WEEKLY UPDATE - WELCOME BACK!
Hello MAST Families,
WELCOME BACK
We are going to soon kick off the short course swim season and it is hoped that everyone is looking forward to getting back into the pool.
MAST REGISTRATION
Registration is now open. As you register your child / children here are a couple things we ask you to do in addition to the standard MAST registration.
Please make sure to add SMS contact capability to your membership. We will only text you in case of an unexpected event.
Please make sure that your child’s T-shirt size is correct. If your child is getting into a growth phase, pick a larger size than he or she currently wears.
USAS REGISTRATION
A couple notes on USASwimming membership.
Once returning swimmers are registered with the team, we will renew their USAS Membership.
New swimmers will be sent a registration link. Parents must register new swimmers with United States Swimming (USAS). MAST cannot register new swimmers because parents need to create a personal USAS membership link. New families will have to pay the USAS registration fee. Once new members to MAST are registered we will rebate the USAS membership registration fee from your MAST registration fee.
All swimmers must register as “Premium Athletes” - Do not select any other membership option.
This first message to membership is to touch base on a couple items that there has likely been some discussion, and perhaps even some concern, about.
Let’s dig in.
COACHING CHANGES
As many of you already know, Coach Corey has taken the decision not to continue coaching with MAST. Like many of you, I considered Corey an important member of MAST and a friend. With the expectation that he did not choose his new path without a great deal of reflection, it is hoped that he will continue to support MAST and all our members as he moves on to the next stage of his life. Without knowing what his plans are for the future, it is hoped all MAST members will thank him for the many years of work he did for MAST and wish him well in whatever comes next.
In addition to Corey’s departure, Freddie and Hannah are focusing on their non-swimming professions, and at the same time preparing to get married, so neither will be returning to MAST.
This sudden turn of events leads to the inevitable next question. Who will be coaching MAST?
Club swim programs, like other similar small organizations, often encounter personnel turnover. It is tempting to fear the worst, but it is hoped that instead of giving in to the Chicken Little “Sky Is Falling” syndrome, we will all work together and eventually end up with a better, stronger team.
We are aggressively seeking to complete our coaching staff before the start of team practices on September 8. However, regardless of how long it takes, we will find a way to continue offering the best program we can until we are able to hire new coaches who offer the best talent and the best fit for MAST.
PRACTICE GROUP STRUCTURE
As many of you know, the changes in high school start and finish times have created an additional challenge on pool time for MAST. During the past year many of you noticed a blending of groups toward a three-group set-up. This three-group structure is the plan for the upcoming season. Each group will still have a range of skills and training capacity so within the groups there will still be separation (in lanes or lane groups) based on those abilities, but the three groups will be generally structured as follows:
MAST WHITE – Primarily 10 & under and new swimmers. This group will be split into White 1 and White 2 on some practice days and combined as one group on other days.
MAST RED – Primarily 11- to 13-year-old (not in high school) swimmers.
MAST BLACK – Mostly 13 and older / high school age swimmers.
In addition to the group structure, we will be implementing advancement standards for training and competition. These standards will be published soon and will also be frequently incorporated into practice plans. The purpose of these standards is to push our swimmers toward improved performance and, when appropriate, group changes. Group changes will not be made without parental consultation.
The practice schedule should be ready for your review soon, but there are still a few items to be resolved before we can feel confident that it will not be subject to too much revision. There will be more overlapping of groups and the sharing of pool time which will result in more crowded lanes. The goal is to avoid late finish times and increase energy and competitiveness at practice. We can make this work.
PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Keep in mind that the random high school water polo schedule forces MAST to adjust the basic practice template. The basic outline for the practice schedule is as follows:
WHITE 1 – Three times per week.
WHITE 2 – Three to Four times per week. Dryland 15 min. / Swim 45 – 60 min.
WHITE groups will usually swim when we first get pool time at 5:30 or later and are split into two groups (White 1 and White 2 with 1 being for 8 & under and new swimmers and 2 for 9 and 10’s ) as they will share the pool with the BLACK group.
RED - Five times per week. Dryland 30 min. / Swim 75 – 90 min.
RED will start most practices around 6:30 or 6:45 and end by 8:30 pm
BLACK – Build into full schedule of Mornings 3 times per week. Swim 90 min.
Afternoons – full schedule: Mon, Tue, Thr & Fri. Dryland 30 min. Swim 90-120 Min
Saturdays Dryland 30 min / Swim 90 – 120 min.
BLACK will have up to three mornings whenever possible (Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday) except those days that Water Polo has scheduled morning practices (this is a new development). We will continue with the three-morning schedule, but the high school practice will take over the Friday morning slot when they begin their season.
BLACK will swim as soon after Milford school day ends and when the high school programming allows. The basic plan is to swim in the afternoons on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday along with Saturday mornings. This schedule, along with the Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, gives us a reasonable balance for planning great training sessions.
BLACK will have Wednesday afternoons off as long as we can schedule three mornings. On those Wednesdays that BLACK does not have afternoon practice, any non-Milford high school BLACK group swimmers unable to attend morning practices will have the option to attend the RED group practice on Wednesday evening.
These schedules may change after Water Polo ends and the high school swimming and diving season begins. I remain committed to ending practices in the evening no later than 8:30 pm whenever possible.
Again, a reminder, our practice schedule will be inconsistent during water polo season.
I regret that we had so many revisions last spring. While the ideal situation is to lock in a set practice schedule, MAST does not have priority over pool time at Milford High School. So, despite everyone’s best effort and intentions for consistency, we may still encounter some rescheduling. When those conflicts arise, we will do our best to keep group balance in training time opportunities and minimize disruptions to your family schedules.
As always, if we add a practice as an attempt to cover practice time lost due to scheduling, your child is encouraged to do the best he or she can attend that practice. There is no penalty for missing a rescheduled practice.
NEW SWIMMER EVALUATIONS
The website has a Sign-Up Genius for new swimmer evaluations. Please encourage your friends interested in competitive swimming to sign up for an evaluation.
CLOSING COMMENTS
There is a lot more information that can and will be conveyed regarding the start of the season, but at this time it was important to cover these topics as we prepare for the start of the season about a month from now.
There are many reasons to be optimistic and excited going into the new season. From the great progress we saw in our meet performances this summer to the emergence of new team leaders at all three levels of the team.
As I said at the conclusion of the summer banquet. “Tough times make for strong people and strong people make for great times.” While there are events that may be out of our control, we can control our response and in doing so, we control the outcome. This is Concept of Events (which we cannot control) plus our Response to those events (which we do control) equals Outcomes or, stated in a simple formula is: E+R=O.
We control our response therefore we control our Outcome. Let’s all join in and help elevate MAST to a great season.
Coach Monty
The September practice schedule will be posted in the News section under a separate heading. October through December have not been finished so they will be posted at a later date.
