Good afternoon Otters families,

Saturday was a great first home meet! We had lots of cheering and many time improvements! The Otters are working hard and it shows! We’re so proud of everyone. Thanks to all of our volunteers who made our meet a truly enjoyable experience! 

IMPORTANT: If you cannot fulfill the volunteer spot for which you signed up, please let the parent reps know ASAP. We need every single person to make our meets run safely and smoothly. We understand that conflicts can arise at any time but understand that you are VERY MUCH NEEDED. It would be very helpful if you could find a replacement parent to fulfill your requirement as the parent rep and coaches are extremely busy before and during each meet. =)

If you have any questions about anything that happened during the meet, please do not hesitate to ask. Swimming seems to be very black and white (whoever touches the wall first wins) but there are times when it may not be so clear. Do not hesitate to ask a question if you have one! Please send us an email, message or speak to a coach AFTER PRACTICE.

Schedule for the week June 29 to July 3

There WILL BE practice on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday this week. On Wednesday, we will have a HOME meet against Frog Hollow. Arrival time for Wednesday’s meet 4:30PM. We will let you know if anything changes. As of this moment, we have about 40 swimmers who are undeclared for this meet! If you are unsure how to declare your swimmer as ATTENDING or NOT ATTENDING meets, please refer to the WELCOME PACKET by click here for instructions WITH PICTURES.

A few housekeeping items...

**DURING PRACTICE, the area behind the Otter’s practice lanes is to stay clear, parents are not allowed on the pool deck (the concrete area surround the pool) and we ask parents to refrain from speaking to the coaches until practice is over.

**If you are NOT VOLUNTEERING you are absolutely NOT allowed on the deck (this is the concrete area surrounding the pool). Please stay behind the railing at HOME meets and in designated spectator areas at away meets. This is both a YMCA and USA Swimming regulations and result in ejection from the meet. If you would like to get right up close to the action, please consider signing up to volunteer! Please double check the spots for which you have signed up. If you are not performing the job for which you signed up during the meet, you will not get your point. If you cannot make your assignment, please take yourself out!!

**Parents who have recently passed NJSDC Officials exam, please sign up for official volunteer spots, we will be pairing you up with seasoned officials from our team and guide you into role.

**Please have your swimmer check in with a coach before leaving the meet. The coach may have last minute things to tell your swimmer, have entered them last minute in a relay or (at very least) want the opportunity to congratulate him/her on a great meet. If you absolutely must leave, your swimmer should simply tell the coach “I just swam my last race and my family needs to leave.” It is ALWAYS a better idea to stay for the entirety of the meet and cheer for teammates if you can. We know life is busy. If you need to leave, you are not obligated to stay.

**PLEASE let the coaches know if your swimmer will not be attending a meet. Please declare through the Swimtopia App or the website. If you are not sure how to do this, again please refer to the welcome packet (click on link above), it contains step-by-step photos showing the process. Even if something comes up last minute, ie: traffic, family or medical emergencies, etc, you can ALWAYS send a message to us quickly via BAND.

Questions? Come see a parent rep. We are here to help!

Assistant Parent Reps include:

10 and Unders Groups: Jyoti Choudhary, Debbie Hsiao

11 and Up Groups: Erika Rosenblum, Ryan & Jamie Obrero

And Kenneth Lim is an extension of Jennifer Chu =)

Please feel free to email [email protected] or send a message on BAND if anything comes up.

Snacks and beverages will be for sale again on Wednesday, bring cash and come support the Otters!  *All proceeds go back to the team!!*