Parent meeting, tie-dye and ice cream (oh my!)

On Wednesday, June 1st we will be having our annual tie-dye and ice cream party.  During this event we will also be having a mandatory parent meeting.  This event will be open from 5:30-7:30pm with the parent meeting starting at 6:00pm.

Gator families are encouraged to bring any white item they would like to tie-dye.  There will also be white GMST Gator tank tops and t-shirts for purchase that can be tie-dyed too.  We encourage you to bring your item of choice prepared to tie-dye, this means have this rubber banded in the way you want it to look.  If you are unfamiliar on how to prep an item for tie-dye you can do a search on the internet to get some ideas.

Our parent meeting will begin at 6:00pm.  We ask that each family have a parent present.  We will introduce the coaches and board members as well as go over some important information for the season.  We will begin serving ice cream around 6:30pm.  The pool will be open for the kids to swim in as well.

Please let us know if you have any questions and we will see you Wednesday.

Week of May 30th-June 4th

We hope all families had a great start to their summer break.  Happy Memorial weekend.  Here is the schedule for this week.
Monday, May 30th:  No practice

Tuesday-Friday:   Regular summer morning practice

6:30-8:00am 13 & up

8:00-9:00am 10-12 year olds

9:00-10:00am 9 year olds

9:00-9:45am 8 & unders

Tuesday and Thursday:  Regular summer evening practice

7:00-8:00pm 12 & under

Wednesday, June 1st: Mandatory parent meeting, Tie-Dye and Ice Cream

5:30-7:30pm tie-dye

6:00pm Parent meeting

6:30pm ice cream served

Swimmers need to sign-up for Saturdays meet by the end of practice on Thursday

Saturday, June 4th: swim meet at Mount Vernon Country Club

6:30am warm ups begin

7:00am meet starts

We are excited to have our summer swim team in full swing. We look forward to see you all on Wednesday.

PRACTICE IS CANCELLED FOR TODAY!

It's wet and the temperature difference between the air and pool is on the extreme side (30+ degrees), so practice is cancelled for today. Enjoy your holiday weekend and the coaches will see you Tuesday morning.

Thank you volunteers

I want to personally thank all the parents that helped volunteer last night at our first Intrasquad meet.  It is always tough getting back into the summer swim season and then we helped complicate things by changing a few processes.  All our parents are amazing and you helped ensure our meet run smoothly for the kids.  It was great to have our new parents involved and we look forward to all of your continued support in our future meets.  It takes all of us working together to make our swimmers successful.  Please let us know if you have any questions.  Also provide us feedback if you have suggestions on how to make the Gators more efficient.

Last Officials Clinic!

The last officials clinic! We only had 3 officials at the intrasquad meet. Your help is needed at future meets.

**Sunday June 5th-4:30pm Green Mountain Recreation Center Only returning officials may attend this date.

If you have questions about the officials clinic, please contact Jim Fernald, jimfswim@comcast.net

Intrasquad Volunteers Needed!

Parents, we need your help so don't be shy about volunteering. There are still plenty of open spots to sign up for to support your kids and team at the intrasquad meet tomorrow night. Please use the sign-up link on the right-hand side of the page under Next Event.

Thu/Fri Practice Time Change for Upper Division Only

Parents & swimmers, upper division practice for this Thu & Fri (26-27 May) only will start at 7am instead of 6:30am. Get some extra rest!

Swim Team: May 23rd-May 27th

Hello Gators,
    We are getting into the beginning of our summer swim season.  Please remember if you have not registered for the summer swim team yet please do so (follow the link under summer swim team registration on the right hand side of the blog).  We are happy to see many new and returning faces.  Also, we know sometimes you get busy and forget to check the blog for updates.  If you subscribe to our blog it will send you an email each day the blog has a new post and/or like our Facebook page and we post updates here too. 
  
The coaches and board members would like to give you important information for the week of May 23rd.

• Monday and Tuesday we will continue with after school swim practice (4:30-8:00pm based on age division)
• Wednesday we will host our first Intrasquad meet.  
• This meet will start at 5:30pm with warm-up beginning at 5:00pm.  
• All swimmers need to sign-up for the 2 events they are going to swim by the end of practice on Tuesday.  These sign-up sheets are at the pool.  
• Parents we are going to need your help running this meet so please see the link on the right hand side to help volunteer.  
• Dinner can be served at the pool!  The swim club will have hamburger and hotdog meals available to purchase during the meet.  
• BIG CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We are going to begin morning practice on Thursday May 26th and May 27th.  (There will be no Evening practice on Thursday, May 26th; these will begin the following week as originally scheduled)
  6:30-8:00am        13 & up
  8:00-9:00am        10-12 year olds
  9:00-10:00am      9 year olds
  9:00-9:45am        8 & unders

Also if you have ordered a team suit these will be available during the practices.  Please see Danielle or Jennifer.

Please let the coaches or board members know if you have any questions.

See you at the pool

Big Buddy/Little Buddy program

We are excited to continue our Big/Little buddy program.  The purpose of the Big/Little buddy swim program is to help younger swimmers transition into becoming Gators and to help them navigate swim meets.  The program also fosters team spirit, family and camaraderie by connecting the older swimmers with the younger ones.  Big buddies are generally 13&older while Little buddies are 12&under.  This partnership should focus on team unity, spirit and sportsmanship.  The buddy program is not about elaborate gifts-it is about being a supportive teammate! 
There is no requirement that swimmers participate in the buddy program but we strongly encourage everyone to participate.  The coaching staff will organize the buddy program and pair swimmers together.  Once buddies are assigned (hopefully by June 1st at the tie-dye party) we expect the Big buddies to introduce themselves and get to know their buddy.
Responsibilities of buddies include but are not limited to:

• meeting your buddy and introducing yourself
• greet your buddy at each meet
• Big buddies help Little buddies at meets with event numbers
• Create something for your buddy:  write a note, draw a picture, make a friendship bracelet
• CHEER, CHEER, CHEER, CHEER and CHEER!!!
• Congratulate your buddy after their swim

We would love to see 100% participation in this program.  We are going to consider all swimmer a big/little buddy unless we hear specifically from you that you don't want to participate.  If you are going to opt out of this program please let Coach Inez (imm27@case.edu) know by May 31st. 

Practice is on

The sun has come out and helped the pool heat up.  We are going to have practice tonight.  We hope to see you there.

9&unders:  4:30-5:30pm

10-12 year olds:  5:30-6:30pm

Upper division 13+:  6:30-8:00pm

Summer swim team starts tomorrow

Hello swimmer families,
    I don't think Mother Nature got the memo that it is the end of May and we are starting summer swim team.  It is hard to think about summer when it isn't sunny and raining outside. 
 
We are scheduled to start after school swim practice tomorrow, Wednesday the 18th.  We are still waiting for confirmation from the Swim Club that the pool is ready and we need to decide what the weather will be like.  Please check the blog and/or our Facebook page to see if practice will be held.  A decision will be made for 4:00pm on if we will have practice or not.
 
This weeks schedule (5/18-5/20):
Afternoon swim practice is scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
All practices will be held at Green Mountain Swim Club

    4:30-5:30pm        9 & unders

    5:30-6:30pm        10-12 year olds

    6:30-8:00pm        13&up
 
Next weeks schedule (5/23-5/27):
Afternoon swim practice is scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday

    4:30-5:30pm        9 & unders

    5:30-6:30pm        10-12 year olds

    6:30-8:00pm        13&up
First Intrasquad meet is scheduled for Wednesday, May 25th
    Warm-ups begin at 5:00pm and the meet will start at 5:30pm
    Swimmers must sign-up for their events by the end of practice on Tuesday.  Swimmers may sign-up for 2 events. 
No practice on Friday, May 27th as the pool will open this evening
 
Regular scheduled summer practices (morning and evening) begin Tuesday, May 31st
 
If you have not signed up please go to the Blog and sign your swimmer up.  Please print and complete all the required forms. 
 
Please plan on bringing your swimmers forms and payment to the first practice.  If you have already mailed these please disregard this.

How to sign-up for meets

We wanted to let all swimmer and parents know how to sign-up for meets this season.  This process will be for all intrasquad meets, home meets and away meets.  The "special" meets such as C/D meet, pentathlon, last chance, etc. will have specific instructions on how to sign-up as these meets get closer.
For all intrasquad, home and away meets each swimmer will need to sign-up at the pool.  Every Monday there will be sheets posted at the pool (on the bulletin board) for swim meet sign-ups.  These sign-ups will be separated by age division and then alphabetized by swimmers last name.  Each swimmer will select a maximum of 3 individual events and mark if they are available for relays.  Parents of younger swimmers please assist your swimmer in signing up for these meets.  All events must be selected by the end of practice on Thursday for dual meets and by Wednesday for intrasquad meets.   
We are going to give this a try for our first Intrasquad meet on Wedneday, May 25th.  The sign-ups will be at the pool by this Friday. 

GMST Gator merchandise on SwimOutlet.com

We are excited to announce that the Gators now have merchandise available for you to purchase on SwimOutlet.com.  The Green Mountain Swim Team has created a Gator store in partnership with SwimOutlet.  When you visit the Gator store you will see swimmer apparel and merchandise available with our logo.  You can purchase your items right from this link.  We hope you have fun shopping.

Also coming this summer are new Gator shirts and sweatshirts which will be available to purchase during practices and Intrasquad meets.

Code of Conduct

Attention all swimmers and parents:
Green Mountain Swim Team and Foothills Swim Association have a Code of Conduct for the 2016 summer swim season.  We will need ALL swimmers and parents to review this document, sign after agreeing and return to Jennifer Friedrichs.  If you have already registered your swimmer and mailed in your forms you can turn the signed code of conduct in at the first practice.  If you have not yet mailed in your forms please print, sign and submit this paperwork together.
As always, please let any of the board members know if you have additional questions or concerns.

Officials Clinics

Only a few officials clinics remain!

Sunday May 15th- 4:30pm Green Mountain Recreation Center

**Wednesday May 25th- Applewood Knolls Pool- 6pm for the rules meeting and 7pm for in water demonstration. All new officials must attend this in water demonstration!

**Sunday June 5th-4:30pm Green Mountain Recreation Center Only returning officials may attend this date.

If you have questions about the officials clinics, please contact Jim Fernald, jimfswim@comcast.net

Happy Mother's Day

We would like to wish all the Gator Moms (Grandma and Aunts too) a Happy Mother's Day. Thank you for supporting your swimmers. Have a wonderful day!

Preparing for the season

We are busy preparing for the summer swim season.  We just wanted to let you know that we have updated the Parent Handbook (from many years ago) as well as created a FAQ's to help parents and swimmers know what's happening with the Gators.
You can find these documents on the right hand side of the blog under the Important information and links section.  If you have questions about these documents or additional information please send an email to gmstgators@aol.com
We are excited to see all of the new and old Gators in a few weeks!

Missing the swimming suit fitting?

If you missed the Green Mountain Gator swimming suit fitting you still have time to order.  You will need to call the swimming suit vendor directly.  You will find their contact information below.  Please make sure you know what size suit you might need.  Please contact them as soon as possible so your swimmer has their suit in time and to avoid additional shipping costs.
Colorado Swim Shop
Christine or Derek
303.545.2090
2525 Arapahoe Ave., Unit C4
Boulder, CO 80302