Contained in this Newsletter:

Kickoff Activities!!

First Week of Practice

Practice Etiquette

Monday Practices

Friday Practices

Dry Land

Severe Weather/Communication

Big Fish/Little Fish

Merchandise

Stroke & Turn Training

Hello Redfish families! PRACTICE STARTS TOMORROW!!! YAY!!! There is a lot of information in this newsletter.  Please read through it so you are fully informed for the start of our season. 

Kickoff Activities!!

Our Spirit Coordinators have a few kickoff activities planned for Monday and Tuesday.  Plan to come early or stay a little late to participate.  Spirit activities will conclude at the start of the 13Up practice, so older swimmers should plan to come early if they would like to participate.

First Week of Practice

• The first day of practice is TOMORROW, MONDAY, May 2nd. For those that like to know such things, the NAAL begins practice every year on the Monday of the week of May 1. 
• Please see all practice times here.
• Please arrive a few minutes early to get settled and get your swimmers' lane assignments.
• We will not be taking attendance until NEXT week.
• Please bring goggles and fins to every practice. Kick boards are provided.
• Please label fins (and towels, and team shirts, and pretty much everything). It is best to label fins on the top-side, as markings wear off much more quickly on the bottom. New fins may need to be wiped with a bit of alcohol for best Sharpie results.
• Please refrain from wearing rash-guards, swim trunks, or other loose fitting clothing for in-water practices. 

Practice Etiquette

• Parents are respectfully asked to refrain from coaching their children during practice.
• Parents are asked to remain behind the red line in order to give coaches the space they need to effectively coach.
• Coach Katy will be available next week to speak with parents and address questions during each practice time. Please feel free to approach her with questions.
• Please do not approach the other coaches while they are coaching on deck.
• Please make sure your child is ready and present at their lane at the start of each practice.

Monday Practices

Redfish family members not in practice MAY use the wading area in the big MAC pool and the baby pool during all practice times. Please REFRAIN from using the Round Pool on Mondays.

Particularly because your FOBs will not work on Mondays, please be careful to only open the gate for Redfish families. Residents may use the other 4 pools in the neighborhood, but the MAC pool is closed to general resident use on Mondays.

Friday Practices

We will NOT have practice this Friday, May 6th or Friday, May 27th.  

Please note, practice times on Fridays, May 13th & 20th are shortened.

Please see all practice times here.

Dry-land

Cool water temperatures often dictate the need for dry-land practices during these first few practice days. Coaches take both air and water temperature into consideration, as well as the age of the practice groups, when deciding whether to have in-water or dry-land practice. Coaches may also decide to hold a split style practice, with some dry-land first and then an abbreviated in-water practice. It is the coaches' sole discretion to decide for or against in-water practice.

Severe Weather/Communication

Some severe weather is always a possibility. In the event that practice is canceled, families will be notified via the Swimtopia App and the Parent's Facebook Group. Swimtopia Alerts will be the first line of communication for cancellations. Please consider downloading the Swimtopia app on your phone.  You do not need to pay the subscription to receive team alerts, but you will have to login using your averyranchredfish.com credentials.

We understand families' need to know as soon as possible whether practice will be held or not. However, in order to ensure practices are not pre-maturely canceled simply due to the chance of severe weather, the decision to hold or cancel practice is made as close to the start of practice as possible.  

Big Fish/Little Fish

• Big/Little signups will be happening this week.
• Please see this form for more information and to signup.
• If you want your swimmer to participate in BFLF, you must submit your form NO LATER THAN MAY 5th.
• Assignments will likely be announced by May 8th.
• For questions about the Big/Little program, please contact Nicole Binnicker and Catherine Harkness at [email protected]

Merchandise

Merchandise will be distributed the second week of practice.  Sales on some items have closed, but some merchandise is still available on the website.

If you have any suits (competition or practice) that you no longer need, we'll have a bin at practice to drop them.  Families in need of suits can check for options.

Stroke & Turn Training

A big thank you goes out to Tracy Beeman who conducted the league wide Stroke & Turn training this weekend!

A recording was made of the training and will be available by Wednesday for any other Stroke & Turn or Floater Team volunteers.  All Stroke & Turn volunteers should complete the training by the first meet on May 14th.

All season dates can be found here.

See you on deck this week!!!

GooOOO Redfish!  Swim FAST!!!

--Diana Tripp, Vice Chair