New Parents Welcome Letter

VALLEJO A QUATIC C LUB POOL

MAIL

PHONE

WEB

John F. Cunningham Aquatic Complex 801 Heartwood Ave. Vallejo, CA 94591-5672

P.O. Box 5846 Vallejo, CA 94591-5846

o. 707.553.7946 (SWIM) c. 707.373.8701

www.vallejaquatics.org [email protected] [email protected]

Hello and Welcome to the Vallejo Aquatic Club, The Coaching Staff enthusiastically welcome you and your family to both our club and the world of competitive swimming. We would like to take this opportunity to provide you with some basic information about our team, including our expectations of parents and athletes. The Vallejo Aquatic Club (VJO) was founded in 1956 and has provided the community of Vallejo with a quality competitive swim program for over fifty years. We are a non-profit volunteer organization, managed by an elected Board of Directors and supported by our parents. VJO is a member of USA Swimming and Pacific Swimming, the “local swim committee” for Northern California. We pride ourselves on our commitment to every swimmer we train, regardless of ability level, age, or gender. Our program has four basic training levels: “Hammerheads” (Novice 1), “Makos” (Novice 2), Age Group (“Tiger Sharks”), and Seniors (“Great White Sharks”). Each group is designed to achieve specific training goals, based upon age and skill, to prepare the athlete for the next training level and ultimately the Senior Group. Our overall mission is to create swimmers who achieve the highest level of performance within their talent and commitment, while instilling a lifelong love for the sport. Our training groups are determined solely at our Staff’s discretion; dedication, maturity level, attendance, talent, and age are all factors. We encourage Hammerheads and Makos to attend practice at least 3 times a week; the more consistent your attendance the greater improvement you will experience. Age Group and Senior members are expected to attend a minimum of 80% and 90% of workouts, respectively. Athletes are instructed to arrive 10-15 minutes before the scheduled start of practice and be prepared to enter the water punctually. Water or sports beverage, goggles, a towel, sunscreen, and shoes are a few recommended items to bring to workouts. The Staff ask that parents are present at the scheduled conclusion of practice and that all swimmers have left the pool no later than fifteen minutes after practice has ended. We also ask that the pool deck is treated as a classroom. The stands are designated for our parents to spectate practices, something we highly encourage; your presence at workouts demonstrates interest in your child’s activities and often motivates them to perform to a higher level. However, parents on-deck or otherwise communicating with their swimmer(s) is not only a legal liability for the team, but an unfair distraction to both athletes and coaches. We politely ask you to respect this important boundary. VJO competes in an average of one to two meets a month. Our swimmers are encouraged to attend at least one meet a month. Meets are a vital part of the competitive swimming process used to mold skilled swimmers; they provide feedback for what swimmers and coaches need to improve in practice and are ultimately the venue for recording progress. The Staff are

responsible for scheduling which meets the team will attend and disseminating that information; parents and swimmers are responsible for signing up for these meets promptly, i.e. within 24-48 hours of announcement, and providing their individual coach a list of their meet entries. The Vallejo Aquatic Club communicates with its members in three primary ways: e-mail, automated phone tree, and family folders available on-deck. Additionally, the team’s web page is updated frequently with much of the same information. Due to the size of our team, the responsibility of staying informed must be placed on our families; the Coaching Staff or any Board Member would be more than happy to answer any questions or concerns you have about our events. Finally, we believe that for the successful development of our swimmers, as both individuals and athletes, open and free communication between swimmer, parents, and coaches is crucial. The Coaching Staff are always available for discussion and consultation. We do ask: that parents and/ or swimmers schedule meetings before or after practice, ahead of time; that 24-48 hours be given for any e-mail response; that any phone calls are placed during reasonable hours; and that swimmer, parents, and coaches each be treated with proper decorum at all times. We understand that this is a large amount of information to process at once; should you have any questions about any of the topics covered in this letter, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Coaching Staff or Board. We are very thrilled to have you join our family and are excited to get to know you better! Sincerely, The Vallejo Aquatic Club Coaching Staff — Go SHARKS!!

Tuffy Williams Hammerheads c. (707) 567-7161 [email protected]

Aaron Jon Toch Seniors, Age Group

c. (707) 373-8701 [email protected]

Lesley Toch Makos

c. (707) 373-4147 [email protected]