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PARENTS, YOUR ATHLETE
NEEDS YOU!
To have a successful program there must be
understanding and cooperation among parents, swimmers, and coaches.
The progress your youngster makes depends to a great extent on this
triangular relationship. It is with this in mind that we ask you to
consider this section as you join WEST and reacquaint yourself with
this section if you are a returning WEST
parent.
You
have done a great deal to raise your child. You create the
environment in which they are growing up. Your child is a product
of your values, the structure you have provided, and the model you
have been. Human nature, however, is such that a parent loses some
of his/her ability to remain detached and objective in matters
concerning his/her child’s athletics. The following
guidelines will help you keep your child’s development in the
proper perspective and help your child reach his/her full potential
as an athlete.
The coach is the Coach!
We want your swimmer to relate to his or her coach as soon as
possible concerning swimming matters. This relationship between
coach and swimmer produces the best results. When parents interfere
with opinions as to how the swimmer should swim or train, it causes
considerable, and often times insurmountable, confusion as to whom
the swimmer should listen to. If you have a suggestion, problem,
concern, or complaint, please contact the
coach.
Best kind of parent: The
coach’s job is to motivate and constructively criticize the
swimmer’s performance. It is the parent’s job to supply
the love, recognition, and encouragement necessary to make the
child work harder in practice, which in turn gives him/her the
confidence to perform well in competition.
Ten and Under:
Swimmers in this age group are the most
inconsistent swimmers and this can be frustrating for parents,
coaches, and the swimmer alike! Parents and coaches must be patient
and permit these youngsters to learn to love the sport. When a
young swimmer first joins WEST, there may be a brief period in
which he/she appears to slow down. This is a result of the added
concentration on stroke technique, but this will soon lead to much
faster swims for the individual.
Even the very best swimmer will have meets
where they do not perform their best times. These
“plateaus” are a normal part of swimming. Over the
course of a season times should improve. Please be supportive of
these “poor” meets. The older swimmers may have only
two or three meets a year for which they will be rested and
tapered.
PARENT
RESPONSIBILITIES
Please make every effort to have your
swimmers at practice on time. Realize that your child is working
hard and give all the support you can. Encourage good diet and
sleeping habits. They will serve your children well.
The greatest contribution you can
make to your swimmer’s progress is to be a loving,supportive
parent. In this handbook there is a reprint of an article called,
“The Ten Commandments for Parents of Athletic
Children”. It offers some very useful and sound
advice.
2.
In the Appendix section of this handbook, there is
a copy of the “Terms and Conditions for Participation in West
Coast Aquatics” that you signed when you registered with the
Club. Please familiarize yourself with these
items.
3.
WEST has a reputation of hosting swim meets of the
highest caliber. A significant percentage of our operating budget
is generated from the Club hosting at least three swim meets each
year. One of the commitments made when you joined WEST was to help
work our own swim meets. We usually host a meet in July, one in
October, and one in June. Every family is expected to work their
family hours at our meets and serve their quarterly hours or the
fees will be assessed during the next billing
cycle.
COMMUNICATION
Web Page-Your best
source of immediate information is our team’s webpage at
www.westcoastaquatics.org. The web site is constantly updated to
provide the latest information for all interested in West Coast
Aquatics.
Weekly Updates-Every week WEST
team members will receive an e-mail from their child’s
respective coach giving that week’s pertinent information
– practice changes, deadlines, latest meet information and
news. If you do not receive this e-mail send the
Head Coach your e-mail address, and a note stating that you did not
receive an up-date.
Team Newsletter-The team
publishes a monthly newsletter. Results of the last swim meet,
general information from the coaching staff, and announcements from
the Board of Directors are covered in the newsletter. Make sure you
and your swimmers read the contents of this when it is
distributed.
Communicating with Coaches-When
contacting the coaches please be considerate. The best way to speak
with the coaches is to meet them after practice or send them an
email. They usually make themselves available for 15 minutes to
answer questions, provide information, etc.
PROBLEMS WITH THE
COACH?
One of the traditional swim team
communication gaps is that some parents seem to feel more
comfortable in discussing their disagreements over coaching
philosophy with other parents rather than taking their concerns
directly to the coach. Not only is the problem never resolved this
way, but in fact this approach often results in new problems being
created. Listed below are some guidelines for a parent raising some
difficult issues with a coach:
1.
Try to keep foremost in your mind that you and the
coach have the best interests of your child at heart. If you trust
that the coach’s goals match yours, even though his/her
approach may be different, you are more likely to enjoy good
rapport and constructive discussion.
2.
Keep in mind that the coach must balance your
perspective of what is best for your child with the needs of the
team or a training group that can range in size from 20-200
members. On occasion, an individual child’s interest may need
to be subordinate to the interests of the group, but in the long
run the benefits of membership in the group compensate for
occasional short-term inconvenience.
3.
If your child swims for an assistant coach, always
discuss the matter first with that coach, following the same
guidelines and preconceptions noted above. If the assistant coach
cannot satisfactorily resolve your concern, then ask that the head
age group coach or head coach to join the dialogue as a third
party.
4.Ianother parent uses you as a sounding board for
complaints about the coach’s performance or policies, listen
empathetically, but encourage the other parent to speak directly to
the coach. He/she is the only one who can resolve the
problem.
Expectations of Swimmers and
Parents
Swimmers:
WEST is a program designed to help swimmers develop
a successful competitive career and essential life
skills. These skills can only be developed if
each athlete takes advantage of his/her training, only then will
he/she be able to excel.
We have the following expectations of our
swimmers:
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Be on time for
practice: Arriving late for swim practices
usually means a swimmer will miss some important information, a
vital set, or an essential lesson for that day.
-
Be prepared for
practice: Forgetting your swimsuit, cap,
goggles, or equipment means that you are not prepared for
workout. Pack your swim bag the night before
practice, and always make sure you have your suit, cap, goggles,
and all required equipment. A water bottle is
highly recommended, and is even mandatory in some
groups. Also, each swimmer must own and maintain
a WEST team suit and cap. (See order form)
-
Wear appropriate swim
attire: All swimmers are required to use an
appropriate swimsuit. This means that the
swimsuit should be in good repair, and boys should use a brief or
jammer style suit, not shorts or trunks. Your
suit should also be an appropriate size. If you
are unsure what size to get, ask the coaching staff for
guidance.
-
Be prepared to do your
best at practice each day: Because swimming is a
sport that not only requires skill, but also hard work to improve,
it is important that you give each practice 100% effort each
day.
-
Be courteous to your teammates,
coaches and other members: Rude and
irresponsible behavior will not be tolerated at any team
function. You and your teammates do not deserve
to be around rude and discourteous people. Unacceptable behavior
will be dealt with at the discretion of the coaching
staff.
Parents:
Becoming
a member of WEST not only means your child is part of the team, but
you also become a member of WEST. Obviously,
your role as a team member differs from that of the swimmer and
coach, but it is no less important. By
supporting your child in swimming, you are showing him/her that you
are interested in their lives and activities. Children are always
looking for ways to make their parents proud of them, and they want
to see their parents get involved (even if they say they
don’t). The types of support you should
show your swimmer(s) are not difficult or time consuming, but are
vital to the swimmer’s development. The
following is a list of things that you can do to support your child
as a WEST team member.
-
Attend parent meetings:
Each group has a monthly parent meeting at which
the coach can inform his/her parent group about important upcoming
dates (such as meets, socials, etc), answer questions, and cover
other important information. Attending these
meetings will help you stay informed about your child’s
swimming, and help your child’s coach serve you to the best
of his/her ability.
-
Talk to your
coaches: Visiting your child’s swim
practice once per week is a good way to see how your swimmer is
doing. If your child needs to leave practice
early, has to miss practice (due to school work, appointment or
family event), or is out sick please inform your child’s
coach with a written note (which includes your signature and the
date) or an email. This way you and the coach
can stay in touch about the different things that affect your
swimmer.
-
Attend swim
meets: One of the best ways to support your
swimmer is to attend his/her swim meets. Swim
meets are kind of like a test to see where your child is in his/her
swimming. Your child wants to do well and with
you there to support him/her, your child can feel more
confident. At meets they can show you what they
have learned and that they have improved. USA
swimming and Pacific swimming require that each team do their part
to support every meets that the team goes to, by having parents
attend. One-way to help us out at swim meets
that we are not hosting (a.k.a. “away meets") is to time in
our designated lane.
-
Drop off
your child on time: Because every minute counts
and the coaching staff values all the time they get with your
swimmer, we highly encourage that you get your swimmer to practice
on time. This means that swimmers need to arrive
no later than 10 minutes before the start of
practice.
The Ten Commandments for
P
arents of Athletic
Children
Reprinted from The Young Athlete
by Bill Burgess included in “The Swim Parents
Newsletter”
- Make sure your child knows that - win or lose,
scared or heroic – you love him/her, appreciate their
efforts, and are not disappointed in them. This will allow then to
do their best without a fear of failure. Be the person in their
life they can look to for constant positive
reinforcement.
-
Try your best to be completely honest about
your child’’ athletic ability, his/hers competitive
attitude, their sportsmanship, and their actual skill
level.
-
Be helpful, but don’t coach him/her
on the way to the pool or on the way back, or at breakfast, and so
on. It’s tough not to, but it’s a lot tougher for the
child to be inundated with advice, pep talks and often critical
instruction.
-
Teach them to enjoy the thrill of
competition, to be “out there trying,” to be working to
improve his/her swimming skills and attitudes. Help him/her to
develop the feel for competing, for trying hard, for having
fun.
-
Try not to re-live your athletic life
through your child in a way that creates pressure; you lost as well
as won. You were frightened, you backed off at times, and you were
not always heroic. Don’t pressure your child because of your
pride. Athletic children need their parents so you must not
withdraw. Just remember there is a thinking, feeling, sensitive
free spirit out there in that uniform who needs a lot of
understanding, especially when his world turns bad. If he/she is
comfortable with you – win or lose – he/she is on their
way to maximum achievement and enjoyment.
-
Don’t compete with the coach. If the
coach becomes and authority figure, it will run from enchantment to
disenchantment, etc., with your athlete.
-
Don’t
compare the skill, courage, or attitudes of your child with other
members of the team, at least within his/her
hearing.
-
Get to know the
coach so that you can be assured that his/her philosophy;
attitudes, ethics, and knowledge are such that you are happy to
have your child under his/her
leadership.
-
Always remember that children tend to exaggerate,
both when praised and when criticized. Temper your reaction and
investigate before over-reacting.
Make a point of understanding courage, and the fact
that it is relative. Some of us can climb mountains, and are afraid
to fight. Some of us will fight, but turn to jelly if a bee
approaches. Everyone is frightened in certain areas. Explain that
courage is not the absence of fear, but a means of doing something
in spite of fear of discomfort.
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