YPAC Frequently Asked Questions What is a parent’s responsibility with the YPAC swim team? Parental involvement is an absolute necessity. Parents must be willing to transport their swimmer/s to practice three to five times per week (car pooling has often proven successful for this.) The swimmer and his/her parents must also be willing to spend one day, sometimes two, of their weekends at swim meets, approximately two times a month. As part of your commitment to the YPAC team, you are required and expected to work at all home meets. Parents are always needed to assist with the running of the meets. At any home meet a variety of jobs are handled by parents – jobs include: timing, running scores to the scoring table, marshalling kids to their events, helping at the concession stand, etc. We are always looking for parents to assist with these roles. At the parent information meeting, a volunteer sign-up sheet will be distributed and explained. Parents/guardians will be asked to specify their choice of volunteer positions by October 1st. Those families who have not volunteered for a position will be assigned one based on the team’s overall needs. If a parent/guardian cannot fulfill his/her volunteer assignment, it will be his/her responsibility to get a substitute. YPAC is required to provide volunteers for championship meets that our children swim in. If your child swims in a championship meet, you may be asked to volunteer. Swimmers also have some fun activities throughout the year and parents may be asked to volunteer in some manner. Do parents have to stay at the pool during practices? Parents are welcome to watch any practice. However, they are not permitted on the pool deck during practice. Please talk to coaches only during warm-up times at beginning of practices or at the end of practices. When a swimmer registers for the team, please fill out a YMCA/YPAC medical release form. One form must be filled out per swimmer. Once registration is complete, these forms will be kept at the pool in which your child is practicing (YMCA or Ferndale High School), so that coaches will have easy access to this emergency information if parents are not at the pool. Who are the coaches? Amber Wood is our Head coach. Age Group coaches are, Colleen Rose, Tara Haggarty, Ashley Eilers, Eric Hein and Gary Kenez. Who is on the YPAC Parent Board? Please see the Parent Board page How much will it cost for my child to swim on the YPAC team? Each swimmer must be a member in good standing of the YMCA. Memberships are on an annual basis and can be purchased at the YMCA office at the beginning of the swim season. The current fees are: Youth Membership is $120.00 per year Teen General Membership is $240.00 per year Family General membership is $756.00 per year Membership assistance may be available—contact the YMCA office. Membership can be paid in full or by a monthly EFT Swim team fees are also payable at the YMCA office or by EFT. The current fees for the 2007/2008 season are as follows: Standard swim fee 475.00 High School Girls (Swimming for a school team)$375.00 High School Boys (Swimming for a school team)$275.00 Activity Fee includes USA Swim fees: $80.00 Multi swimmer discounts are available The fees are set by the YMCA and are payable in September. Most other expenses are paid directly to the swim team. Although many of the following items are not mandatory, you can expect to incur some of these approximate costs: team swimsuit – boys $25.00, girls $45.00; swim cap $4.00, team pictures $10.00, entry fees (invitationals, per event $4.00. It is recommended that each swimmer wear goggles (purchased on your own). All girls are required to wear a swim cap to practices and meets. Boys should wear a cap if their hair is long and could get in their eyes. Girls (and boys) wearing swim caps to a meet must wear the YPAC swim team cap so that coaches can easily identify team swimmers in the water. Swimmers in older practice groups (9-10,11-12,13 & up) may be requested to bring the following equipment to all practices: fins, a pull buoy, hand paddles and a kickboard. In addition, there are occasionally swim meets that are out of town and would require lodging – paid directly by parents. When can my child get the team swimsuit? The team suit is purchased early in the swim season. This year’s swimsuit try-on is September 24th. Representatives will be available at each pool during practices for you to purchase a suit for your child. Each team suit is used for at least two seasons. Watch the Piranhagram or check the website for more information. How does the Swim Team earn money to support itself? The swim team relies almost exclusively on the Piranhathon, Sponsors and the YPAC Invitational revenues as our source of income (these are explained later). Generally, concession revenue at home meets pay the pool rental for that meet. The team may also participate in other fund-raisers throughout the season, including a Hungry Howie pizza fundraiser. The team pays entry fees for the relay teams and championship meets and home meet pool rentals. The team also supplements the coaches’ travel and lodging expenses, and provides special events for swimmers and their families throughout the season. The income also allows the team to make contributions to the YMCA. What is the Piranhathon? This is a team fundraiser – our largest – and the money raised will benefit the team directly. This is an annual event. Swimmers seek pledges (per lap or a flat fee) for up to 200 lengths. This year the Piranhathon will be held on Sunday, October 14th at FHS. Each swimmer signs up for a two-hour block in which to swim. During the designated times, the swimmers will swim their 200 lengths, or whatever they are capable of, while one of their parents count lengths for them. Afterwards we’ll have a small gathering to celebrate everyone’s effort. All swimmers must participate! What are the different practice groups? YPAC swimmers will be placed in one of five practice groups by age and/or ability. The groups are as follows: 8 & Under (also known as PIRANHA) – This is the youngest group and is composed of all swimmers 8 & under. Their practice time is 4:00 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. Monday thru Friday at the YMCA. Swimmers in this group should swim 3 times per week. 9 & 10 This group is for swimmers who are 9 and 10 years. They practice at Ferndale High School or the YMCA Monday through Friday – see monthly practice schedule available on the website. Swimmers in this group should swim 3 or 4 times per week. 11&12. They practice at Ferndale High School Monday through Friday – see monthly practice schedule available on the website. Swimmers in this group should swim 3 or 4 times per week. 13& Up This group is for those swimmers ages 13 & up. They must be able to attend 4 out of the 5 weekly practices. Their practice is Monday thru Friday at Ferndale High School and Saturday afternoon at the YMCA. In addition, there is an early morning practice offered on Tuesday and Thursdays at the YMCA. please see monthly practice schedule available on the website What if my child has to miss a practice? Should a swimmer need to miss a daily practice it may NOT be made up or rescheduled. The swimmer will simply miss practice. Leave a message for the coach, if possible. Report to the next scheduled practice for his/her assigned group. We do keep attendance records. Should a swimmer have a long-term conflict with practice on a regular basis, a written request from the parent should be submitted to the head coach for approval. The head coach will communicate this information to the coaching staff and a decision will be made regarding the swimmer’s individual circumstances. The best way for a swimmer to improve is to establish clear goals and to work hard at attaining these goals. That includes attending all practices, being on time for these practices, and putting forth maximum effort at these practices. What is the difference between a Dual Meet and an Invitational? During the swim season, we will swim against other teams in our league. When we swim against another team, this is called a Dual meet. At a Dual meet, a swimmer may swim in up to four events, chosen by the coach. A swimmer may swim in two individual events and two relays or three individual events and one relay. Only three swimmers may represent YPAC per event for points. Ribbons will be awarded for the first through sixth place at Dual meets. Very often though, we have more than three swimmers per event. These people do not swim for team points; they swim what is referred to as Exhibition. While these swimmers may not add to the team points for the meet, the times are officially recorded, and an Exhibition award is given. Coaches watch the time to track a swimmer’s improvements. Swimmers should not be discouraged if they swim Exhibition. Keeping track of their times should help them see their improvement. A Dual Meet features 93 events. The following strokes make up the events at a Dual Meet: Back Stroke, Breast Stroke, Butterfly, Freestyle, Individual Medley and Relays. Depending on a swimmers age, they may swim 1 length of the pool (25 yards), 2 lengths, 4 lengths, 8 lengths or 20 lengths in any given event. In the Individual Medley a single swimmer swims fly-back-breast-free. Medley Relays involve four different swimmers – each swimmer swimming one particular stroke. The swimming order is back-breast-fly-free. The medley relays are generally at the beginning of a meet. Free Relays involve four different swimmers – each swimmer will swim one leg of the relay – freestyle. Free Relays are usually the last events of a dual meet. There is no additional charge for your child to swim in a Dual meet. Please let coaches know in advance if your child must miss a Dual swim meet. Please sign the no-show sheet posted at the YMCA or at Ferndale High Pool. If on the morning of a meet your child is ill, please call another parent to pass the word on to our coaches so that changes in the line-up can be done early rather than at the last minute. Our team usually hosts one to three Dual meets per year. At home meets we supply officials (see “officials” below) and concessions. These are the meets at which we need parent volunteers. We will also have two or three “away” meets per year. All swimmers must swim in at least three YMCA closed meets (either dual or closed invitational) to swim in any of the Championship Meets. High School swimmers may swim in only 2 Non-High School meets during their High School season. Many YMCA teams are now hosting Invitational meets to raise money. YPAC is also invited to USA Swimming Invitationals. At an Invitational many teams are invited and the host team can choose whichever events it would like to run. Swimmers may be able to swim different events that are not able to swim in a Dual meet. At Invitational Meets, medals or ribbons may be awarded for first through sixth, and sometimes also for seventh through twelfth place. Occasionally, heat winners also receive a ribbon at an Invitational. Information for these meets will be posted on the bulletin boards and on the YPAC website. There is always a deadline for entries and fees. Parents are responsible for getting entry forms and fees in ON TIME. Money should be placed in the locked black box near the YPAC bulletin board at the YMCA. These meets are optional; parents and swimmers decide to attend. Some Invitational meets are strongly recommended by the coaches so that we have a good showing as a team. How can I convert my child’s outdoor times (in meters) to indoor times (in yards)? Times for meets may be converted from meters to yards using the formulas below. Please note that the conversions are approximate. There is also a conversion chart that you can purchase (usually available at Invitational meets) that can help with conversions. 50 m x 0.887 = 50 yd 50 yd x 1.127 = 50 m 100 m x 0.875 = 100 yd 100 yd x 1.143 = 100 m 200 m x 0.880 = 200 yd 200 yd x 1.136 = 200 m Here are three websites that do the conversion for you. Just select the site that works best for you. http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/results/conversions.asp http://www.swimlouisville.com/TimeCalc.html http://www.csi.org/coursealti.asp What is the YPAC Invitational? We will be hosting our own invitational – a meet scheduled for November 10 and 11, 2007 at Royal Oak Middle School (Dondero). Our purpose is to raise funds for the team, as well as provide an opportunity for our swimmers to compete in an Invitational at their home pool. Every family is required to supply a worker during at least two swim sessions of the Invitational (Saturday and / or Sunday AM or PM) The Parent Board will provide more details about this meet during the All Parent meeting on Sunday, September 9 What is the difference between USA Swimming and YMCA? YPAC participates in both USA Swimming and YMCA; two separate national governing bodies in the sport of swimming. Each organization sanctions different types of competitions, some of which are open to YPAC team members. There are often event time cutoffs that a swimmer must have achieved during the swim season for eligibility in certain USA Swimming meets. YPAC philosophy is that YMCA meets are a priority over USA Swimming meets. A USA meet is in addition to the YMCA meets and is not a replacement for the YMCA competitions. Times swam at a USA meet can be used for YMCA state, zone and national qualifications. What about end-of-season championship meets? Championship meets involve all of the YMCA teams in our League. All swimmers have a chance to shine in at least on of these final meets. Following is a list of Championship meets: EASTERN MICHIGAN CLUSTER (CONFERENCE) MEET (See Meet Schedule) – The largest meet is the Eastern Michigan Cluster Meet. This is the most important meet of the year for our team and ALL swimmers participate in this meet. This is the meet your child and coaches have been working toward all year. By the time of this meet, swimmers are peaking and their performance is at its best. The championship meets are usually two-day meets, with girls swimming on one day and boys on another. In the past, trophies have been awarded at the Eastern Michigan Cluster meet. B-CLUSTER (DISTRICT) MEET(See Meet Schedule) – For those swimmers who do not receive a qualifying time for the State Meet, we have a B-Cluster meet at the end of the season. This is an excellent way to finish the season – the swimmers in this meet have a great time, do very well – they are not competing against the swimmers who have made a state time – so it is a very special meet, the swimmers always feel really good about themselves after participating in this meet. This is a popular meet because it allows kids who have worked hard all year to have success. 8 & UNDER STATE MEET(See Meet Schedule) – At the end of the year, during all the championship meets there is a special meet for those swimmers aged 8 or under. There are no qualifying times for this meet. Each side of the state alternates hosting this meet. This year the meet will be on the east side of the state. STATE MEET (See Meet Schedule) – A qualifying time for each event must be met in order for a swimmer to participate in this meet. Qualifying swimmers will be swimming against the best swimmers in the state. The last chance to qualify for this meet is at the Eastern Michigan Cluster meet. This is a two-day meet usually with boys swimming one day, girls the next. This meet alternates locations to the opposite sides of the state each year. This year the meet will be on the west side of the state. Swimmers cannot participate in the B-Cluster meet if they qualify in an individual event for the State meet, however occasionally a swimmer may swim on a relay event at the state meet and is then allowed to participate in individual events at the B-Cluster meet. ZONE MEET (See Meet Schedule)– Another, even faster, qualifying time for each event for swimmers must be met in order to participate in the Zone meet. Qualifying swimmers will be swimming against the best swimmers from YMCAs representing six different states. This meet is also a two-day meet. The last chance to qualify for this meet is at the State meet. SHORT COURSE NATIONAL MEET (See Meet Schedule) The last step is the National YMCA Meet. This is for swimmers 13 years and up (or a 12 year old as a part of a relay team) and who will swim against YMCA swimmers from all over the USA. Obviously the very fastest times qualify for this meet. Coaches always want to go to this meet because it’s usually held someplace warm – so set those goals high! USA 12 & UNDER STATE – This is a USA Swimming Championship meet consisting of all qualifying swimmers from every USA team across the state. YPAC swimmers who are registered with USA Swimming with a full year registration, have competed in a USA swim meet and have a qualifying time standard are eligible to swim. When, where, what and how of a swim meet? We begin competing in mid-October and, depending on the level of the swimmer, continue into April. A schedule of meets will be provided after the annual coaches meeting in Flint, which takes place in mid-September. Home meets are held locally, our Invitational this year will be held at Royal Oak Middle School (Dondero) and our dual meets at FHS. Depending on our schedule of dual meets, away meets may take place in Utica, Farmington, Birmingham or Flint. Some meets are held a fair distance from Royal Oak (example: Grand Rapids) and many families choose to rent a motel room for a night or two. Watch the newsletter and web site for notices regarding group rates. How you travel to a meet is your decision. Maps and directions to all meets are available before the meet on the bulletin board or on our website. Swimmers should bring their team swimsuit, goggles, cap, towels, sweats, footwear, healthy snacks and a change of clothing to the meet. A hat is a necessary item in cold weather at practices and meets. Be sure to label everything. Parents and spectators should dress lightly, and layer, because the pool area is kept quite warm (around 80 degrees), even in the coldest weather. So don’t pack your summer clothes yet!!! Most pools provide lockers for the swimmers, so you may want your swimmer to have a lock. Some swimmers bring some quiet activities to pass the time in longer meets (books, cards, etc.) Usually swimmers are requested to be at the pool for warm-ups about one hour before the start of the meet. YPAC swimmers are required to arrive at the pool 15 minutes before the beginning of warm-ups. Swimmers should check in with their coaches and confirm the events that they are swimming. Most young swimmers like to have this information (their events) written on their hands with a permanent marker to avoid mix-ups. Please do this before you leave home! Volunteer parents help marshal swimmers to get in the correct event. They are usually on a specific location on deck and post upcoming events on a marshalling board. Swimmers line up in the marshalling area. Each swimmer will have a marshalling card that they will give to the timer in their lane to record the swimmer’s time. Parents are not permitted on deck during a meet unless they are working as a parent volunteer. After a swimmer finishes his/her event, he/she should remain in the pool area until he/she is marshaled again. Parents should remind their children of the appropriate behavior during the meet, both on deck and in the locker rooms. It is imperative that no swimmers leave before the end of a meet, unless he/she has the permission of the coaches. Swimmers should stay until the meet’s end to both encourage their teammates and perhaps to provide emergency back up for a relay event. When do we get our child’s awards after a meet? Swimmers usually do not pick up their ribbons at a Dual meet. These are given to the coach who will make them available at a later practice. Awards at Invitationals and Championship meets, however, are usually available at the Awards area during the meet. How can I become an Official? One of the most important parts of hosting a meet is to provide the officials. Officials are parents who have taken and passed the Officials Clinic Test. A clinic is usually held in the fall of each season to give people a chance to take the one-day Officials Level I course. Once you pass either the Level I or Level II test at the end of the lecture, you are certified for two or three years. The afternoon lecture will include the rules for swimmers and proper stroking and turns required. The more officials we have the more breaks we can give each other. How can I get my questions answered throughout the year? Any questions hopefully can be answered at the new parents meeting and the mandatory all parents meeting in the fall. For weekly happenings all parents should check the YPAC web site and read the newsletter. There are also bulletin boards at the YMCA and FHS(across from the pool at the YMCA and next to the girl’s locker room at Ferndale) for information on meets and upcoming events. We publish a newsletter weekly. Please check your email daily for updates. In addition, YPAC has its own website – www.ypacswimteam.org. Check it out to find out about meet information, meet entries, results, times, calendar of upcoming events and general team information. If you have general questions you have not been able to get answered, please email your question to Questions@ypacswimming.org. You should get your answer promptly.