Welcome Packet

enthusiastic about taking your child to practices and meets, volunteer, and in general becomeinvolved with the club. Remember particularly in the case of younger swimmers, the attitude,behavior and outlook of parents on the sport of swimming has a great effect on the child.DON”T FORCE THE ISSUEBe sure that your child swims because he/she wants to swim. Self-motivation is the beststimulus for success. One exception to this rule is that once a child commits, they need to learnto be responsible and follow through on their commitment. (In that case, parents need toexercise their role as a parent and do what is in the best interest of the child.)THE COACH IS ALWAYS RIGHTIf you have any questions regarding your child’s training or team policies, contact the coach.Questioning the coach in front of the swimmer undermines the coach’s authority and impairsthe swimmer-coach relationship, which is critical for success. Differences of opinion are alwaysbest dealt with in private. Always remember that children tend to exaggerate both whenpraised and when critiqued. Temper your reaction and investigate before over-reacting.Confrontations on deck between parents/coaches will not be tolerated and will be treated as abreach of the signed contract.One other point: Don’t schedule other swimming lessons with other instructors while on a teamunless recommended by the coach. Different methods will conflict and it will actually inhibityour child’s progression. It is like the old joke that the best way to sabotage someone is to givethem three different books on how to improve their game.SPORTSMANSHIP IS FOR PARENTS TOO!No parent should behave in such a way as to bring discredit to the swimmer, coaching staff, theteam or the sport. Any disagreement with a meet official should be brought to the attention ofthe coach, and handled by the coach.TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR PARENTS:I. Thou shalt not impose your ambitions on thy child. Remember that swimming is your child’sactivity. Improvements and progress occur at different rates for each individual. Don’t judgeyour child’s progress based on the performance of other athletes and don’t push them basedon what you think they should be doing. The nice thing about swimming is every person canstrive to do their personal best.II. Thou shall be supportive no matter what. There is only one question to ask your child "Didyou have fun?" If the sport is not fun, your child should not be forced to participate.III. Thou shalt not coach your child. You have taken your child to a professional coach; do notundermine that coach by trying to coach your child on the side. Your job is to support, love andhug your child no matter what. The coach is responsible for the technical part of the job. You