Ponderosa Swim Team

Swimmers: pack the following

• Team bathing suit, swim cap, and t-shirt
• Two towels (suggested)
• Two pairs of goggles (suggested)
• Cash for concessions purchases
• Healthy snacks, like granola bars, fruit and Gatorade
• Books, cards or games for in between events

Parents:

• Feed your child a substantial non-sugary snack about an hour before warm-ups are to start. Plan to feed your child at the meet. Have your child drink water or Gatorade; no soft drinks or colas.
• Pack goggles, cap, and several towels; dress your child in his team suit or acceptable equivalent. There are many cute caps available through our team suit vendor but we encourage they use the orange cap as the coach will be on the look out for the orange camps in the water, and will be able to provide feed back to the swimmers.
• Throw some folding chairs in the car; most swim clubs do not have enough seating for parents. Plan on providing your own seating.
• Bring a highlighter, a black Sharpie and a pen as well as some cash to buy snacks

What NOT to Bring:

• Do not bring alcoholic beverages. This is expressly forbidden by the NWAL rules and regulations.
• Do not bring glass of any type
• Do not have your child bring personal electronic equipment to the meet. Your child should be interacting with and cheering for teammates and focused on the events they have to swim.

• Allow time to get to the pool, park and get settled before warm-ups are scheduled to start. Immediately check in with the coach and the volunteer check-in (if you are volunteering).
• If you weren’t able to print a heat sheet in advance. Buy a heat sheet from the concession stand if available, or view on Meet Mobile.
• Find the Piranhas section of the pool deck (each team will have an area/side), look for your swimmers age group tent, & set-up your chair. At home meets, our section outside the fence but along the fence with the younger team tents near the front and the older group to the back near the playground. The visiting team sits opposite and along the parking lot and around to the back fence near the culdesac.
• Using a Sharpie, write your child’s last name, events and other information from the heat sheet in a grid somewhere that you child can see it. Kids generally like them on their forearm. The grid will allow both you and your child to keep track of what events he/she will swim. It should look like this:

• 10 and UNDER PARENTS: Please write your child’s last name on the back of their left shoulder with a Sharpie. Having their name on their back will help the clerk of course identify kids to get them lined up for their race. All the kids look the same with their identical suits and caps on!
• You may stand and cheer for your child as he swims, but make sure that you don’t get in the way of the timers and stroke judges. Doing so can disqualify your child. Usually the best place to see is on the side of the pool. Absolutely no flash photography is to be used at any point during a swim meet.
• Once your child has finished swimming his events, IF he is 6 or under, AND you are not scheduled to work the meet in any capacity, check with coach Judy before you leave the meet. If your child is 6 or under, and you are working the meet, you will want to make arrangements for your child to be taken care of after he finishes swimming; many parents will work different meets so that one parent can take small children home while the other parent fulfills the volunteer obligation.
• If your child is older than 6, check in with the coach before you leave; the coach may need them to swim in the relays that occur at the end of the meet. No swimmer over age six may leave the meet without the coach’s permission. If you know your child can’t stay for the relay, you must notify the coach before the meet. If your child is scheduled to swim the relay and you leave, the entire relay has to forfeit.