and leaving and for the efficiency of our pickup line. You may only park in the lower and upper parking lot. Here is a picture to help. Follow the blue arrows (on the picture) for pick up and drop off. If you can’t see the picture, the driver’s door should be on the pool side when entering the top parking lot.

• Please arrive on time to drop off and pick up your swimmer. The first and second offense for being late will be a warning. Third offense will result in being removed from the team. The practice schedule is posted below and includes pick up/drop off times for each age group.
• If your swimmer feels ill, do not come to practice.
• If your swimmer has been exposed to COVID-19, please follow CDC guidelines and let Coach Mimo know within 24 hours.
• If your swimmer has tested positive for COVID-19, it is mandatory that you let Coach Mimo know within 24 hours.

Practice Schedule

There is NO practice on May 26^th. There have also been some changes made to the Monday evening practices. Please see updates below.

After school practices (May 12^th – May 25^th)

• 6 & under drop off: 4:10 – 4:20 pm
• 6 & under practice: 4:20 – 4:50 pm
• 6 & under pick up: 4:50 pm
• 7 – 8 drop off: 4:50 – 5 pm
• 7 – 8 practice: 5 – 5:30 pm
• 7 – 8 pick up: 5:30 pm
• 9 – 10 drop off: 5:30 – 5:40 pm
• 9 – 10 practice: 5:40 – 6:10 pm
• 9 – 10 pick up: 6:10 pm
• 11 – 12 drop off: 6:10 – 6:20 pm
• 11 – 12 practice: 6:20 – 6:50 pm
• 11 – 12 pick up: 6:50 pm
• 13 & up drop off: 6:50 – 7 pm
• 13 & up practice: 7 – 7:30 pm
• 13 & up pick up: 7:30 pm

Monday Practices (June 7^th, June 14^th, June 21st)

• 6 & under: 5:10 – 5:20 pm
• 6 & under: 5:20 – 5:50 pm
• 6 & under: 5:50 pm
• 7 – 8 drop off: 5:50 – 6 pm
• 7 – 8 practice: 6 – 6:30 pm
• 7 – 8 pick up: 6:30 pm
• 9 – 10 drop off: 6:30 – 6:40 pm
• 9 – 10 practice: 6:40 – 7:10 pm
• 9 – 10 pick up: 7:10 pm
• 11 – 12 drop off: 7:10 – 7:20 pm
• 11 – 12 practice: 7:20 – 7:50 pm
• 11 – 12 pick up: 7:50 pm
• 13 & up drop off: 7:50 pm – 8 pm
• 13 & up practice: 8:00 pm – 8:30 pm
• 13 & up pick up: 8:30 pm

Tuesday – Thursday Practices (Beginning May 27^th)

• 6 & under drop off: 7:55 – 8:00 am
• 6 & under practice: 8:00 – 8:30 am
• 6 & under pick up: 8:30 am
• 7 – 8 drop off: 8:30 – 8:45 am
• 7 – 8 practice: 8:45 – 9:15 am
• 7 – 8 pick up: 9:15 am
• 9 – 10 drop off: 9:15 – 9:30 am
• 9 – 10 practice: 9:30 – 10:05 am
• 9 – 10 pick up: 10:05 am
• 11 – 12 drop off: 10:05 – 10:15 am
• 11 – 12 practice: 10:15 – 10:50 am
• 11 – 12 pick up: 10:50 am
• 13 & up drop off: 10:50 – 11:00 am
• 13 & up practice: 11:00 – 11:40 am
• 13 & up pick up: 11:40 am

Fun Fridays

• We will have sign ups for Fun Friday (times TBD) beginning on May 24^th.
• The first Fun Friday will be May 28^th.

Swim Meet Sign Ups

• Please login to SwimTopia, click “meets”, then “signup calendar”, then “meet entry”, and then “edit”. You can declare attending or not attending for each meet.
• Please complete this as soon as possible!!
• Swimmers events will be chosen by me each week based on times and what is best for the team for each meet. If you have a specific request, just send me and e-mail and I’ll try to make it work!
• If you do not declare attending or not attending, you will create a lot of extra work for me. I will be reaching out via e-mail or phone to see if you can attend. With 198 swimmers on the team, please help me out and declare as soon as possible :)
• You can change your declaration up to one week before the meet.
• We will utilize the SwimTopia app this year so that you can have live feed results of your child’s races.

Swim Meet Schedule

• Here is our schedule for this season:
  • Thursday, May 27^th against Roswell
  • Thursday, June 3^rd against Glen Abbey
  • Thursday, June 10^th against Grand Cascades
  • Thursday, June 17^th against Creekstone
  • Monday, June 21st against Seven Oaks
  • Friday, June 26^th (this could change) – League Championship Meet at Georgia Tech
• These are ALL virtual meets. We will swim with only our swimmers and combine results with the other team to determine who wins.
• Don’t dwell on the whole virtual meet idea. For those who know me, you know that my focus is on having FUN! We don’t emphasize winning, but rather great sportsmanship and personal improvement. Home meets with just Shark swimmers will be just as fun!
• The meet will be broken up into two sessions: 10 and under, and 11 and up. We expect each session to last about 2 hours. The first session will begin at 5 pm, and the second session will begin between 6:45 – 7 pm. More details will come once we finalize heat sheets.
• Tentative plan for meets:
  • Volunteers will be allowed on deck for the duration of the meet session.
  • Each family will be given an opportunity to purchase one wristband for $2 to gain deck access. All money will go towards the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
  • Please keep in mind that this is subject to change.

Volunteering

• We cannot run meets without volunteers. We are asking that everyone sign up for at least two swim meet sessions at a minimum. Remember, this gets you onto the pool deck :)
• More information will be coming soon with instructions on how to sign up. In the meantime, please visit the volunteer section of the website under “Meets” to read through job descriptions. 

Parent Committee

• If you see parents on deck during practices, it’s our Parent Committee! Our parent committee members are: Kari Yuhas, Chelsea Blevins, Jen Mikels, Naomi Elliot, Stephanie Gendron, Roxanne Robinson, Tonya Ceniza, and Andrea Stalemark.
• You will see them throughout the season helping the coaches with drop off/pick up, running the meets, and concessions.
• Every year they organize a sign up to bring breakfast for the coaches If you are interested, here is the link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090844ACA62DA0FD0-sharks

Suits

• We will not have a team suit this year. If you are interested in still purchasing a suit, the team suit for the Sharks has been the Nike Color Surge (in black/green). It is available at www.swimoutlet.com in both adult and children sizes.

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

• Since 1993 when I was a 5 year old Shark, I remember raising money every year for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. They are so close to a cure, and this has been a huge passion for our team. It became even more personal when a swimmer named Beau who lives with CF, joined our family. Please take a moment (with your swimmer) to read his story here: https://alpharettasharks.swimtopia.com/cystic-fibrosis-foundation
• We will do a raffle throughout the season to raise money for the CFF so stay tuned!

Whew! That was a lot!! Hopefully it answers some questions you might have had. While I know that a lot of this is very strict, we want to make sure we are safe and efficient again this season. We plan to have a fun season and let the kids enjoy swim team!!

Again, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions.

Go Sharks!
Coach Mimo